This year for International Women's Day we are celebrating the amazing female academics from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences who are #CrackingTheCode to gender equality by leveraging inclusive technologies, embracing disruptive innovation and ensuring access to education - to combat generational and systemic gender-based discrimination.
These inspiring women shared some of their insights on what this year's theme means to them.
Professor Anita Heiss
Professor of Communications"#CrackingTheCode means using my various online platforms to tell the truths in history and contemporary life as I know it as a First Nations person, author and storyteller. It means responding to ignorance with honesty so that readers far and wide can have an opportunity to engage, think and act."
As a proud member of the Wiradyuri nation, Dr Heiss advocates for Indigenous literacy on a local and international level through her work as one of Australia’s most prolific and well-known authors.
Read about Indigenous Literacy Day and the value of self-representation.
Join us for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) Launch and Great Book Swap.
Associate Professor Rhonda Faragher
Associate Professor in Inclusive Education"Inclusion is not about being kind to the less fortunate - it is about embracing equity and acknowledging that we all are disadvantaged when some are left out. This philosophy underpins my work which investigates how to support all students to be more successful in education across their lifespan."
As Director of the Down Syndrome Research Program since 2016, Dr Faragher works to improve the educational outcomes of students who have difficulties learning and has expertise in inclusive education.
Read about the research project paving the way for future generations living with Down syndrome.
Dr Zoe Staines
Senior Research Fellow"In a country where women – and particularly First Nations women – continue to be more likely than anyone else to experience deep poverty, the focus on achieving gender equity for International Women’s Day 2023 couldn’t be more pressing."
Dr Staines' research considers how neoliberal social and criminal justice policies combine to perpetuate injustices along the lines of gender, race, and class, drawing attention to the need for alternative approaches that pursue equitable outcomes while redressing harms.
Read about tackling gender-based inequality at the nexus of employment.
Professor Felicity Meakins
Professor of Linguistics"I’ve been supported by so many amazing women over the years. I want to be able to honour those women by now encouraging and backing younger women in their own intellectual journeys, particularly emerging Indigenous linguists."
Having worked under the direction of First Nations communities for decades in northern Australia, Professor Meakins' research works towards ensuring longevity of First Nations linguistic and cultural practices by supporting First Nations youth to re-engage with their traditional knowledge.
Read about supporting First Nations youth with digital story-telling.
Professor Kristen Lyons
Professor of Sociology“Failing to take action on climate change will impact human rights, including Indigenous rights, and cause many challenges and issues. A climate just future demands we grapple with these issues and understand the value that an equity and justice lens can bring.”
Professor Lyons is a social researcher and advocate working on issues related to development and the environment, including human and Indigenous rights in the context of the climate crisis and energy futures.
Read about how taking action on climate change can impact human rights.
Professor Katharine Gelber
Head of School "Misogyny directed at women, especially online, actively prevents women from participating equally; it’s time to reject this kind of trolling as essential for ‘free speech'."
Professor Katharine Gelber’s expertise is in freedom of speech, and the regulation of harmful and allegedly harmful speech. Her work pays particular attention to the ways in which discourse can be used to marginalise and silence vulnerable targets and their communities.
Read about tackling hate speech in the Asia Pacific region.
Associate Professor Eve Klein
Associate Professor in Music Technology & Popular Music"We can't have these crucial conversations without nurturing empathy for people different from ourselves and foregrounding equality as a core ethical principle. Equality is the keystone for building a better society and tackling global-scale problems."
As a music composer and technologist, Professor Klein makes large-scale public artworks that seek to bring us together to discuss complex topics like refugee rights, climate emergency, and healing from violence.
Read about making opera contemporary and inclusive.