Women’s Executive Development in Australian Higher Education

Abstract

The Australian higher education sector has undergone major structural changes over the past fifteen years. In 1987, a unified national system, consisting of 37 publicly funded universities, was created out of a previous binary system of universities, institutes of technology and colleges of advanced education. Over the same period student numbers have increased by over 50%, staff numbers have increased, though with many in part-time or casual employment, and with a tightening of the funds available from the central government, fee-paying courses and fee-paying overseas students have increased. The sector is widely seen as under considerable strain. During the same period, universities in Australia have been covered by the provisions of federal affirmative action legislation, although some states already had such legislation in place. This legislation requires organisations to report annually on the actions taken to improve women's and other disadvantaged groups' employment opportunities. Despite the potential strength of this legislation, the situation in Australian universities at the end of 1999 shows a continued pattern of inequity in women's employment in universities. Statistics collected by the Department of Education Training and Youth Affairs show the proportions of men and women in the different general staff grades in 1999, demonstrating a funnelling syndrome by which women are concentrated in lower graded occupations although it should be noted that the percentage of women at executive level has increased from 26% in 1996, the figures analysed by Probert et al (1998).