Closing the Gap: Data-driven workforce models for Australian STEMM academia

Professor Lisa Kewley

I will describe new data-driven workforce models to address the pipeline problem for STEMM in Australian academia.  I show that the current gender gap can be interpreted in terms of implicit bias in promotions and/or double the proportion of women departing STEMM than men.  I discuss the causes of a larger proportion of women leaving science academia than men, and approaches to improve retention.  I then forward model the gender gap in Australian STEMM and show how the gender gap at the highest levels in academia can be closed over time.

About the presenter

ARC Laureate Fellow Lisa Kewley, a professor of Astrophysics at ANU and is also director of the ASTRO 3D Centre of Excellence. Prof Kewley has a deep interest in gender equity and what institutions can do to enable female academics. Through a suite of recruitment and retention initiatives, Lisa and her team at Astro3D is very close to achieving the ambitious goal of gender parity at all levels by 2021.