EVERYDAY

SEXISMS

IT’S MORE THAN YOU THINK

Despite awareness of the importance of gender equity, Australia ranks 48th in the world in terms of female political empowerment, with 1 in 2 women experiencing sexual harassment during their lifetime. Professionally, just one-quarter of ASX-listed company board members are women and retiring women’s average superannuation balances are just over half of those of men. Australian universities represent an important microcosm of these broader social outcomes, where just 38% of the professoriate are women and where female academics experience the highest levels of bullying and harassment, while also being the least likely to report this.

Examining the everyday gender-based practices of Australian academics provides important information on the factors impacting women and gender diverse people’s career trajectories and associated workplace cultures. Including the experiences of women and gender diverse people with intersecting minority identity characteristics provides significantly more nuanced understandings of everyday sexisms in universities, with important benefits which extend to broader Australian society.

THE RESEARCH

PROJECT

In 2021, a research team led by professor Mindy Blaise at Edith Cowan University were awarded Australian Research Council Discovery Project funding for a project entitled Understanding and Addressing Everyday Sexisms in Australian Universities. In order to investigate this topic, the team adopted a 4 phase, mixed methods approach that involved:

  • An audit of all 39 of Australia’s public university websites that looked for gender equity policy and if and where the word ‘sexism’ appeared

  • Interviews with key women and gender diverse stakeholders with diverse identity characteristics (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women; women of colour; sexuality diverse) working in relevant positions (STEM leaders, Equity Officers, Complaints Officers)

  • Designed and distributed a mixed methods large-scale survey to 12 Australian universities (N = 1257 responses)

  • Ran x3 creative focus groups in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney 

The project aimed to understand how everyday sexisms contribute to structural gender-based discrimination across individual academics’ experiences, the disciplines and Australian universities generally. The aims were met by adopting a multi-phased and multi-method approach to data collection in order to achieve the following objectives:

Gather and examine evidence on how everyday sexisms contribute to gender-based discrimination across the individual, discipline and university levels;

1.

Take a situated, intersectional, and creative approach to the definition and description of everyday sexisms to investigate and better articulate different experiences of individuals with diverse identities;

2.

Devise practical strategies for recognising, addressing and challenging everyday sexisms in the workplace; and

3.

Develop a suite of situated practices that will enable universities to include everyday sexisms within their current programs, strategies, and policies related to gender equity.

4.

Alongside project: Creative and PhD candidate Emma Fishwick created video, visual art and choreographic responses to the research. Her PhD, Slow Choreographies: addressing everyday sexisms through embodied creative methods, was confirmed in 2024

FUNDING AGENCIES

THE RESEARCH TEAM

MINDY BLAISE

CHIEF INVESTIGATOR

EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY

EMILY GRAY

CHIEF INVESTIGATOR

RMIT UNIVERSITY

JACQUELINE ULLMAN

CHIEF INVESTIGATOR

WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY

EMMA FISHWICK

PHD CANDIDATE & ARTIST

EDITH COWAN UNIVERSITY