Monash University has been awarded its third prestigious Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Cygnet Award, this time for improving the representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM) careers.
Monash has doubled the number of women Professors in STEMM at the University since 2018, rising from 63 women Professors in 2018 to 123 in 2024. The University has also lifted the number of women Associate Professors by 50 percent, from 78 in 2018 to 117 in 2024.
SAGE CEO Dr Janin Bredehoeft congratulated the University on achieving its third Cygnet award.
“STEMM is an area where we see persistent barriers to the recruitment, retention and career progression of women, but Monash University has been making impressive progress to pull these barriers down,” Dr Bredehoeft said
“Congratulations to Monash for taking a holistic approach to addressing this challenge.”
“I particularly want to commend the team for revisiting policies and making further improvements to ensure they’re really having an impact. That commitment to continuous improvement is what SAGE is all about.”
Monash University Provost and Senior Vice-President Professor Susan Elliott AM thanked SAGE.
“We are delighted to receive another Cygnet award which recognises the unrelenting focus of so many people at Monash to advance gender equity, including in STEMM careers,” Professor Elliot said.
“We still have work to do, but we are heading in the right direction and have rapidly increased the pace of change since joining Athena SWAN.”
Chair of Monash University Athena SWAN Committee, Associate Professor Laura Jobson, said the Athena SWAN program provided a clear framework that helped the University to develop a robust action plan and guide efforts using an evidence-based approach.
“There’s been a lot of years of hard work from so many people across the University, from our most senior leaders to right down at local levels. We aren’t trying to ‘fix’ women, we’re changing things at a structural level so women can succeed,” Associate Professor Jobson said.
Case study
Engineer Dr Faezeh Marzbanrad is passionate about getting more women into engineering, and allowing them to flourish, because it will help engineers solve more of the world’s problems.
“When I had my baby I struggled with breastfeeding and I never knew how much milk she was getting. I realised the reason why this problem has never been solved is we don’t have that many women engineers,” Dr Marzbanradsaid.
On returning to work, Dr Marzbanrad developed a non-invasive patch that can be placed on a baby’s neck to measure how much fluid they are swallowing. She's gone on to develop several other medical devices.
Now the award-winning academic is working with leading researchers internationally and communities in Guatemala and in the regional area of East Gippsland in Victoria, developing low-cost and easily transportable solutions for prenatal health monitoring to support women with high-risk pregnancies.
Dr Marzbanrad was born during war in Iran, the daughter of an Iranian medical doctor and a father who is an engineer and entrepreneur. From a young age, she enjoyed trying to come up with solutions to problems in healthcare with her father.
“We need gender diversity and diversity of lived experience in engineering,” she said. “We also need to think about diversity and inclusion from the beginning when we are trying to solve problems with an engineering mindset,” Dr Marzbanrad said.
Background
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Since Monash implemented the University’s Athena SWAN Bronze Action Plan 2018-2022 the University has tripled the speed of change when it comes to improving the representation of women academics at Professor level compared to 2011-2017.
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In July 2024, women accounted for 30 per cent of Professors at Monash, up from 21.1 per cent in 2018. Women account for 40.3 per cent of Associate Professors, up from 36.3 per cent in 2018.
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The Cygnet Awards recognise organisations that demonstrate impact in addressing specific barriers to gender equity, diversity and inclusion.
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Universities and tertiary institutions must already have achieved Bronze Status to apply for Cygnet Awards, and once they achieve five Cygnet Awards they are eligible for Silver Status. So far no Australian university has achieved Silver Status.
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Monash has implemented a comprehensive plan to achieve gender equity in STEMM which includes:
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bias prevention measures to improve equity in decision-making processes,
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initiatives to mitigate the impact of career interruptions or part-time work on academic success,
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challenging gendered expectations related to caregiving responsibilities
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initiatives to promote leadership development and support women’s career progression, and
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facilitate networking opportunities through initiatives such as the STEMM Women Academic Network.
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