How we boosted female faculty numbers in male-dominated departments

How we boosted female faculty numbers in male-dominated departments

In 2016 the University of Melbourne, Australia, asked for female-only applicants when it advertised three vacancies in its School of Mathematics and Statistics. It repeated the exercise in 2018 and 2019 to fill similar vacancies in physics, chemistry, and engineering and information technology.


Elaine Wong and Georgina Such tell the How to Save Humanity in 17 Goals podcast why certain schools wanted only female candidates to apply, and how staff and students reacted to the policy. They also explain what it achieved in terms of addressing the under-representation of female faculty in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects.

Both Wong, a photonics researcher who was appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (People and Equity) at the university in 2023, and Such, a polymer chemist and associate professor there, explain how the university’s “affirmative action” strategy is helping to address the fifth of the 17 United National Sustainable Development Goals: to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.


Each episode in this series, from Nature Careers, features researchers whose work addresses one or more of the targets. The first six episodes are produced in partnership with Nature Food, and introduced by Juliana Gil, its chief editor.

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Episoder(221)

Why labs need a napping room to help you work, rest and play

Why labs need a napping room to help you work, rest and play

Joseph Jebelli believes burnout and overwork has reached pandemic levels, telling Holly Newson that it kills 750,000 people annually, with three out of five workers struggling to maintain a healthy wo...

26 Mar 39min

‘Be a problem-solver, not a job-seeker:’ how to pivot from academia to industry

‘Be a problem-solver, not a job-seeker:’ how to pivot from academia to industry

Gertrude Nonterah helps researchers step off the academic hamster wheel and seek opportunities beyond their specialty. She does this by tapping into her personal experiences of losing a postdoctoral p...

19 Mar 39min

Nervous networker or conference presenter? Care less, says speech coach Susie Ashfield

Nervous networker or conference presenter? Care less, says speech coach Susie Ashfield

Learning to care less about how you come across in a conference talk, funding pitch or networking event frees you to communicate more naturally and confidently, says Susie Ashfield.In the second episo...

12 Mar 38min

Women in science are not a ‘problem to be fixed’

Women in science are not a ‘problem to be fixed’

In the first episode of a podcast series focused on six books about the scientific workplace, Cordelia Fine tells Holly Newson why she wrote Patriarchy, Inc: What we Get Wrong About Gender Equality an...

5 Mar 39min

Why an industry career move is a taboo topic in academia

Why an industry career move is a taboo topic in academia

In his role as research director at NielsenIQ, a consumer intelligence company based in London, Josh Balsters helps global brands drive product innovation.Balsters relies on expertise he gained in ps...

26 Feb 27min

Academia’s parent trap: the struggles faced by researcher mothers

Academia’s parent trap: the struggles faced by researcher mothers

Alison Behie was approaching 40 when she underwent multiple rounds of IVF, enduring the mental and physical turmoil of miscarriage and uncertainty along the way. How good is the academic workplace at ...

19 Feb 30min

When a colleague dies: exploring academia's "death-denying culture"

When a colleague dies: exploring academia's "death-denying culture"

In the sixth episode of Off Limits, a podcast series exploring topics that are often perceived as taboo in the academic workplace, three researchers describe their personal experiences of loss and how...

13 Feb 36min

‘We need to dismantle the stigma of alcohol dependence in academia’

‘We need to dismantle the stigma of alcohol dependence in academia’

Wendy Dossett tells Adam Levy why the stigma of having an alcohol dependence in academia can be a huge barrier to seeking help. “We’re supposed to be the brightest and the best, moving the frontiers o...

6 Feb 29min

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