Sexism alleged as ANU staff pass vote of no confidence in university leaders

ANU staff have passed a vote of no confidence in chancellor Julie Bishop and vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell over job cuts and leadership scandals.

Australian National University chancellor Julie Bishop is the subject of a no-confidence vote. Picture: AAP

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A gender equality academic has linked sexism to staff criticism of her beleaguered boss, the Aus­tralian National University’s cost-cutting vice-chancellor, Genevieve Bell.

More than 750 union members passed a vote of no confidence in Professor Bell and ANU chancellor Julie Bishop on Wednesday over job cuts and leadership scandals.

Michelle Ryan, inaugural director of ANU’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, leapt to their defence, suggesting the ANU chiefs were facing more scrutiny because they were women. “People may have legitimate concerns about decisions being made about our university, and not every criticism of our leaders necessarily tracks back to sexism, but these phenomena are an important backdrop to consider,’’ she wrote in comments distributed by the ANU media unit.

Professor Ryan coined the term “glass cliff’’ for women being more likely to occupy leadership roles in times of institutional difficulty or challenge. “The metaphor captures the increased risk and precarity of leadership when things are challenging – a sense of being up high yet teetering on the edge,’’ she wrote in her defence of Professor Bell and Ms Bishop.

“Women in such leadership positions are often subject to more intense scrutiny than their male counterparts, with a tendency for others to downplay the challenging circumstances that have been put in train long before they took on the role.’’

Professor Bell, a cultural anthropologist, was appointed to the top job in January last year, after the retirement of Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Brian Schmidt, who had been ANU vice-chancellor for eight years.

Professor Bell has announced $250m in spending cuts by the end of this year, with hundreds of staff set to be sacked.

The National Tertiary Education Union’s ACT division secretary Lachlan Clohesy called on the ANU council to deliberate on whether the positions of chancellor and vice-chancellor were still tenable in light of the no-­confidence vote.

NTEU national president Alison Barnes said “ANU scandals have piled up’’ higher than the Telstra Tower, a Canberra landmark.

ANU chief operating officer Jonathan Churchill on Wednesday said the NTEU vote had “no legal or binding effect’’ and questioned the integrity of the voting process. “The final result cannot be considered to be fully representative of the views of almost 5000-strong staff,’’ he wrote in a message to staff.

“However, I understand this is a difficult time for our community and that many of you participated in this exercise to express your sincere views in good faith.’’

Mr Churchill said ANU, “led by the vice-chancellor and chancellor, remains committed to securing financial sustainability for the ANU’’.

“This will involve decisions that are not easy but necessary to ensure we can keep delivering world-class teaching and research for our long-term future,’’ he said. “We’ll continue working with you as we navigate this critical and difficult period together’’.

Mr Churchill said “many people have raised concerns with me about the credibility of this ‘vote’.’’

Dr Clohesy said ANU leadership had overestimated the size of the 2024 financial deficit by $60m, and cut jobs and courses based on “erroneous budgeting’’.

ANU has also axed its College of Health and Medicine.

Professor Bell, who is paid $1.1m to run the university, has been criticised for continuing to work on the side for her previous employer, Intel.

She told the ABC this week she cut ties with Intel in November, after working “about 24 hours” and earning “slightly less than $70,000” – a pay rate equivalent to $2916 an hour.

ANU vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell appeared at a parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism at universities. Picture: Martin Ollman

She said the ANU chancellor, Ms Bishop – Australia’s former foreign minister in the Coalition government – knew about her role at Intel.

Ms Bishop came under scrutiny in a Senate estimates hearing last month when it was revealed that ANU had outsourced work to Vinder Consulting, a firm owned by her business partner and long-time political staffer Murray Hansen.

In a statement issued after the hearing, an ANU spokesperson said the “ANU communications team has, on limited occasions, decided to engage the services of Vinder Consulting to provide specialist speech writing knowledge and skills that did not exist within the university”.

Ms Bishop has previously rejected allegations of financial mismanagement at ANU and publicly declared her confidence in Professor Bell.

Ms Bishop and Professor Bell have been contacted.

In her statement of support, Professor Ryan said “although women in glass cliff leadership positions may face an uphill ­battle, it doesn’t mean they can’t do the job’’.

“In fact, they often succeed despite these challenges,” she said.

Other supporters were Stephen Eggins, interim dean of the ANU College of Systems and Society, who has worked at ANU for 30 years. “I have confidence that the V-C can steer us through to fin­ancial sustainability in this challenging period and has the vision and the courage to get us where we need to be,’’ he wrote.

Aunty Anne Martin, director of ANU’s Tjabal Cenre, wrote that Professor Bell “loves the ANU … she cares deeply’’.

“Nothing stays the same, there will always be change,’’ she wrote.

“It is hard, but sometimes we need to go on a journey.

“I have chosen to walk with our leadership, with Genevieve Bell and Julie Bishop, on this journey, and I have every confidence that they will lead us to where we need to be.’’