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Home > HCAS > HCAS_PUBS > HCAS_JOURNALS > TQR Home > TQR > Vol. 29 > No. 7 (2024)

 

Abstract

Achieving gender equality is an ongoing challenge in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) disciplines in universities globally, including in Australia, where our study was located. As institutions that deliver research and teaching in STEMM, universities have committed to a range of initiatives and programs to address this challenge. The Athena Swan Institutional Award is one such program, operating as an accreditation process that measures progress towards gender equality, and is reliant on demonstrating impact. The work required to meet accreditation standards is extensive. Very little academic literature has advanced qualitative methodology suited to delivering the evaluation of gender equality initiatives. This paper describes our approach to evaluation, informed by a feminist paradigm and incorporating research co-design as our methodology. We discuss engaging co-designers and forming co-designed research projects, as well as applying and undertaking fieldwork using this methodology. Our successful approach is intended as a guide for practitioners and academics evaluating gender equality programs in higher education, and in other sectors.

Keywords

research co-design, feminist paradigm, Athena SWAN, gender equality, evaluation

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Helen Taylor is a Lecturer in Human Resource Management with the School of Business at Charles Sturt University. Her research has recently focused on work from home and hybrid working in the public sector, with specific interest in workplace gender equality, including the experiences of diverse groups of women employees. She was awarded her Ph.D. in 2022, completing a research project examining the role of gender, race and class in the management of not-for-profit organisations. Recently, Helen has also contributed to UNSW’s submission for the SAGE Athena SWAN accreditation process, informing further research focused on co-design as an evaluative methodology. Please direct correspondence to heltaylor@csu.edu.au.

Associate Professor Sue Williamson specialises in two main areas of research – gender equality in the workplace, and public sector human resources and industrial relations. Her most recent research examined the future of flexible working, and she has also researched how public sector employees worked from home during the pandemic. Sue has also focused on how middle managers can progress gender equality, identifying barriers and offering solutions on ways forward. Sue has published widely on these topics and shares her findings with industry partners and the community.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by funding from Charles Sturt University’s Open Access Publishing Scheme.

Publication Date

8-18-2024

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2024.6779

ORCID ID

0000-0002-8937-0061

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