CMM was impressed by MIT’s nanotech scientist colouring-in book (yesterday). It’s kid stakes compared to  FUTURE YOU, a new Aus resource that sells STEM careers to girls

It features women, including an aerospace engineer, a truck mechanic and an “augmented reality expert,” with video and text on what they do and how they got into their careers.

Good stuff from the Commonwealth’s Women in STEM Ambassador.

And yes, there is colouring-in.

In Features this morning

All the cyber bells and IT whistles do not rate unless everybody in a university can use them. “Products should meet the needs of intended audiences across a broad range of human variance including vision, hearing, speech, dexterity, neurological triggers, neurodiversity and cognition,” ADCET argues. It’s a new selection by Commissioning Editor Sally Kift, for her celebrated series Needed now in learning and teaching.

and in Expert Opinion

Elissa Newall on how 107 HE providers around the world handle first contact from prospective students – Australia and New Zealand do it well, (ep 18) HERE.

Scopus, the citation database owned by for-profit journal giant Elsevier, announces ANZ researcher awards

They are for researchers who have a “strong presence” in publishing and citations and “present an inspiring personal story. Prizes include A$1000, a plaque, global exposure via Scopus comms and any book published by Elsevier.

Shame they did not kick-in free article processing in any of the company’s journals.

The pandemic has been a golden age for Victorian state government investment in medical research – but more gold would be good

With a state election in six weeks the Vic branch of the Association of Australian MRIs wants voters to know what members need to help with health and grow the economy.

* an unspecified increase in the state government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Programme, which funds indirect research costs. This is needed because of members’ “increasing success” in Commonwealth research grants

* $20m over four years to “recover from recent disruptions and maintain future grant competitiveness” by funding 133 “top-tier” early and mid-career researchers

* $45m for four years to fund “research translation specialists”

* $15m to “attract the brightest minds to our state”

Good-o, although the state government might respond that it is already supporting medical research with commitments of $50m for mRNA manufacturing and R&D and $400m for the Australian Institute of Infectious Diseases (CMM July 27), plus funding for COVID-19 research.

but wait a month and there will be more!

Deakin U has a new for-credit micro-credential in “programmatic advertising” (“transforming how advertising inventory is bought and sold, and how digital advertising campaigns are delivered and managed.)” It’s offered with the Interactive Advertising Bureau for $1250 (less for IAB members).

The course starts at month-end and is followed in November by a second m-c on digital advertising operations.

Deakin U has long been big in professional education partnering with industry organisations – it’s at the core to the newish ten year plan (CMM December 2 2020).

Both advertising m-cs are set to be delivered by FutureLearn. “What!” you ask, “that FutureLearn, which founder Open University UK announced last week that it wants to offload its 50 per cent share of?” (CMM October 10). That’s the one.

Their council conference convenes to explore, “the critical role of governance in universities and the intersection of universities with policy makers and the communities which we serve”

Perhaps this might include the contested ground of  VC and senior staff pay packets. Last year the chancellors’ created a code on remuneration, which included an annual benchmarking review – which would be worth reading.

 by CLAIRE FIELD

there is a raft of research available identifying the changes universities need to make, question is, will they

While the recent Jobs and Skills Summit has been much discussed in the tertiary sector there were two Immediate Actions agreed there which have received little attention so far, in neither higher education or VET. They are that “the government will:

* strengthen existing reporting standards to require employers with 500 or more employees to commit to measurable targets to improve gender equality in their workplaces

* require businesses with 100 employees or more to publicly report their gender pay gap to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency.”

Women are underrepresented in leadership roles in universities, and overrepresented in lecturer level A and B roles. The fact that women are more likely to take on teaching and administrative workloads, in turn makes it harder for them to access the opportunities their male colleagues do for research and other activities which help with promotion – perpetuating a vicious cycle.

In a recent discussion with Angela Carbone and Kerryn Butler-Henderson on the recent special issue of the Journal of University Teaching and Learning Practice which they (and others) edited, Women and leadership in higher education learning and teaching they pointed out that “women are less cited and less likely to get grant opportunities, which has a flow on impact to their future opportunities. They are then less likely to get promotions, less likely to be invited to be on external panels, etc” and then because of those opportunities they missed initially, they are subsequently less likely to get these opportunities in future.

And that’s before you get to the impact of child rearing on women’s careers, with research published this month by the Australian Treasury showing “the arrival of children creates a large and persistent increase in the gender earnings gap. Women’s earnings are reduced by an average of 55 per cent in the first 5 years of parenthood.”

There is a raft of research available identifying the changes universities need to make to deliver gender equality. The question remains whether or not they will.

And as for the VET sector the situation is even more dire. After a flurry of research on this issue in the late 1990s and early 2000s I am not aware of any recent reports or analysis.

 Claire Field was joined by Professor Angela Carbone and Professor Kerryn Butler-Henderson on the latest episode of the ‘What now? What next?’ podcast.

Former Labor higher education and research minister Kim Carr receives the Academy Medal from the Australian Academy of Science. The award is for people who are not researchers but whose “ sustained efforts in the public domain, significantly advanced the cause of science and technology in Australia.” That would be Mr Carr, who Academy President Chennupati Jagadish calls, “one of the most significant federal science ministers in recent decades.”

Griffith U announces new council appointments.  Rebecca Frizelle (deputy chancellor) and pro chancellors, Amelia Evans, Karen Prentis and Jessica Rudd.

Yun-Hee Jeon (Uni Sydney) is one of the UN’s Health Ageing 50, (“working to improve the lives of older people”)

The Australian Research Council announces

* Graeme Gower, Rhonda Oliver, Elizabeth Jackson-Barrett: “transition of Indigenous people into, and graduating from, higher education” (Curtin U)

* Heidi Norman: “Governing Aboriginal self-determination in NSW: 1980-2025”(UTS)

* Henrietta Marrie, Bradley Sherman, Allison Fish, Robert Henry, Yasmina Sultanbawa, Jane Anderson, Maui Hudson: “the past, present and future of Indigenous ethnobotanical knowledge,” (Uni Queensland)

* Rowena Ball: Indigenous mathematical transforms, “systematic conversions between related spaces or objects” (ANU)

* Debbie Duthie, Donald Wharton, Kate Murray, Leah East,  Danielle Gallegos, Deanne Minniecon: “co-designing a Food Sovereignty Model with Indigenous Communities” (QUT)

* Helen Milroy, Catherine Chamberlain, Jeneva Ohan, Alix Woolard, Sven Silburn, Talila Milroy, Pradeep Rao, Marshall Watson, Debra Singh, Laurel Sellers: “develop and implement a culturally safe, trauma-informed parenting programme that can interrupt the intergenerational transmission of trauma and help improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and wellbeing” (UWA)

* Dane Lamb, Suzanne Reichman, Angelia Seyfferth, Ruben Kretzschmar: plant-mediated arsenic-iron mineral transformations (RMIT)

* Dylan Crismani, Aaron Corn, Luke Dollman, Grayson Rotumah: “reconciliation of Indigenous and western musical traditions” (Uni Adelaide)

* Karen Adams, Vicki-Lea Saunders, Roianne West, Linda Deravin, Lynne Stuart: “co-create an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nurse and midwife theory and principles for practice” (Monash U)

* Bindi Bennett, Joanna Zubrzycki, Susan Young, Antonia Hendrick, Sera Harris, Donna Baines, Shayne Walker: “utilising simulation to develop culturally responsive social workers” (Bond U)