University of Melbourne achieves Athena Swan milestone for advancing gender equity

The University of Melbourne has achieved an Athena Swan Cygnet Award for its work to improve gender equity in academic promotion.

The Athena Swan accreditation and award program is an internationally recognised framework to advance gender equity and inclusion in higher education and research sectors.

The Cygnet Award, the second achieved by the University, recognises the sustained, evidence-based actions the University has taken to improve gender balance in senior academic roles.

University of Melbourne Interim Provost Professor Jane Gunn welcomed the Award.

“Improving gender equity at our University is a critical part of our efforts to foster a diverse and inclusive community, which is so essential to a thriving scholarly community and to a successful innovation and discovery culture,” Professor Gunn said.

“While we recognise that there is still work to be done, we are proud of the progress we have made through dedicated efforts and programs to improve the proportion of women in senior academic roles over several years.”

The proportion of women in Associate Professor roles has increased from 36 per cent in 2019 to 47 per cent in 2024. In Professor roles, the proportion of women rose from 32 per cent in 2019 to 39 per cent in 2024, representing 99 additional women.

University of Melbourne Athena Swan Lead Professor Georgina Such said the University had implemented targeted initiatives including a mentoring program to support promotion experience, improved communications and training for potential applicants with a focus on performance relative to opportunity, expanded training for promotion panels in mitigating bias, and improvements to the how the promotion process is administered.

“The Cygnet Award is testament to the efforts of many people across our University community to actively address this barrier to gender equity,” Professor Such said.

“This work is underpinned by listening to the perspectives of our staff and ensuring our initiatives make a difference in their sense of belonging and inclusion while at the university.”

In Australia, Athena Swan is administered by Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE).

SAGE CEO Dr Janin Bredehoeft congratulated the University of Melbourne on the Cygnet award.

“What stands out here isn't a single initiative, but a coordinated commitment, held over five years, to understand the real barriers and dismantle them,” Dr Bredehoeft said.

“The result is structural change we can see in the numbers: more women at the most senior levels, stronger application rates, and a promotion process that is genuinely working more equitably.”

The University of Melbourne currently holds an Athena Swan Bronze Award and must receive five Cygnet Awards to be eligible for an Athena Swan Silver Award. In 2024, the University was awarded its first Cygnet Award for its progress on improving transparency and accountability in preventing and responding to sexual misconduct.

More information about the Athena Swan program can be found on our gender equity website.