20 - Nicolá Goc

Title

Gender Matters: ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ addressing unconscious gender bias in teaching

Author(s)

Nicolá Goc*, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts

Subtheme

Students as Partners and Building an Inclusive Culture

Presentation Type

Spotlight on Practice

Room

Lecture Theatre

Time

11.30-12.30

Abstract

Marian Wright Edelman’s philosophy “You can’t be what you can’t see” (1992) is at the core of this project which aims to make university graduates agents of change. Despite higher levels of educational attainment by women, and anti-discrimination policies in Australia, gender inequality is a persistent feature of employment in Australia (Charlesworth 2010, French 2014). Research indicates more egalitarian views have slowed or even reversed (van Egmond, M., Baxter, J., Buchler, S. et al. 2010; Brewster and Padavic 2000; Inglehart and Norris 2003; Scott 2008; Screen Australia 2012) and that women in the STEM fields face challenges in almost all career phases and functions (van den Brink and Stobbe 2014).
The significant costs of gender inequity in industry workplaces risks the loss of significant talent and experience. The focus of this paper is the creation of the ‘Gender Equity at the University of Tasmania’ image bank which aims to counteract hidden bias in the university sector by creating graduates as agents of change through the creation of a visual teaching resource. Images have been sources from women working in non-traditional roles in Tasmania and beyond and will form an image-bank resource available to teaching staff at the University of Tasmania through a Flickr account.
The paper will outline issues such as copyright and image sharing in a global digital environment and will highlight the value of images as a teaching resource to normalise gender participation in the workforce. The creation of the image bank is not intended to highlight the exceptionalness of women working in non-traditional roles, but rather to illustrate lived experiences and to normalise women working in these roles. The project is part of 2016 Teaching Development Grant: ‘Producing Graduates as Agents of Change: Reducing the Gender Pay Gap’.
References
Brewster, K. L., & Padavic, I. (2000). Change in gender-ideology, 1977–1996: The contributions of intracohort change and population turnover. Journal of Marriage and Family, 62(2), 477–487.
Charlesworth, S. (2010). “The Sex Discrimination Act: Advancing Gender Equality and Decent Work?” In Sex Discrimination in Uncertain Times, edited by M. Thornton, 133–152. Canberra: ANU E-Press.
Edelman, M.W. (1992). The measure of Our Success: A letter to My Children and Yours, New York: Beacon Press.
French, L. (2014). Gender then, gender now: surveying women's participation in Australian film and television industries, Continuum, 28:2, 188-200.
van den Brink, M. and L. Stobbe, (2014). Chapter 10 “Gender equality interventions in the STEM fields: Perceptions, successes and dilemmas” in Women in STM Careers: International Perspectives on Increasing Workforce Participation, Advancement and Leadership, edited by D. Bilioria and L. Lord, Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.