Academic Staffing - The Search for Women in Higher Education - Changes in the 980s?

Oct 15, 2026

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Paper examining gendered patterns in Australian and UK university employment and postgraduate participation from the 1960s through the 1980s. It reviews appointment and degree-completion trends, highlighting that representation improved but not substantially during the decade under review, with gains concentrated at lower levels and in a limited range of fields. Despite policies of equal opportunity and increased female participation at undergraduate level, progress at honours and postgraduate levels remains limited, leaving future improvement possibilities narrow.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages2

Reading Time5 min

AccessFree to download

Women in higher education policy context

Appointment procedures and representation trends

Degree completion patterns (doctorate, PhD, masters)

Field clustering and postgraduate enrolments

Inequities in academic staffing and transitions

staff with higher degrees obtained in Aus-tralia demonstrate that its appointment pro-cedures search for the same qualities ofexcellence as do those of Newcastle with relative position of women has improved but not substantially during the decade under review.The explanation of why some universities have improved their overall representation of women whereas others 62.8%of staff with Australian higherdegrees? have made fewer gains requires much more While the substantial differences are self- detailed study.The recognition of Australian degrees has also not advanced greatly in that evident the reasons are much more elusive. Unfortunately,correlations on the basis of period of time. gender are not possible. References What do these statistics tell us about Aus- | Total Graduates(1983-4),Males and Females,UK
by Level of Bachelor Degree
%of Graduates at each level by gender | | --- | | N Women %
N
%
Men | | 3335
72.35
1st class hons:
1274
27.65
28479
56.00
44.00
22357
2nd class hons:
Other
11586
5942
34.00
66.00
59.50
Total:
43400
40.50
29573 | | Source:Vol.2 First Destinations of University Graduates,Table One,pp.12,13,University
Statistics,Students and Staff,published bythe Universities'Statistical Record on
behalf of the University Grants Committee,March,1986. | 1.Gale,Fay,Academic Staffing:The Search for tralian universities in general?Overall,the Women in higher education -Changes in the 980s? Jennifer Jones and Josie Castle University of Wollongong During the past 20 years there has been a | Australia:Higher Degrees Completing Students,1980,1983 and 1984. | | | | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Year | | Males | | Females | | Total | | | Doctorate other | | N | % | N | % | N | % | | than PhD | 1980 | 44 | 95.7 | 2 | 4.3 | 46 | 100 | | | 1983 | 45 | 93.7 | 3 | 6.3 | 48 | 100 | | | 1984 | 47 | 94.0 | 3 | 6.0 | 60 | 100 | | PhD | 1980 | 678 | 80.6 | 163 | 19.4 | 841 | 100 | | | 1983 | 704 | 77.7 | 202 | 22.3 | 906 | 100 | | | 1984 | 761 | 79.6 | 195 | 20.4 | 956 | 100 | | Masters | 1980 | 1556 | 74.3 | 538 | 25.7 | 2094 | 100 | | | 1983 | 1830 | 70.8 | 754 | 29.2 | 2584 | 100 | | | 1984 | 1997 | 70.2 | 846 | 29.8 | 2843 | 100 | | Source:Australian Bureauof Statistics,TertiaryEducation Australia,from Table2.17,1984,P.31. | | | | | | | | growing emphasis on the advancement of women in higher education.more especially in the last decade since the advent of policies of equal opportunity.Reviewing the years 1960 to 1985 the position of women in higher education has improved in both Australia and the UK.By 1985 female participation rates at bachelor level in Australia were nearly equal with those of men while in the UK they had improved to 42%.But such improvements have chiefly taken place at lower levels rather than at the honours and the postgraduate levels and they cluster in anarrow range of fields,chiefly in the humanities and law with some growth in medicine.Changes in fields like engineering | Female Percentage of Postgradu
Enrolments,1982-1985(Fulitim
United Kingdom | | ate and Undergraduate
e),UK and Australia | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Aust | ralia | | %
Year
Postgraduate | %
Undergraduate | %
Postgraduate | %
Undergraduate | | 40.2
1982/83 | 41.4 | 33.3 | 47.6 | | 39.8
1983/84 | 41.4 | 33.6 | 47.8 | | 40.3
1984/85 | 42.2 | 31.8 | 48.1 | | Source:University Statistics,1984-5,University Grants Commisson,1986
Australian Bureau of Statistics,1985 | | | | have been minimal. This paper a

FAQs

What does the paper conclude about changes in women’s representation over the decade reviewed?

Representation improved, but not substantially, and major differences require more detailed study to explain.

Where does the paper say improvement in participation has mainly occurred?

Improvements are mainly at lower levels rather than at honours and postgraduate levels, clustering in a narrow range of fields such as humanities and law.

How does the paper describe gender inequities in academic staffing and postgraduate study?

It focuses on continuing inequities in both countries, arguing that gains since 1980 have been minimal and further improvements are limited.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Blitz