Affirmative Action Measures

The John Curtin School of Medical Research has adopted a range of affirmative action measures to achieve its objectives in gender balance in the recruitment of academic staff and postgraduate students, including :

(i) The appointment of at least one woman and one man on all selection committees and where possible on other School committees, eg. PhD Scholarship Committee, which recommends the selection of postgraduate students;

(ii) Statistics by gender are collected for all academic appointments in the School;

(iii) Encouragement of flexible employment conditions to improve opportunities for members with family responsibilities, eg fixed-term appointments might be extended to compensate for paid maternity leave to allow staff to finalise work on their research projects;

(iv) As a monitoring measure, statistics by gender are collected on all applications for appointments to academic staff positions.

Major Initiatives in 1998

Selection criteria for all academic and general staff positions with supervisory responsibilities were amended in 1998 to include an essential criterion :

    Demonstrated achievement in relation to equal opportunity
 

Faculty Board at its meeting on 7 September 1998 considered the recommendations of its EEO Committee and resolved as follows :
 

• Mentoring -  that two mentors should be assigned to all postgraduate students and Postdoctoral Fellows.  It was suggested that the eminent retired members of academic staff who were still actively involved in research activities in the School could be approached about their possible participation in this scheme.  It was also suggested that the advisers of postgraduate students could also act as their mentors, although the mentoring role needed careful delineation from the role of adviser.  Mentors should have meetings with PDFs and students on a regular basis.  Their major role would be to encourage junior academics to continue their scientific work in academia and to apply for more senior positions.  The usual three month interview of PhD students by the Graduate Convenor should be extended to all PDFs in the School.
• Networking - the existing network for students : immediate supervisor - Graduate Convenor/Academic Assistant to the Director - School Secretary - Head of Division and the Director - should be expanded to include nominated mentors and be made available to all Postdoctoral Fellows.  Students/PDF (both women and men) should be encouraged  to set up social and gender-based networks.  Dr Jeffrey pointed out that there were already good social networks in place for students, such as informal meetings in the school or student retreats.  There were also university-wide networks operating through CEDAM, such as conducting seminars for students about alternative careers . Faculty Board noted that Postdoctoral Fellows were missing out on those networks and should be encouraged to use them.  Another useful networking mechanism was suggested for students and Postdoctoral Fellows to encourage them to have informal meetings with prominent visitors to the school (eg taking them to lunch).  It was suggested that the School should made modest funds available for this purpose. Faculty Board agreed that Dr Jeffrey, Convenor of the Graduate Program in Medical Sciences, should take on the role to promote and coordinate the networking and the mentoring activities in the School.
• Re-entry Fellowships - while Faculty Board supported the idea to introduce a re-entry fellowship for both men and women with a break in scientific work at a tertiary institution to return to academia, it was agreed that the funding side would have to be investigated further.
• Part-time Postdoctoral positions - Faculty Board supported the continuation of more flexible employment arrangements, including part-time positions to allow persons with parenting/family responsibilities to continue with their careers.
• Child Care - it was noted that the EEO Committee would investigate the possibility of setting up a child minding facility for JCSMR staff.
• Research Fellowships within Groups - it had been suggested that Research Fellowships (or Research Associate positions) with semi-autonomous role within groups could be created in the School.  These positions would provide opportunities for career advancement beyond the PDF level without the burden of establishing an independent group.  Faculty Board agreed that this proposal was worth investigating further.

Trends in Academic Staffing

The percentage of women appointed to academic positions has increased over the last four years.  Since 1995 two female Renewable Fixed-Term (RFT) appointments have been made, in 1995 a female appointment at Level D (Continuing) was made, and in 1997 a further female was appointed to an RFT position at level D.  In 1998 another female appointment at Level D(RFT) was made, but was taken up after 31 March 1998 and is therefore not included in the statistics.

Academic staff numbers were relatively constant from 1993 to 1998 at an average of around 82.5 full-time equivalent staff on strength at 31 March.  However in 1997 there was a decline in the number of staff to 77.13, with another increase in 1998 to 87.26 staff.  The tenured staff numbers have also declined from 25 (28.4%) in 1993 to 21 (24.4%) in 1996, and to 19 (24.6%) in 1997.  In 1998 tenured staff was reduced to 18, which represented 20.6% of the total staff in the School.  This number is well within University guidelines of no more than one third staff to be on continuing appointments.  The reduction in tenure has given way to Renewable Fixed-Term (RFT) appointments in the School - a total of 10 RFT positions  in 1998.

While the number of female staff has increased over the past three years, the number of female staff in continuing or RFT positions is still comparatively small.

The percentage of female staff according to the level of appointment is as follows :

LEVEL	1997 %	1998 %
A	60	52
B	22	27
C	25	16
D	37	22
E	0	7.5

Appointment trends in the period 1995 to 1998 show a correlation between the number of women applicants and the number of women appointed.  The clear trend is that the School  received more female applications and made more female appointments:

YEAR	FEMALE APPLICATIONS	FEMALE APPOINTMENTS
1995-1996	18.8%	33.3%
1996-1997	22%	42%
1997-1998	33%	50%

 

Trends in Postgraduate Students

The overall number of postgraduate students has increased from 60 in 1994 to 73 in 1996, and the percentage of female postgraduate students has maintained above 50% of the total number of students.  While the number of graduate students declined to 64 as at 31 March 1997, the School was successful in attracting 19 new students, but at the same time a large number of students completed their courses.  In 1998 the number of students increased to 72.5 with 59% female students.

In line with the recommendation that the IAS increase its graduate enrolment, the JCSMR Faculty Board established in 1996 its PhD Student Recruitment Committee.  As a result the following measures have been introduced :

· Fenner Merit Scholarship

The purpose of the scholarship is to attract Australian students of high calibre to pursue postgraduate research at the John Curtin School of Medical Research. The award will provide for payment of a supplementary scholarship to an outstanding holder of the ANU PhD Scholarship or an APA or some other living allowance scholarship for the duration of that scholarship.  The level of the award will be determined from time to time by the Director of the School, but will not be less than $5,000 per annum.

· A Relocation Incentive Allowance

An allowance of $5,000 is available for postgraduate students recruited to the School from outside the ACT Region.

· A Relocation Allowance

An allowance of $4,000 is available for JCSMR Honours Year Scholarship holders recruited from outside the ACT Region.

· Eccles Scholarship

A scholarship designed to attract overseas students of high calibre to pursue postgraduate research at the John Curtin School of Medical Research. The scholarship will provide for payment of the annual tuition fees for overseas students, an annual living expenses stipend set at the normal rate of the ANU PhD Scholarships.

TABLE I  - as at 31 March 1998

Academic Staff in the JCSMR

C - continuing positions, including continuing on probation
R - renewable fixed-term positions
F - fixed term (non-renewable

	E3/E2	E1	D	C	B	A
	M       F	M       F	M       F	M       F	M       F	M       F	TOTAL
RECURRENT
Continuing	5	5        1	4        1	2			18
RFT		1	3        1	4	1		10
Fixed-term   1st appt  2nd appt*				5.20  2.75	3.36     3	11.85  9.50	35.66
Total recurrent	5	6        1	7        2	11.20  2.75	4.36    3	11.85  9.50	63.66
NON-RECURRENT
Continuing
RFT
Fixed-Term  1st appt  2nd appt*		1		3	6         1	4.40 8.20	23.60
Total non-recurrent		1		3	6         1	4.40 8.20	23.60
CRC FUNDED
GRAND TOTAL   (M+F)	5	7        1	7         2	14.20   2.75	10.36   4	16.2517.70	87.26

     * 2nd appointment refers to staff who have been appointed to the same level of        position following the expiry of their first appointment.

TABLE II  - as at 31 March 1998

Proportion of staff by category compared with total staff (recurrent and non-recurrent excluding CRC)

	Category	1996		1997		1998
		No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
	C	19	22.1	17	22	16	18.34
MALE	R	5	5.8	6	7.8	9	10.31
	F	35.2	41	28.38	36.8	34.81	39.89
	C	2	2.3	2	2.6	2	2.29
FEMALE	R	2	2.3	2	2.6	1	1.15
	F	22.75	26.5	21.75	28.2	24.45	28.02
	C	21	24.4	19	24.6	18	20.63
MALE+FEMALE	R	7	8.1	8	10.4	10	11.46
	F	57.95	67.5	50.13	65	59.26	67.91
TOTAL		85.95	100	77.13	100	87.26	100

 

 
TABLE III - Postgraduate Student enrolments (EFTSU) at 31 March 1998

	1996					1997					1998
	MALE		FEMALE		TOTAL	MALE		FEMALE		TOTAL	MALE		FEMALE		TOTAL
	No.	%	No	%		No.	%	No.	%		No.	%	No.	%
PhD	33	47.8	36	52.2	69	27.5	44.4	34.5	55.6	62	29.5	41	42.5	59	72
Masters
Research	1	25	3	75	4			2	100	2			0.5	100	0.5
Coursework
Grad Diploma
Total	34	46.5	39	53.5	73	27.5	43	36.5	57	64	29.5	40.7	43	59.3	72.5

  TABLE V - Academic Staff Appointments as at 31 March 1998

	1995-96	1996-97	1997-98
Total Positions Advertised	12	18	17
Total Applications	101	163	92
Total Women Applicants (as % of all appointments)	18.5%	22%	33%
Total Sex Unstated	0	0	0
Total Appointments	12	19	16
Total Women Appointed (as % of all appointments)	33.3%	42%	50%
Levels of appointment of women              E
SF		1(RFT)
F	1(NC)
RF		1
PDF	3	6	8
Level of appointment of men                 E
SF	1(RFT)
F	2(NC)	3(RFT)	1(RFT)
RF	1
PDF	4	8	7