University of Melbourne offers extra classes to help female academics gain promotions
Female academics at the University of Melbourne are set to attend special classes to help them gain promotions at work. This is what sparked the controversial gesture.
Education
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University of Melbourne has been criticised for holding special classes for its female academics to help them gain promotion.
Both male and female staff have access to briefing sessions on promotion, but extra sessions will have “a focus on women applicants”, a university newsletter said.
“Attending both sessions will assist female applicants to understand both the university academic promotion procedures … as well having the opportunity to engage with other women who are similarly considering promotion and gain insight from others who have successfully been promoted at the university,” it said.
Dr Bella d’Abrera, from free enterprise think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, said: “By banning men from the special sessions, the university is simultaneously discriminating against men and patronising women.
“Those in charge of arranging the sessions appear to believe that women are incapable of being promoted without help from others.”
Dr d’Abrera said universities were playing the “intersectionality and identity politics game” by treating women as victims of a male patriarchy which didn’t exist.
Organisations which want to discriminate in favour of certain genders often need to apply for an exemption under state anti-discrimination laws.
But Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commissioner Kirsten Hilton said exemptions weren’t needed if organisations created “special measures” under the legislation.
“If a university … had identified that female academics faced particular barriers when seeking promotion, the university might decide to implement a special measure such as tailored education sessions to support female staff to navigate the organisation’s recruitment and promotion processes,” she said.
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“Special measures are underpinned by the idea of substantive equality, recognising that sometimes we need different approaches to overcome the practical effects of disadvantage and discrimination.”
A Melbourne University spokeswoman said that male academics would not be stopped from attending the special sessions for women.
She said the institution was committed to building a vibrant and inclusive community, which includes improving gender diversity across its community.
“All academics interested in applying for promotion have been strongly encouraged to attend academic promotion briefing sessions,” she said.
“(They) aim to assist them to better understand university academic promotion procedures, while also offering the opportunity to learn from others who have had similar experiences.”