Frank and Fearless: Supporting Academic Career Progression for Women in an Australian Program

Abstract

The underrepresentation of women in senior positions continues to be a major challenge in higher education and most other industries. In Australia, the career trajectory for academic women stalls at a lower level than that of their male counterparts. Concern about this situation in one Australian university led to the design and delivery of a career progression program to support women's advancement from senior lecturer to associate professor. This study details the main features of the program, designed to facilitate women's transition from being leading academics to academic leaders through a focus on leadership and career progression. We report the participants' perceptions of its value based on survey data. We conclude that leadership development is difficult work and requires a supportive environment where risk-taking is encouraged, where frank and fearless feedback is provided, and where the individual is required to examine assumptions and biases and to assume a leadership identity.

Perspectives on Women’s Higher Education Leadership from Around the World

“…Another interesting study from the context of higher education in Australia that takes a constructive tone is represented by the article titled "Frank and Fearless: Supporting Academic Career Progression for Women in an Australian Program" (Parker et al 2018). When a 2009 analysis of data at a large Australian university identified that gender parity at the level of lecturer and senior lecturer did not translate to gender parity at more senior levels, a targeted program (a "Career Progression for Women" course) was developed to support the advancement of more women from senior lecturer to associate professor rank.…”

How do women's leadership programs influence women's careers?

“…However, a literature search found 16 WLPs that outlined a program framework. Of those 16, 11 offered some information about the topics used in the programs (see (Clarke, 2011;Ely et al, 2011;Parker et al, 2018;Pollitt, 2014;Van Oosten et al, 2017).…”

“…Where identified, data were gathered through post program interviews or surveys and, in one instance, on the basis of an autoethnographic research methodology (Selzer et al, 2017). Quantitative surveys were used in one program to assess the benefits of specific course components (Parker et al, 2018). Across the six programs the strongest impacts were enhanced leadership skills (Clarke, 2011;Harris & Leberman, 2012;Parker et al, 2018;Selzer et al, 2017;Van Oosten et al, 2017;White, 2012) and creation of new networks as support (Clarke, 2011;Harris & Leberman, 2012;Parker et al, 2018;Selzer et al, 2017;Van Oosten et al, 2017).…”

“…Promotion, a major career impact, was identified by those programs that continued to monitor participants post session completion (Clarke, 2011;Harris & Leberman, 2012;Parker et al, 2018;Van Oosten et al, 2017;White, 2012). Awareness and mitigation of bias was another outcome for half the WLPs (Clarke, 2011;Harris & Leberman, 2012;Van Oosten et al, 2017), as was increased self-efficacy (Clarke, 2011;Harris & Leberman, 2012;Van Oosten et al, 2017).…”

“…participants of a WLP wrote the article, using autoethnography as the research methodology While the six WLPs identified measured impact, none used external standardised surveys. One study measured the level of impact across nine modules (Parker et al, 2018); however, it is unclear if any of the other WLPs used quantitative measures.…”