Swinburne offers STEM fellowships for women

In an Australian first, Swinburne is offering research fellowships for women in Engineering and IT.

They are part of a suite of five prestigious fellowships for female applicants in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

The Vice Chancellor’s Research Fellowships – Women in STEM are designed to address the underrepresentation of women in STEM and are a crucial part of Swinburne’s gender equality strategy.  They will offer women three years of dedicated research time before transitioning to standard research and teaching positions. 

“Swinburne is proudly committed to achieving a diverse and equitable workplace,” says Swinburne Vice-Chancellor Professor Linda Kristjanson. “We recognise that women are underrepresented in Australia’s STEM workforce, particularly in engineering and information technology.

“These fellowships are about making the optimal use of talent. We want to encourage the best and brightest female minds to be part of advancing Australia’s competitive capability in science, technology and innovation.”

The fellowships in the university’s Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology will be open internationally to qualified female candidates.

“It is well established that the percentage of women in STEM decreases with progressive career stages,” says Swinburne Dean of Science, Professor Sarah Maddison.

“Having the security of an ongoing research and teaching position at the end of the fellowship is a crucial element in ensuring we can retain our excellent women in STEM.

“It is important to provide women the opportunity to fully focus on their research early in their careers to help establish their research programs.”

The fellows will be supported through mentorship and research leadership training.

The positions are advertised online at Jobs at Swinburne.

Swinburne and gender equality

Swinburne was one of the first Australian universities to join the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) pilot to improve the promotion and retention of women and gender minorities in STEM.

Swinburne has long been a champion of gender equality and for the past six consecutive years has been an Employer of Choice for Women.

The Victorian Equal Opportunity Act permits the university to implement corrective measures to redress the critical under-representation of women in STEM.

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