News Archive

The University of Western Australia is proud to celebrate International Women's Day, which acknowledges the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

The theme for International Women’s day in 2016 is ‘Pledge for Parity’, with a call for urgent action to close the gender gap.

In 2015, The World Economic Forum concluded that gender parity was slowing down rather than progressing.

The forum estimated the gender gap in areas such as economics, politics, education and health would not close entirely until 2133.

UWA promotes a culture of equality and one of the ways the University is doing this is through the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Athena SWAN Charter pilot project.

The project strives to improve gender equality in Australian Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine.

UWA Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater, who spoke at UWA’s International Women’s Day morning tea, said a focus on gender equity was a key strategy to the University's aspirations of achieving a place in the top 50 universities internationally by 2050.

"The University takes this call to action very seriously and we are committed to dealing with the ambitious inclusion and diversity agenda that we have set ourselves,” Professor Freshwater said.

“Even though we can do more, we are proud of what we’ve achieved so far.

“We have a strong representation of female leaders at the executive level and three of our deans are women.

“Our most recently appointed dean, Professor Wendy Erber, from UWA’s Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, is an outstanding example of women in leadership.

“In 2015 she was named the Cancer Council WA’s Research of the Year and inducted as a Fellow by the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

“Professor Erber’s appointment is an exciting step for UWA, with the overarching goal of advancing career opportunities available to women in Australia.”

Caption 1: UWA Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Dawn Freshwater addresses the UWA International Women's Day morning.

Caption 2: Professor Carolyn Oldham, Ms Fay Davidson, Professor Dawn Freshwater, Dr Liz Constable and Professor Krishna Sen at UWA's International Women's Day morning tea.

Media references

David Stacey (UWA Media Manager) (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716