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Category: diversity

  • What can we learn from sport governance challenges?

    FIFA’s threat to withdraw its recognition of its member federation, Football Australia, prompted gender equality measures to be adopted. This governance crisis led to the establishment of a Congress Review Working Group. (FIFA stands for The Fédération internationale de football association is the international governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal.)

    The Working Group recommendations led to significant structural change including mandated gender equality measures. A range of measures have been outlined in my recent research paper which is intended to be a roadmap for other sports to follow, including:

    1. Quota Percentages

    2. ‘Different Genders’ Mandated for Specified Positions

    3. Expanding the pie: Quotas by Numbers and/or Female Only Positions

    4. Graduated / Staggered Quotas

    5. Applying the ‘Rooney Rule’ to gender and the ‘Inclusion Rider’ to sport

    6. Transparency and Inclusive Language

    7. Other options including training and term lengths

     

    The report, Better Together: Increasing Male Engagement in Gender Equality Efforts in Australia, found that most men (76%) are gender equality supporters, but few (17%) prioritise taking action.  This serves to explain why the status quo, of ‘pale, male and stale’ [plus ‘able-bodied’ and ‘heterosexual’] has been very difficult to shift.  This report also recommended that male engagement could be achieved by ‘mak[ing] it easy’.  

    In the recent Football Australia governance crisis, advocacy group, Women Onside, sought to assist the Working Group established by the international federation, FIFA, through providing practical, ‘easy’ solutions.

    If you are also grappling with how to create structural changes to your organisation to achieve gender equality, particularly if your organisation exists within a federated model, then some of the following case studies and research presented by Women Onside may provide ideas and inspiration:

    1. Quota Percentages

    The Australian Sports Commission 40% target was tied to funding, but the threatened ‘stick’ was not ever implemented. Instead, while noting the challenges around quotas in a federated system, a 40:40:20 requirement was recommended for the entire football ecosystem.  This mechanism was successfully adopted by Paddling Australia.

    2. ‘Different Genders’ Mandated for Specified Positions

    It can be constitutionally required that, for example, the Chair and Deputy Chair roles are ‘different’ genders.  This is preferable to the ‘both genders’ binary format, but is insufficient as a standalone strategy to create gender equality (eg: the Australian Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission provision alone would only lead to a 30% outcome).  

    3. Expanding the pie: Quotas by Numbers and/or Female Only Positions

    Boards have traditionally been made up of representative positions, and in some cases each of the Standing Committee Chairs (including the Women’s Committee) have had a vote on the executive (eg: Capital Football).  Expanding the board to create ‘women only’ board positions, avoids the threat of an incumbent losing ‘his’ seat.  For example, the FIFA Statute requires that each of its six Confederations: ‘elect at least one female member to the Council’.  Any Confederation failing to elect a woman will have that seat ‘deemed forfeited’ until the next round of elections.  However, this ‘female member’ mechanism only guarantees that there will be a minimum of 16% female representation.  

    The idea of ‘expanding the pie’ has also been explored in the entertainment industry, where researchers promote the idea of ‘Just Add 5’ to address the finding that women have made up less than 30% of speaking roles in the top 100 US films each year for decades.  Achieving gender equality by 2020 would have required expanding the FFA Congress to twenty and adding five women each year.  To achieve this in a contested election requires a: ‘first past the post, provided you are a woman’ rule.  This is used by the AOC Athletes’ Commission.  Of the eight athletes elected at the Summer Olympic Games, it was mandated that there must be: ‘not less than three males and not less than three females’ and the Winter Olympic Games elected representatives: ‘must comprise one of each sex’.  This means that those athletes receiving the most votes may not necessarily be elected.  Where there is a tie, the youngest candidate wins; thereby also assisting with age diversity affirmative action. 

    4. Graduated / Staggered Quotas

    Following the major governance failures and corruption within the International Association of Athletics Federation [IAAF, now World Athletics], 95% of the IAAF Special Congress supported the recommended reforms.  Since 1 January 2019, the IAAF Council mandated a graduated gender balance.  Although still couched in binary terms (which is significant given the challenges in athletes for intersex athletes), the amended Constitution sets out the minimum number of women required to occupy the seats on the IAAF Council and the Executive Board.  Maria Clarke, IAAF governance reform Chair, hopes this created a ‘gender leadership’ environment.  At the 2023 Election, there will be a minimum of ten of each gender elected from amongst the total of twenty-six Council members.  At the 2027 Election, the Council will be 50-50, and the IAAF Executive Board (total of 9) must consist of three members of each gender.  (NOTE: A graduated approach, by adding one ‘female only’ position to the FFA Congress each year until the ideal of fifty-fifty is reached, would have taken a decade to achieve).

    5. Applying the ‘Rooney Rule’ to gender and the ‘Inclusion Rider’ to sport

    The Rooney Rule was designed as an equity measure for black and Latino men applying for coaching and team management positions in the US National Football League [NFL].  The Rooney Rule concept has effectively been applied to the corporate sphere to achieve gender equality, for example: then Australia Post CEO, Christine Holgate, required that head-hunters have a female on the short list for every role.  Going even further, Mirvac CEO, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, required that every senior role short list be 50-50.

    Called the ‘Inclusion Rider’, entertainment industry ‘stars’ are encouraged to include a clause requiring broad race, gender and ability demographics in both onscreen and off-screen staff.  The idea of having influential people in positions of power stipulating express diversity requirements in their own contracts was given prominence at the 2018 Hollywood’s Oscars by Frances McDormand.  A similar call has been made for invited (male) speakers to refuse to attend male only conferences and panels [‘Manels’].  In sport, the players’ associations can use their leverage to negotiate with the national bodies and the clubs, not only for pay parity, but to demand that there be women in governance and in operational positions.  

    6. Transparency and Inclusive Language

    It was recommended that football stakeholders be required to include gender statistics in their annual reports on their websites.  For example, Basketball Australia publishes its Board Charter, a de-identified Director Position Profile and Skills Matrix, and female representation statistics.  Advertising all roles, including detailed job descriptions, should also be standard.  Research by Gaucher et al., (2011) found that to attract female candidates to positions, on an equal basis to men, requires inclusive language on websites and in recruitment documentation.  Inclusive language can be identified using tools, such as the Gender Decoder.

    7. Other options including training and term lengths

    Other change mechanisms include mandating term lengths (ASC 2015), ethical leadership (Ordway and Opie 2017) and ‘entitlement’ training, mentoring and sponsorship (ie: shepherding), pay parity and equal media representation.  World Athletics funds targeted recruitment and training programs and has established the Gender Leadership Taskforce to work with the IAAF Women’s Committee and male advocates to identify and upskill women with potential.  Changing structures, and influencing individual and institutional mindsets, rather than focusing only on changing women, is required.

    If you have come across other best practices that have worked, we’d love to hear them. Please email through to: catherine.ordway@canberra.edu.au

    • Please note image at top is a stock photo (Female Soccer player in action on a professional soccer stadium).

     

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    This post was originally published on BroadAgenda.

  • Indigenous scientist Alex Brown appointed to CSIRO board

    Professor Alex Brown has been appointed to the CSIRO board of directors, becoming the first Indigenous scientist to serve on the national science agency’s board and the Albanese government’s first appointment to it. A leader in Aboriginal health and public health services, Professor Brown commenced in the role on March 16 and will serve on…

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  • Local Efforts to Resist Right-Wing Attacks on Education Need National Support

    On January 6, 2023, two years after the far right occupation of the U.S. Capitol, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that he was appointing Christopher Rufo to the Board of Trustees of the New College of Florida. Rufo had been one of the key architects of the Republican effort to stir up a public frenzy around “critical race theory” — turning the term into a right-wing dog whistle for any attempt…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • New College of Florida Is DeSantis’s Launchpad for Attack on Higher Education

    Florida’s colleges and universities are in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s crosshairs as he pushes to follow through on his January 23 inaugural promise to make the Sunshine State the place “where woke goes to die.” The state’s 40 public colleges and universities — 10 of which allow students to pursue degrees in African American studies, Latinx studies, ethnic studies and gender studies — are facing…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Diversity in the media: progress but far to go

    New findings from the University of Canberra’s Valuing Diversity in News and Newsrooms study provide cause for concern as well as optimism about the news industry’s response to gender inequality on screen and in the workforce. The report is based on a national online survey of 2,266 Australians and 196 journalists, combined with in-depth interviews with 27 journalists.

    Audiences give the Australian news media a mixed score card on gender. More than half (57%) say the reporters and journalists in news adequately represent women, while 53% say women are fairly covered in the news and there is enough coverage of issues relevant to women.

    Fewer people think the news coverage of women is impartial (43%) and balanced with the interests of men (44%). These figures, however, drop considerably among women. Women are much less likely to say there is equal treatment between different genders (36%) compared with men (47%).

    This reflects the perception about how society is treating people of different gender. While 47% of men think all genders are treated equally, only 36% of women do. Perceptions of gender representation in media are linked to politics as well as gender, with left-wing respondents (44%) being much less likely to say women are covered fairly in news compared with right-wing (69%).

    FIGURE: AUSTRALIANS’ PERCEPTIONS OF EQUALITY IN SOCIETY AND THE NEWS (%)

    Questions: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following? Men, women and non-binary people are treated equally in Australian society; Thinking about Australian news in general, how well do you think it covers women? [Base: N=2,266]

    Questions: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following? Men, women and non-binary people are treated equally in Australian society; Thinking about Australian news in general, how well do you think it covers women? [Base: N=2,266]

    What audiences may be less aware of is how people from diverse backgrounds are treated within news organisations.

    Journalists were generally more critical of their industry than audiences, with only 53% saying the news industry was doing a good job with gender diversity. Many journalists acknowledge that diversity is a priority and say that their organisation has diversity and inclusion policies in place. However, actual targets and training are less common. Most journalists (female 94%; male 80%) agree that the news industry needs to improve diversity.

    When asked how their own organisation is performing in terms of gender diversity, the majority (female 69%; male 78%) felt there was sufficient diversity. However, less than half (47%) of female journalists said everyone was treated fairly.

    We found a disproportionate number of women  reported experiencing discrimination in their workplace because of their gender (47%) compared to men (17%). Many more (58%) said there were either barriers to employment or career progression in their news organisation. Around one in five (19%) say that there are barriers when applying for jobs in their news organisation because of gender.

    FIGURE: JOURNALISTS’ PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF GENDER DIVERSITY ISSUES (%)

    Questions: To what extent do you think the Australian news media needs to work on improving diversity? [Base: N=196]; Do you think your news organisation has enough employee diversity in the following areas? [Base: N=193] *Excludes freelancers/contractors; Have you experienced discrimination in your newsroom based on your gender? [Base: N=196]

    Questions: To what extent do you think the Australian news media needs to work on improving diversity? [Base: N=196]; Do you think your news organisation has enough employee diversity in the following areas? [Base: N=193] *Excludes freelancers/contractors; Have you experienced discrimination in your newsroom based on your gender? [Base: N=196]

    The majority of respondents saw poor levels of diversity in their senior leadership and management. More than two-thirds ‘somewhat’ or ‘strongly agree’ that their organisation’s junior level is doing a good job with employee diversity (67%). In stark contrast, only 23% ‘somewhat’ or ‘strongly agree’ that senior levels at their organisation are doing well with employee diversity.

    FIGURE: EMPLOYEE DIVERSITY AT YOUR NEWS ORGANISATION BY LEVEL (%)

    Question: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following? My news organisation is doing a good job with employee diversity at a… [Base: N=193] *Excludes freelancers/contractors

    Question: To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following? My news organisation is doing a good job with employee diversity at a… [Base: N=193] *Excludes freelancers/contractors

    Journalists we interviewed were reflexive of their own practices and norms, particularly the unconscious bias they may have in their day-to-day work. A journalist reflected:

    “So much of that can be these subconscious decisions that journalists then make … Not all journalists, but a lot of journalists will just unquestioningly do, which has the greater effect of invisibleising whole communities”.

    About half say their organisation collects and/or monitors staff diversity (49%) and 41% say their organisation holds diversity, equity, and inclusion training and workshops regularly.

    Over half of all respondents (52%) say their news organisation has policies relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, only 39% of journalists say they have taken part in formal training about covering issues of diversity and inclusion in the news in the last 12 months. In reality, there are competing priorities.

    “I know this is important and it’s disrespectful for me to have not prioritised it, but it’s probably that reality thing in newsrooms … you want me to do these training things, but I also need to get these stories done”.

    It is important to be aware of what is happening in the news industry. There is a growing volatility and precarity of the profession in recent years due to the steep decline in advertising for traditional news outlets, many newsrooms closing or contracting, and the rapid shift of audiences to online sources of information and news. These factors all contribute to the increased workload for those who remain in the newsroom.

    Almost half (49%) of journalists in our survey say they are working in two or more different positions including reporting and other jobs such as digital and video news production. We counted the number of different topics individuals say they reported on. Almost half of all respondents (48%) say they report on seven or more different topics in the course of their work. This likely reflects the industry trend of decreasing staff and increasing workload.

    Our survey also shows that women (25%) are more likely to be employed part-time compared to men (20%). This reflects the overall trend we are seeing in Australian news industry. Full-time employment is more common among male journalists, with 78% reporting full-time status, compared to 63% of female journalists, according to Census 2021.

    Our findings show that while the news industry is beginning to address the issue of diversity, there is still much work to be done.

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  • Qld launches strategy for ‘gender-equal manufacturing’

    A Women in Manufacturing strategy that seeks to support greater diversity in the sector has been launched by the Queensland state government, with annual reviews on its progress to be instituted. The evaluation framework for annual reviews of the strategy is under development, with key performance indicators yet to be determined. Development of the strategy…

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  • Govt formally embarks on STEM diversity review

    The multi-stage consultation process on the federal government’s Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review has begun, with panel chair Sally-Ann Williams imploring industry and society to join in the efforts to foster diversity. Announced last September, the review is seeking to identify barriers faced by underrepresented groups in entering, participating, and staying in STEM. The…

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  • UC’s new class of Indigenous female leaders

    You can’t be what you can’t see.

    So when the 64 newly enrolled Indigenous students at the University of Canberra begin their studies this year (on top of around 350 existing Indigenous students), they only need to look up to aspire to success.

    Proud Bidjara woman Professor Maree Meredith has assumed the position of Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Leadership. The job sits within the Office of the Vice-Chancellor , elevating the role at a defining time in Australia’s history with the Voice to Parliament Referendum on the horizon.

    Proud Gamilaroi woman Kirsten Tapine, meanwhile, has assumed the role of Associate Director, Indigenous Leadership and will work closely with Maree.

    Together, these women will be developing an Indigenous Leadership strategy to redefine the range and breadth of ways that the university engages with the community.

    They will also progress an obvious friendship, with Kirsten saying Maree has already inspired her in many ways.

    “I am excited to be working with her! But neither Maree nor I made it here by ourselves. We stand on the shoulders of our beautiful ancestors and those who have come before us and paved the way.”

    “Part of our mantra is to hold that space for others and pave the way for the next generation of leaders, because self-development and self-determination are so important for women especially so they can stand in their power and when we do that, we know it can help heal intergenerational trauma,” Kirsten said.

    Maree began her term last month, having formerly held the role of Director of Poche SA+NT at the College of Medicine and Public Health at Flinders University. Her many priorities at UC include retaining Indigenous staff and recruiting more, expanding Indigenous procurement and engaging       with the Ngunnawal community.

    “For me, it’s about building a pipeline, about being visible as an Indigenous woman in the most senior position, about encouraging academics and staff and putting a huge focus on pathways to university for school students, but also mature-aged students and women in particular.”

    She also drew inspiration from UC Chancellor and Senior Australian of the Year Professor Tom Calma, who has been instrumental in creating the Closing the Gap campaign.

    “He is an incredible leader.”

    Kirsten Tapine and Maree Meredith will work closely together to develop UC’s Indigenous leadership strategy.

    Kirsten Tapine and Maree Meredith will work closely together to develop UC’s Indigenous leadership strategy. Picture: Tyler Cherry

    “I want the University of Canberra to be the university of choice for Indigenous Australians, and for them to see Indigenous representation at every level of the university.”

    UC’s Chancellor and approach to Reconciliation was one of the reasons Kirsten returned to UC, having graduated with a double degree in Commerce and Information Technology from UC in 2018. She said she was inspired to work with Tom as the Chancellor and now Maree—with both women holding the distinction of being the first in family to graduate from university.

    They understand the power of education and approach the upcoming Referendum with hope.

    According to Kirsten “Reconciliation is a movement of the heart and is about walking and working together for the betterment of society, and the responsibility should not lie solely with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”

    Maree said UC had already hosted some important forums to increase understanding of the key issues. “We have been tying all threads together and generating genuine discussion. I see that as our role as a university, to be a safe space for knowledge to be exchanged.”

    • Feature image: Professor Maree Meredith, Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous Leadership at UC (right) and Proud Gamilaroi woman Kirsten Tapine, (left) who has taken up the role of Associate Director, Indigenous Leadership. Picture: Tyler Cherry

     

    This article first appeared on HerCanberra. Read the original here.

    BroadAgenda is a proud partner of HerCanberra. Everything you need to know about Canberra, one destination.

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  • Getting women elected: changing the face of politics

    The Pathways to Politics Program for Women is a national, proudly non-partisan initiative that aims to change the face of politics by equipping women with the skills, knowledge, confidence and networks they need to run for elected office and thrive as political leaders. Next week, Pathways launches at the University of Canberra, making it the sixth tertiary institution around the country to offer the program. 

    Dr Meredith Martin is the Pathways Program Director for the University of Melbourne. She worked closely with Carol Schwartz AO to establish the program in 2016 and has played a leadership role in its national expansion. Here she reflects ahead of the exciting Canberra launch .

    I was thrilled to get an invitation last week to hear the inaugural speech from Georgie Purcell MP, now the youngest woman in the Victorian Parliament since she was elected to the Legislative Council last November. Georgie is one of six alums from the Pathways to Politics Program for Women, across five different political parties, who won seats at last November’s Victorian state election.

    Despite Georgie’s lifelong passion for politics (at nine years old she proudly wrote a song called “Polling Booth Rock”) and the powerful tool it is for creating a kinder, fairer and more just society, she said that becoming a politician was never part of the plan. She felt that women like her, who don’t fit the expected mould of what a politician should look like or act like, would be better off working in the background rather than in public life.

    But speaking to the Legislative Council, Georgie said: “Here I stand today, the youngest woman in this Parliament, owning my story, proud of my past and ready for my future. I now know that my experiences bring a unique perspective to this place and the ability to consider matters with kindness, empathy and compassion. What I once perceived as one of my biggest weaknesses I now know is one of my biggest strengths, and with a new generation of women coming into our parliaments, I hope they can look to me and see that their past will never define their future.”

    As you can imagine, Georgie’s speech received huge applause, big hugs and congratulations from members across party lines.

     

    I know Georgie through her participation in the Pathways to Politics Program for Women (which I’m Director of at the University of Melbourne) and I couldn’t help but beam with pride at the conclusion of her speech – as I have with many of our elected alums over the years. But more than that, the moment made me feel truly optimistic about the political participation of women in our Australian Parliaments and councils, in leadership roles and decision-making positions.

    Pathways to Politics is a national and proudly non-partisan initiative that aims to change the face of politics by equipping women with the skills, knowledge, confidence and networks they need to run for elected office and thrive as political leaders. It is offered free to all selected participants.

    The program was established in response to the persistent underrepresentation of women in politics, and initiated through the vision and support of Carol Schwartz AO, Chair of the Trawalla Foundation, who fundamentally believes in the value of more female leaders.

    In Australia, women are under-represented across all levels of government, business, civil society, and positions of influence. Despite their proven ability as leaders and their right to participa

    Pathways to Politics

    Pathways to Politics 2022 cohort participating in the “Speeches in Parliament” exercise. Picture: Supplied

    te equally in democratic governance, women still face many obstacles to participating in political life.

    We used to be a world leader on women’s representation. In 1902 we became the second country in the world (behind New Zealand) to give women the right to vote. In 1921, Edith Cowan OBE became the first woman elected to an Australian Parliament.

    Yet since the International Parliamentary Union started ranking countries by women’s representation in parliament, Australia has been steadily falling down the rankings. In 1997, we were ranked 27 – but we have since fallen to 57thplace as of 2022. In comparison, New Zealand is ranked sixth. While Australia has made modest progress in women’s representation, other nations have taken great strides. As of January 2023, 42% of federal parliamentarians. Women’s participation at state level varies significantly: NSW 34%, Victoria 49%, Queensland 31%, Western Australia 48%, South Australia 35%, Tasmania 52%, ACT 52%, Northern Territory 48%.

    Pathways to Politics has proven to have real impact in advancing women’s political participation in Australia. We’ve now seen 28 electoral successes nationally, from all sides of politics and at local, state and federal levels of government.

    The program is also growing nationally, helping to equip more women to run for public office. Since founding at the University of Melbourne in 2016, Pathways to Politics has expanded across Australia with partner programs running at QUT, UNSW and Charles Darwin University, and this year we’re thrilled to have the University of Adelaide and University of Canberra joining the family with their inaugural programs for residents of South Australia and ACT. (West Australians and Tasmanians stay tuned – we hope to have more partner programs commencing in the coming years, making the program fully national.)

    Bringing Pathways to Politics to South Australia and the ACT is such an important milestone in the growth of the program nationally, and we can’t wait to see the high quality programs the University of Adelaide and University of Canberra will deliver, and indeed the incredibly talented, passionate women from diverse political, social and cultural backgrounds who will no doubt be applying!

    Like Georgie, it’s not uncommon for the women who join the program to have some doubts about putting themselves forward to run for office. The term “imposter syndrome” still comes up all too frequently in our workshops. But as former Federal MP and Pathways alum Dr Katie Allen told us, “You cannot be what you cannot see. That’s why the Pathways to Politics program is so important. It provides a window into the experience of those who have been politically successful. We need to change the political conversation and the way to do that is to get more women elected.”

    Another of our alums, Cr Tina Samardzija, Deputy Mayor at Monash City Council, told us, “The power of the program for me was normalising the idea of running. With that mental hurdle out of the way, I could focus on building the skills and knowledge I needed to win.”

    By providing practical training, mentorship and opportunities to hear first-hand from leading female politicians across the political spectrum, participants say that they get the confidence boost they need to understand that yes, it isnormal to want to run for political office. And they build those all-important networks to support them on their pathway to politics, which endure way beyond the life of the program – I regularly hear from our alums about the connections they’ve made with each other and within the broader political community that continue to provide them with invaluable support and a sense of community as they navigate the challenges of campaigning and political life.

    We’re eager to meet our 2023 Pathways to Politics cohorts who are ready to bring their great skills, unique experiences and passion to creating a more diverse and inclusive political landscape in Australia – and to changing the face of politics.

    • Applications for the 2023 Pathways to Politics Program for Women open on 6 March. Places are open to women and non-binary residents of Victoria, Queensland, ACT, NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Find out more about the program and apply online at pathwaystopolitics.org.au.

     

    Picture at top: FPathways to Politics alums L-R: Susan Yengi, Sarah Jefford, Cr Tina Samrdzjia (Mayor of Monash City Council), Georgie Purcell MP (Member of the Legislative Council for Northern Victoria). Picture: Supplied

     

    The launch of Pathways to Politics at the University of Canberra is supported by Uni Super. 

     

     

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  • Women in STEM groups warn of approaching funding cliff

    Women in STEM groups are warning of an approach cliff for federally funded programs designed to encourage women into science and technology, with the government unlikely to commit to new funding in the upcoming budget due to an ongoing review. The government put its support for Women in STEM programs under review in September to…

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  • DeSantis Wants to Defund Florida Colleges That Have Programs on Diversity

    Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Tuesday that he plans to ask the state legislature to revoke funds from public colleges in the state if they offer lessons on diversity, equity and inclusion. The proposal would be part of a larger package that the state legislature plans to pass in the spring, The Associated Press reported. DeSantis, who is viewed as a viable Republican candidate…

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    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • DeSantis Targets Diversity Programs, Tenured Professors in ‘Unhinged’​ Attack on Higher Ed

    Taking aim yet again at higher education, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday proposed sweeping changes to the state’s university system, including banning state funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and critical race theory education, as well as forcing tenured professors to undergo reviews at any time.

    Speaking during a press conference at the State College of Florida in Bradenton, DeSantis said he is asking the state Legislature to cut all funding for programs he believes are “ideological.”

    Referring to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs—which aim to promote fair treatment and full participation—and critial race theory, a graduate-level framework dealing with systemic racism, DeSantis said that “we’re also going to eliminate all DEI and CRT bureaucracies in the state of Florida. No funding, and that will wither on the vine.”

    Apparently not satisfied with a state law requiring tenured professors at state colleges and universities to undergo reviews every five years, DeSantis also called for legislation that would subject such educators to reviews at any time, at risk of their jobs.

    “Yes, we have the five-year review of all the tenured faculty, which is, which is good… and the board of trustees has to determine whether they stay or go. But you may need to do review more aggressively than just five,” he said.

    “I’ve talked with folks around the country who’ve been involved in higher ed reform, and the most significant deadweight cost at universities is typically unproductive tenured faculty,” the governor added. “And so why would we want to saddle you as taxpayers with that cost if we don’t have to do that?”

    United Faculty of Florida (UFF), the union representing college and university educators in the state, said it would fight DeSantis’ proposals.

    “The United Faculty of Florida stand in lockstep opposition to any and all so-called ‘reforms’ that will actually destroy our state’s world-class degree programs and their ability to serve our students,” UFF President Andrew Gothard said in a statement. “We will not allow Florida’s future to be sacrificed for cheap political points.”

    Writing for The Chronicle of Higher Education, Francie Diep and Emma Pettit contended that “it’s been a dizzying month for higher ed in the Sunshine State.”

    As the authors explained:

    The recent avalanche of activity began in late December, when DeSantis’ office requested that state colleges and universities list their spending on programs related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory. Florida’s Republican House Speaker, Paul Renner, later asked the same campuses to turn over a mountain of additional DEI-related information.

    DeSantis’ office also requested that state universities report data on transgender students, and he appointed six new trustees to the New College of Florida’s board because, according to his press secretary, the small liberal arts institution has put “trendy, truth-relative concepts above learning.”

    “What I find most troubling is that DeSantis is putting out a blueprint for other governors and state legislatures,” Kristen A. Renn—a professor at Michigan State University who researches LGBTQ+ college issues—told The Chronicle of Higher Education. “He’s doing these things in ways that anybody else can pick this up and do it.”

    DeSantis—a potential 2024 presidential candidate—has also come under fire for other policies and actions including rejecting a college preparatory African-American studies course, banning unapproved books from K-12 libraries, and the Stop WOKE Act, a CRT ban that applies to schools from the primary through university levels and is meant to combat what the governor called “wokeness as a form of cultural Marxism.”

    Mia Brett, legal historian at The Editorial Board, last week compared Republicans’ attacks on education across the country to similar moves by the leaders of Nazi Germany during the early months of their regime.

    “I’m not being hyperbolic when I say this is directly out of Nazi laws passed in 1933. Though if this Republican effort is successful, you might not be able to learn things like that anymore,” she wrote, adding that the legislation banning courses on CRT and racial and gender identity are a “chilling erosion of academic freedom and a huge step toward fascist academic control in the service of right-wing narratives.”

    “While it’s still legal to teach history, remember where such efforts have led and take them seriously,” Brett ominously warned.

  • Sally-Ann Williams to lead govt’s STEM diversity review

    Cicada Innovation chief executive Sally-Ann Williams will lead the government’s review of its women in STEM programs and deliver broader recommendations on improving diversity. Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic announced the Pathway to Diversity in STEM review panel on Thursday, while also reappointing Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith as the government’s Women in STEM Ambassador…

    The post Sally-Ann Williams to lead govt’s STEM diversity review appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • Break the ice. Not trans and gender-diverse students

    The tutor is shouting that we all should pair up and get to know three interesting things about our partner to share with whole class: fun facts like their favourite flavour of ice-cream.

    Fun fact: These kinds of activities are not fun for transgender and gender diverse students who instead of choosing between double choc and rum n raisin need to decide whether to introduce their pronouns or be misgendered in front of the whole class.

    The first option will likely take up the entire conversation and may still not be understood, while the second could mean a whole semester struggling in silence.

    Transgender Awareness Week (November 13-20) falls too late in the year to address the agony of first-class icebreakers. Nevertheless, it is a valuable opportunity for transgender and gender diverse people and their allies to take action to bring attention to the diverse needs and voices of the transgender community.

    Yet, looking beyond the rainbow optics of diversity policies and international days of celebration and memorialisation, the everyday experiences of higher education for transgender and gender diverse students are complex and varied.

    As Moses*, a trans masc student with non-binary elements, noted there is a fine balance between having a “teachable moment with someone…which is interesting but also it is not our job, we are just people.” Or as Ollie, a student from the University of Adelaide student put it: “We’re not at university to have trans-rights battles…We’re at university to learn about whatever we’re meant to be learning about.”

    For Ollie being “so hyper-aware of being perceived” made concentration and learning difficult. Psychologist Charmine Härtel explains that a transgender and gender diverse students will look for clues by scanning the new environment of a tutorial.

    They will be sensitive to negative cues which results in non-disclosure of information and self-editing.

    The coping and security mechanism of self-editing takes up a lot of brain power and emotional energy, energy that could be used for learning.

    Annie and Robin believe Transgender Awareness Week (November 13-20) falls too late in the year to address the agony of first-class icebreakers. Picture: Shutterstock

    Annie and Robin believe Transgender Awareness Week (November 13-20) falls too late in the year to address the agony of first-class icebreakers. Picture: Shutterstock

    The problem also frequently extends beyond pronouns, as one queer student shared with us: “The use of ‘preferred name’ did not update across the various administrative accounts, and so I was outed publicly in each of my classes until my teaching staff learned to correct themselves.”

    For one Sydney University student updating their legal name in the University system did not result in changes to how they were being addressed in class. In this case, less than half of the commonly used student interfaces actually recognised the change leading the student to  note that: “It was easier to change my name legally than through the Student Centre.”

    But it doesn’t have to be like this. Moses also described having a mostly positive experience with “some really amazing professors and tutors”. That it is possible to offer amazing pedagogical experiences alongside moments of gender euphoria should set a standard for us all. So rather than fun facts, try reaching out to your gender diverse students for their hot tips! To conclude here are ours:

    Robin: Keeping an open mind that everyone can learn new things by staying curious and courageous to educate yourself, especially when occupying a student-facing or teaching role at university.

    Annie: Be willing to be guided by students, be willing to apologise and be willing to do things differently.

    • Participant in Robin’s research project concerning work experience and career development of transgender and gender diverse individuals.

     

    The post Break the ice. Not trans and gender-diverse students appeared first on BroadAgenda.

    This post was originally published on BroadAgenda.

  • The ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets?

    Four hundred years ago Emilia Bassano raised her voice. The world didn’t listen. Who was Emilia? Was she the ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets? What of her own poems? And why was her story erased from history? Fierce and provocative, the play Emilia was written by Morgan Lloyd Malcolm and tells the story of a woman and her sisters who call out to us across the centuries with passion, fury, laughter, and song.

    The work is a mix of laughter and fury – a play that takes its audiences on an exuberant and moving journey though love, loss, identity, ambition, power, rebellion and what it is to be a woman in a man’s world. 

    With a cast of 13 incredible women and non-binary performers, this play – which will shortly be showing at Canberra Theatre Centre –  celebrates all voices through the trailblazing story of a woman who refused to take no for an answer. BroadAgenda editor Ginger Gorman speaks to director Petra Kalive.

    If you were explaining the show in a nutshell to someone who didn’t know anything about it, what would you say? 

    Emilia is the story a woman who lived in Shakespeare’s time and who many think was Shakespeare’s muse –  his ‘Dark Lady’ of the sonnets. But she was much more than that. A writer, poet, leader, mother and teacher. We are finally sharing her story and it is funny, powerful and inspiring.

    Like so many women, Emilia was erased from history. What can you tell us about her?

    Emilia was born in 1569 into a family of musicians. It is difficult to ascertain her heritage exactly, but she was definitely Italian, Jewish and likely of North African Descent. Her father died young and so she was placed in the care of Countess Susan Bertie, a noblewoman favoured of Queen Elizabeth.

    It was in Bertie’s care that Emilia was educated and introduced to court. Emilia became mistress to Lord Henry Carey, a very powerful nobleman and courtier and the patron of the Lord Chamberlin’s men (William Shakespeare’s company). Lord Carey provided Emilia with financial security, independence and literary connections including an introduction to Mary Sidney (a noble woman who developed and led the most important and influential literary circle in English history, now called Wilton Circle).

    Time as Carey’s mistress meant time to write but soon Emilia became pregnant and was married off to her cousin Alphonso Lanier. While married she continued to write and it was at this stage she met Shakespeare.

    It is suggested that they became lovers and there are many differing schools of thought about how much input Emilia had in Shakespeare’s works. In the first instance her knowledge of music seems to have been influential in Shakespeare’s works.

    Her name appears in multiple iterations across many of Shakespeare’s works, as does her home, Italy. It is interesting to note that Shakespeare wrote such rich female characters, with voice and agency and yet did not teach his own daughter to read. It begs the question, who else was urging supporting Shakespeare to realise these perspectives in his plays?We think Emilia.

    After the death of her daughter and multiple miscarriages, she goes to teach women ‘south of the river’ how to read and write. At the age of 42, Emilia published a collection of poetry called Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (Hail, God, King of the Jews).

    Emilia’s book was the first substantial, original book of poetry written by an Englishwoman. It was about the Crucifixion of Christ from a female perspective. It was revolutionary for its time and within the text were messages and radical ideas for women to stand up, have agency and a voice.

    While she was a product of her time, the writings reflect progressive ideas for a classless world where men and women were seen as equals. I like to think of it as one of the first feminist works, subversively buried in religion so as not to alert the censors. Emilia died in 1645.

    UK's Times newspaper said Emilia is a “fire-cracker production” with “a clever mix of history and revolution”. Picture: Supplied

    UK’s Times newspaper said Emilia is a “fire-cracker production” with “a clever mix of history and revolution”. Picture: Supplied

    This cast is extremely diverse. Why have you taken this approach? What does that bring to the stage? 

    The play was written to be performed by an all female cast of diverse women and non-binary performers. It would not be the same play if this was ignored. Morgan Lloyd Malcom also wrote Emilia to be played by three different actors, which challenges the idea that a play about a person needs to be a vehicle for one actor. It allows a depth of perspective as these three different performers bring their different lived experiences to the role and I feel provides the audience more entry points into the work.

    In a way we are all Emilia. Personally, I want to see work on our stages that reflects the world in which we live. I would not say that this cast is ‘extremely diverse’, it simply reflects the reality of the world.

    We have spent a lot of time in theatre excluding people for no good reason. The play is about a story erased from history – I was determined not to erase the intersection of multiple female and non-binary experiences from the rehearsal room conversation and I thought it exceedingly important for an audience to experience that intersection of feminisms/experiences as well.

    What’s your favourite quote or scene in the play and why? 

    There are so many moments in the play that are my favourites. I love the humour in the work – it’s so funny and subversive. But the monologue spoken by Emilia 3, always makes me tear up a bit. It may seem unremarkable to you, but I think it is a lived experience for so many women (and especially women of colour)

    It is a wondrous thing when someone instills their confidence in you. Offers you their hand. Believes you can do it and you alone. Sees you not as a risk or a trifle, sees you not to be patronised or dismissed. And I see through my many years now how valuable that is to any kind of creation. And how lucky some have been to have had that from birth. An assumption that ‘you will’, instead of one that says ‘you shouldn’t’. 

    The play is described as being both hilarious and furious. What can you tell us about the emotional landscape of the play? 

    What Morgan Lloyd Malcom balances brilliantly is the deep fury and injustice felt from the generational legacy that our society holds at its core from silencing, disempowering and hurting women while celebrating our strength, and fallibility and humanity.

    Morgan balances laughing at the absurdity of the patriarchy while acknowledging the very real impact that has on women’s lives and bodies. And this is one of the most brilliant things about the play, it simultaneously holds those two seemingly conflicting truths. It uses the form of theatre, in a very Shakespearean Globe way to allow these ideas to sit in opposition.

    Morgan (like Shakespeare) is using humour to talk to the many to get her audience breathing and enjoying the storytelling, and using poetry and drama to elevate the story of a forgotten woman. It’s been an absolute gift to direct, to be joyful and playful (there has been so much laughter), but we are never far from the truth of the experience and impact that inequality has had on women and still continues to have.

    It’s amazing that the issues women had 400 years ago are still relevant today. As a a feminist, how does that make you feel? How do you hold onto hope?

    Yes, there is still a long way to go and while we consistently take steps forward, we seem to take steps back and sideways along the way too. I think power and privilege is a difficult thing to acknowledge and relinquish.

    But more and more, I am seeing and experiencing a cultural shift. Some people are stepping aside – but more importantly, so many people are speaking out and stepping up. That gives me hope.

    There is serious scholarly work exploring whether Emilia was actually Shakespeare and that he published her work and another woman’s work under his name. Does the production challenge us to consider if Shakespeare was really a woman (or two)?

    No the production doesn’t ask us to consider whether Shakespeare was a woman. It gets us to think about the fact that maybe he wasn’t a solo genius. It challenges the idea of the wunderkind. That Emilia significantly contributed to his work and works and that had he been writing today, the credit line to his works may have read – by William Shakespeare & Emilia Lanier with the Lord Chamberlin’s men. I believe it was a collaborative act – like all good theatre making.

    • Picture at top: In Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s electrifying new play, Emilia and her sisters call out to us across the centuries with passion, fury, laughter, and song. Picture: Supplied 

     

     

    The post The ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets? appeared first on BroadAgenda.

    This post was originally published on BroadAgenda.

  • Win for diversity in Wellington, defeat in Auckland as NZ votes local

    RNZ News

    Wellington’s Tory Whanau has convincingly won the mayoralty race for Te Whanganui-a-Tara in a triumph for diversity in Aotearoa New Zealand’s local government elections.

    She said getting the call to say she had won was “pretty wild”.

    Whanau ran as an independent, but was a Green Party chief of staff and digital director for six years before joining local politics.

    She beat Andy Foster who was running for a second term as mayor after holding a seat on the city council since 1992. Foster finished second, Ray Chung came in third and Paul Eagle fourth.

    In the other major cities, Phil Mauger was winning in Christchurch, Jules Radich prevailing in Dunedin and Wayne Brown claiming victory in Auckland, defeating the Pacific hopeful Fa’anānā Efeso Collins.

    Paula Southgate is set to be re-elected as Hamilton’s mayor.

    One-term councillor Jules Radich has won the Dunedin mayoralty off incumbent Aaron Hawkins. Radich garnered almost twice the number of first preference votes than any of his rivals.

    Narrow lead
    The Christchurch council said Mauger had a narrow 4000-vote majority over David Meates with 50,086 votes.

    New Zealand's new mayors, according to the provisional results (from left): Auckland's Wayne Brown; Wellington's Tory Whanau; Christchurch's Phil Mauger; and Dunedin's Jules Radich.
    New Zealand’s new mayors of the country’s major cities, according to the provisional results … Auckland’s Wayne Brown (from left); Wellington’s Tory Whanau; Christchurch’s Phil Mauger; and Dunedin’s Jules Radich. Image: RNZ

    Brown is leading the Auckland mayoralty race with 144,619 votes, ahead of Efeso Collins by 54,808 votes. This progress result reflects about 85 to 90 per cent of votes counted after voting closed at midday today.

    Progress results show Tim Shadbolt — who held the record for most elected terms as mayor, eight — losing heavily in Invercargill, with former deputy mayor Nobby Clark winning the top job in Invercargill, and broadcaster Marcus Lush conceding in a tweet.

    Results also show Rangitikei mayor Andy Watson has won his fourth term in office, while Neil Brown has been re-elected Mayor of Ashburton by a large majority. Nigel Bowen looks to be re-elected as Timaru mayor and Kirsten Wise will return as Napier mayor for a second term.

    Tania Tapsell has been elected as Rotorua’s new mayor. She takes over from Steve Chadwick, who was mayor for three terms. Vince Cocurullo is on track to win the Whangāreri mayoralty and Grant Smith has been releected as Palmerston North mayor.

    Andrew Tripe will be the new mayor of Whanganui, beating incumbent Hamish McDouall by about 2000 votes, and Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy has been re-elected for another term.

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • Women in STEM earn $26,000 less than men

    The gender pay gap persists across all STEM industries as women continue to be underrepresented in senior leadership roles, according to the latest edition of the federal government’s STEM Equity Monitor. In 2021, women across all STEM industries earned 18 per cent ($26,784) less than men on average. This is an improvement on the previous…

    The post Women in STEM earn $26,000 less than men appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • Want to do a PhD about cyberhate against female athletes?

    Remember when AFLW Carlton forward Tayla Harris got predator trolled simply for doing her job? 

    In case your memory needs jogging, back in 2019 a photograph taken by AFL Media senior photographer Michael Willson depicted Harris’ powerful kicking style, became subject to floods of vile online commentary.

    At the time, Harris correctly identified the harassment as “sexual abuse on social media“. In other words, she was sustaining an injury in an unsafe workplace. And this made what happened an occupational health and safety issue – not just for her, but potentially for every athlete. 

    For anyone interested in enrolling in a full-time PhD from February 2023, the University of Canberra is offering a scholarship to research ‘Online trolling and e-safety: Women athletes and women working in the sports industry’ together with Sport Integrity Australia.

    The Information session on the Women in Sports Industry partnership scholarships, will be held in person and on-line.

    Where: Clive Price Suite (1C50) @University of Canberra When: 27 September 5:30 until 7pm AEST

    What: Meet our industry partners and researchers, hear about our research in Women in Sport, and discuss your career goals

    Register your attendance by emailing UCSportStrategy@canberra.edu.au 

    Cyberhate in Australia is no small matter. The nationally representative polling I commissioned from the Australia Institute in 2018 found the upper cost of cyberhate and online harassment to the Australian economy is $3.7 billion. That figure only counts lost income and medical expenses — so the real cost is far greater.

    The same polling also showed women were more likely to report receiving threats of sexual assault, violence or death; incitement of others to stalk or threaten them in real life; unwanted sexual messages and publication of their personal details.

    Research around the world also repeatedly finds people of colour are attacked more. It further illustrates that being both a woman and a POC makes you extra vulnerable on the Internet. 

    As I discuss in my best-selling book, Troll Hunting, we know women in the public eye – people including but not limited to: journalists, politicians and sportspeople – are frequently subject to extreme and ongoing cyberhate that leads to real-life harm. In the most egregious cases, they may be killed. 

    Once I started investigating and reporting on cyberhate in the Australian press back in 2015, Aussie women in sport started telling me their own stories of being hunted online.

    These women were not just elite athletes like Tayla, but also female umpires, sports journalists and administrators.

    Heather Reid was the former CEO of Capital Football in the ACT. She gave up her career because of extreme and sustained cyberhate, and her organisation did very little to support her. 

    Although Reid had her day in court and won, her life was impacted in ways the justice system could never repair. She moved away from Canberra – a city she loved – with her partner. Reid also suffered extreme, ongoing health impacts as a result of stress associated with the vitriolic and homophobic online hatred against her.  

    Back in 2015, she told me: “This is my workplace and nobody should have to put up with abuse or harassment at work.”

    One last example: Freelance sports journalist and academic Kate O’Halloran has been the target of trolls on numerous occasions. At one stage, the predator trolling was so severe, O’Hallaron found herself afraid to leave the house. 

    Like Reid, she cops abuse that not only targets her gender, but her sexuality.

    Myself and my colleagues at the University of Canberra concur with Harris, Reid and O’Halloran; we do not believe your gender – or sexuality – should make you unsafe at work (or destroy your career).

    What we would like to know is: What’s the scale of this abuse against female athletes, non-binary folks and those working in the sports industry? What forms does gendered abuse take online? Most importantly, how can we stop it?  

    Dr Catherine Ordway lectures in sports integrity and ethics at the University of Canberra. (She’ll also be your primary supervisor if you successfully win this scholarship to investigate cyberhate against female and non-binary athletes. I’m also on the advisory panel!)

    Dr Ordway says: “Cyber violence against women and girls has now being recognised as, not only a work, health and safety issue, but a broader human rights issue.  Sport was designed by and for men. 

    “The deepest level of toxic, misogynist attacks are reserved for women who ‘dare’ to play, watch and work in sport – particularly if they are non-white, non-binary, and/or non-conformist in the cis heteronormative mould of femininity”.

    C’mon. Use the email address above to register your interest. You know you want to! (And it’s important you do.)

    This PhD research is proudly supported by the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation at the University of Canberra (home of BroadAgenda, publisher of this article!)

     

    Feature image at top: Women soccer players in a team doing the plank fitness exercise in training together on a practice sports field. Picture: Shutterstock 

     

    The post Want to do a PhD about cyberhate against female athletes? appeared first on BroadAgenda.

  • Liz Truss’ new diverse cabinet will ruin your life in the usual way

    Liz Truss’ new cabinet has been praised, by fuckwits for being a diverse group of people. Some of the prominent roles have been given to Black and brown people. Suella Braverman is the home secretary, James Cleverly is the foreign secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng is the chancellor, and Kemi Badenoch is the international trade secretary.

    The racial literacy in this country is so poor that the usual suspects have been calling this a win for diversity. However, diversity is not a metric to measure the opportunities for the participation of people of colour in society. Getting Black and brown faces into positions of power means very little if those same people don’t use their power to make life better for the most vulnerable people in society.

    Class issue

    This may come as a surprise to some, but as well as having a race that isn’t white, Black and brown people also have class identities. One social media user pointed out how important class is to understanding “diversity”:

    As Labour MP Ian Lavery said:

    What’s the point in trumpeting diversity when all of these people are rich and/or privately educated? They have the kind of opportunities that most poor Black and brown people couldn’t even dream of. They’re in these positions of power because they’ve chosen to act in the interests of power. This is all the more grating given that the praise heaped on this ‘diverse’ cabinet is based on fucked-up understandings of what representation and diversity are. Getting brown faces in at the top does nothing for the most vulnerable people in our society. In which case, what is the fucking point of this so-called ‘diversity’?

    Skin folk are not kin folk

    People who have patiently been pointing out this very thing for a long time are having to do so again:

    It’s more than a little frustrating to deal with the same ill-thought-out positions again and again:

    Academic Roger Luckhurst had a more tongue-in-cheek (if accurate) take on the matter:

    The policies matter, not the people

    Let’s take a look at their policies, then.

    Suella Braverman is said to be even more right wing than Priti Patel. She’s expected to re-attempt deportations to Rwanda by sidestepping the European Convention on Human Rights. She’s criticised the civil service for being too “woke.” In a pattern the rest of her colleagues seem to be following, she’s set herself out as a transphobe via her insistence that schools shouldn’t comply with the use of a student’s pronouns if those pronouns don’t align with their gender assigned at birth.

    Cleverly has a military background and, according to the site They Work For You, has never voted to allow same-sex marriage, generally voted against laws that promote equal rights, and has consistently voted for the mass surveillance of people’s communications. Declassified UK highlighted Cleverly’s record on Palestine:

    Kwasi Kwarteng has been described as Liz Truss’ “ideological soulmate“, and co-authored a book which the Guardian reported as a:

    controversial libertarian tract [that] railed against a “bloated state, high taxes and excessive regulation” – complaints that Truss made a cornerstone of her Tory leadership campaign, neglecting her party’s 12 years in power.

    Declassified UK also picked up on Kwarteng’s unsavoury connections:

    Kemi Badenoch, meanwhile, has made a name for herself in the right wing-manufactured culture war by railing against critical race theory. She also attacked journalist Nadine White, who is the first dedicated race correspondent at the Independent. 

    Not exactly a progressive bunch, are they?

    Perspective

    Back in 2020, when we were taken on this same merryground of celebrating diversity, rapper Lowkey tweeted:

    Politics has become solely about optics. It’s not about building infrastructures that support vulnerable people. It’s not about creating a healthcare system that functions equitably. It’s not about providing safety nets of welfare and a universal basic income. It’s about the richest people hoarding power at the top of our political system. It doesn’t matter to these people if folks are freezing and starving to death in their homes, or if transphobic hate crimes are on the rise, or if anti-Blackness is flourishing.

    If you’re stupid enough to fall for the lie that is diversity alongside no other metric, you deserve what you get. The rest of us are busy trying to survive the mess these people keep creating.

    Featured image by Wikimedia Commons/Chris McAndrew, Wikimedia Commons/Chris McAndrew, Wikimedia Commons/Chris McAndrew, Wikimedia Commons/Chris McAndrew via CC 3.0, resized to 770×403

    By Maryam Jameela

    This post was originally published on The Canary.

  • The isolation of being transgender: How I got here

    Nothing to Hide is Australia’s first mainstream anthology of trans and gender diverse writing. In this excerpt, Stacey Stokes writes about her tough and painful journey to become a woman. This excerpt is published with full permission. 

    Content notification: This post discusses sexual violence, stigmatisation and discrimination based on a person’s gender identity.

    When I was three years old, I started wearing my sister’s old dresses. They seemed so pretty to me. My favourite was the colour of a Cherry Ripe wrapper. The soft satin felt nice on my skin, and I loved the way it swirled around my legs. My parents must’ve told me that I wasn’t allowed to wear dresses because I hid them in a box deep inside an unused wardrobe, and wore them only when I thought I was alone.

    One night, I went to my hidey spot and discovered that all my pretty dresses were gone. Who had taken them? Did they know that I’d put them there? I didn’t know. I was devastated, and afraid that I’d be told off by my dad at any moment for my secret, lost collection.

    After all my pretty clothes had been taken away, I had to find new forms of beauty. Like fire. I loved the way that I could make it appear whenever I wanted and watch it dance around in its beau­tiful red colours.

    When I was four, I set fire to the lounge room by inserting rolled up paper into the pilot light of the wall heater, then using the lit paper to make little fires on the carpet. My parents asked me if I had set the fire, but I shook my head. Then they asked who did it. ‘A little boy with brown hair, a Transformers T­shirt and grey pants,’ I replied. That’s what I was wearing, of course, but I was no little boy.

    When I started primary school, I’d choose to play the princess in make­ believe games with the boys. It didn’t make me popular. I liked playing with the girls, but soon they began to exclude me too. I started to hate school, and did everything I could to avoid it.

    One school day, I told my mum that I was sick, and I stayed at home alone watching daytime television. Mum was doing the washing, dad was at work and my brother and sister had gone to school, so I had the run of the house.

    I sat cross­legged in the lounge room with the sun streaming in, watching our old boxy TV that looked like it had been sitting there since the Cold War era. TV was my window into the real world. At 12 o’clock, Jerry Springer came on. It was an episode about transgender people, and the audience cruelly pointed and laughed at all the guests. It hurt me terribly to see them being laughed at.

    At the end of the show, Jerry talked about being transgender. He said, ‘If you want to be a girl, then you can be a girl. All you have to do is want it enough.’ So every night before I went to sleep, I concentrated as hard as I could on my dream of being a girl. But every morning, I woke up to find that I still had a penis.

    My penis was so embarrassing to me. It was a dark and horrible shame that I didn’t want anyone to know about. When I dressed in trousers to go to school, I’d tuck it back and pretend it didn’t exist. I’d never, ever wear shorts, even in summer, because I couldn’t stand the sight of my little bulge. I refused to participate in sports carnivals, because they insisted that everyone wear shorts. I never even learnt to swim because I’d never,ever wear bathers.

    My mum is bipolar, and she was always in and out of psychi­ atric wards when I was growing up. In fact, a family member told me I was conceived in one. My mum’s condition had a large influence on everyone in my family, but challenged her the most. She’s a smart, caring and non­judgmental person who was deeply maternal, but the medication the doctors put her on really dumbed her down.

    When the meds stopped working or when she’d refuse to take them she’d get sad and cry a lot, or would stay up all night babbling on about things that made no sense, and laugh hysterically. My dad was deeply avoidant and just buried himself in his work.

    Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia

    Cover image: Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia. Picture: Supplied

    When I was 10, my parents separated for good. My mum took me up to NSW and my sister stayed in Victoria with Dad. I got sent back down to Victoria to see Dad from time to time, but I didn’t know how to act like a proper boy, which I knew I had to do in front of him. It made me feel awkward and withdrawn. My mum was either dumbed down from her medication or she was in hospital. I felt so alone, with no one I could tell my secrets to.

    I started missing so much school that the truancy officers started knocking on our door. My dad was so worried that I was falling behind that he got a Family Court order to say that I had to see a child psychologist. When I went to their office, the psychologist held up a picture of two dogs having sex and asked me if anyone had ever done that to me.

    My first thought was, ‘No, this is the first time an adult has shown me pictures of animals having sex, you pervert!’ They didn’t ask me anything about wanting to be a girl, and I didn’t know how to bring it up. They declared me a strange, troubled boy, and sent me back to Victoria to live with my dad and my sister.

    When I got back to Victoria, my sister told me I was gay. She tried to tell me that it was okay to be gay, and that I shouldn’t be ashamed. I kept telling her I wasn’t gay, but she didn’t believe me.

    Her boyfriend at the time wasn’t as nice about it. He called me ‘fag boy’, and would stick his tongue in my ear and ask me if I liked it. I didn’t, it made me feel upset and dirty. My dad joined in, and started calling me ‘poofter’ as a nickname.

    My dad decided I needed to be toughened up, and he sent me to a Catholic boarding school, wherethey trained us to be ‘Christian soldiers’. All weekend, we were made to march or pray to Jesus. I didn’t fit in, and the boys kept themselves entertained by taunting me. They covered me in shaving cream while I was sleeping and heated up bits of metal with lighters, burning me with them, which scarred me for life. It got so bad that I ran away from school one night and slept in a public toilet. I called my mum the next day, and she drove down from NSW to come and get me.

    I think my dad gave up on me after that. Back at Mum’s, I enrolled in a new school, which I was hoping would be a fresh start. I decided to make myself over as a ‘metal head’. I grew my hair long and got a guitar that I never did learn how to play. I would blast ‘Cemetery Gates’ by Pantera so loud that sometimes the police would come round to tell me to turn it off. I started smoking and drinking, and Ioften hosted drunken parties at my place when Mum was in the psychiatric unit. I stopped eating and lived off coffee and alcohol, and I lost heaps of weight.

    Eventually people started mistaking me for a girl because I was so skinny and long­haired. Whenpeople got a better look at me they would all react differently; girls would usually say sorry, assuming they’d offended me. Guys would do adouble­take and then call me a ‘fucking faggot’.

    When they pointed and yelled this at me out of car windows, it reminded me of the audience on the Jerry Springer show, treating the transgender people like circus freaks. I imagined how much worse things could be if I actually transitioned.

    Eventually, I dropped out of school altogether. I stayed up all night drinking and smoking and playing PlayStation. Somehow, I got a girlfriend, and for the first time in my life I felt I finally had someone I could trust. She would come over, stay the night, get changed into her school clothes and go to school, leaving her orig­inal outfit behind. All her clothes fit me really nicely, which I’d wear alone in the house while she was away. I thought I looked pretty nice, and things were going well between us. I even started to consider telling her about the real me.

    Instead, one night she looked at me and told me she wanted to cut off my hair. ‘It looks too girly,’ she said. ‘What’s wrong with that?’ I replied. She disclosed to me that her dad, who was no longer in her life, had had a ‘sex change’ just before she’d met me.

    She said that she’d never forgiven her dad, and that she’d sent him a letter telling him that she hated him and wanted nothing to do with him. While she told me this story, she kept using ‘him’ over and over again.

    ‘He’s dead to me,’ she said as she ended her story. I was devastated to discover that the first person I felt I could trust hated transgender people. I felt more alone than ever.

    I started to feel that my body was a stranger’s. I hated what I saw in the mirror. I didn’t know who Iwas or what to do, so I just drank, smoked and slept with every girl I came across. My girl­ friend and Isplit up, and I moved up to Newcastle. In 2000, I was such a drunken mess that when the Olympic torch went right past my flat, I was too smashed to even stick my head out the window and look.

    My flat was practically empty of furniture, and there was even a bullet hole in one of the windows thanks to some local criminals who did a drive­by shooting at my house after I pissed them off somehow. When 9/11 happened I only found out because they interrupted DragonBall Z—the only show I’d wake up before midday to watch—to show the footage.

    I had a new girlfriend by then. I often asked her to dress me up in her clothes, which were little miniskirts and tight cocktail dresses. My favourite was a green velvet dress that I paired with some knee­ high boots. She said I looked better in it than she did, which meant a lot to me, but we ended up splitting up because of my drinking.

    My dad put a lot of pressure on me to move back to Victoria, because he was worried that I’d die or end up in jail if I stayed in Newcastle. He gave me a job in his office, where my brother also worked, and I got to know him a little. I told him that Dad thought I was gay, which really frustrated me because I knew that I liked girls.

    Determined to prove how not gay I was, I slept with every girl that I could. I even called my dad to tell him I wouldn’t be coming into work as I’d torn my penis during sex. My brother, who overheard the conversation, drove over to see if that could really happen, and went really pale after seeing all the blood.

    I eventually got sick of my dad’s homophobic taunts, and decided to try and get my high school certificate at Victoria University. I made some nice female friends who also thought I was gay, mainly because I had stopped trying to have sex with women all the time. I had replaced that addiction with playing World of Warcraft obses­ sively as a female character. My beautiful avatar was a Night Elf, who was tall with long, platinum blonde hair past her waist, and an ever­changing array of dresses that noone could take off her.

    A beautiful girl started coming over and just sitting with me while I played World of Warcraft. She called me at night and we’d have long phone conversations, talking about anything and everything, and that’s how I started falling in love with her. She seemed to truly care about me.

    We started dating, and soon after I asked her to dress me up in her clothes. She put me in a stunning blue dress that matched my eyes. I asked her if she’d still love me if I was a girl, and she said that she would as long as she could see my beautiful blue eyes. But she didn’t think I was serious.

    Despite my new love, I was still drinking a lot and got arrested for drunkenly climbing the roof of a restaurant, apparently looking for a table with a view. I got charged and pleaded guilty, and copped a big fine.

    My girlfriend became pregnant, and soon we had two beautiful baby girls. We married, and I landed a job as a maritime security officer. I was desperate to get on the straight and narrow to support my family, and I swore off booze and smokes.

    One night, I asked my wife if she’d leave me if I got a sex change. She thought about it, and said that she definitely would.

    I was crushed. It brought me right back to the shame I felt when I’d first seen the audience laughing at Jerry Springer’s transgender guests. I started drinking again. I was passive aggressive, and increasingly painful to be around, as I projected my unhappiness onto everyone around me.

    My house stopped feeling like my home, it just felt like a stranger’s. I had such bad anxiety that I developed an eye twitch and had trouble swallowing food. I kept drinking more and more, and alienated my family through my increasingly toxic behaviour.

    "I started to feel that my body was a stranger’s. I hated what I saw in the mirror," writes Stacey.

    “I started to feel that my body was a stranger’s. I hated what I saw in the mirror,” writes Stacey. Photo: Shutterstock 

    One day, my kid’s teachers got so concerned that they called child protection, who started asking me lots of questions about domestic violence and child abuse. Pretty soon, the police took over asking all the questions, and I ended up in jail.

    When I finally got bail, I moved in with my nan and my mum, who were living together back in Victoria. It was at my nan’s house that I really had time to stop and think about what I’d done, and how I had pushed everyone away with my awful behaviour. I decided that since I was now a complete outcast,I might as well transition after all. How could things get any worse? I went to court back and forth, and disclosed to my defence lawyer that I was transgender.

    My lawyer disclosed this to the judge during my sentencing hearing. The judge said that I wouldn’t have any trouble with that since I wouldn’t have access to women’s clothes anyway. The judge said that I could minimise my harassment by growing a beard, cutting my hair and using my deadname. Basically, don’t be trans and you won’t be harassed. It really made me wonder about how out of touch the people who decide our fates really are.

    In prison, I began an epic battle to receive gender­affirming health care with longstanding help from a community legal service. It took years to get a referral from a doctor to get on hormone replacement therapy, to be allowed female clothing and for staff to refer to me with female pronouns. I’ve been on female hormones for years now, but I am still not allowed to legally change my gender marker as the government says it may ‘offend’ the community. I’ve only stayed sane because of an incredible social worker who has volunteered their time to support me and help me lodge endless paperwork.

    A men’s prison is not a safe place for a trans woman. Since I’ve been inside, I’ve been bullied, bashed and raped. I have nightmares most nights and I have tried to end my life many times. If it wasn’t for the external support I’ve received, I probably would’ve kept on trying until I succeeded.

    Despite the cruelty I’ve been exposed to in prison, I’m still glad that I finally know who I am. I’ve learnt that I can live without alcohol, and that I don’t need sex to make me happy. I am still haunted by some of the things I have done, and I am terribly sorry about the harm I’ve caused to the people who loved me. I wish I had been able to live as my true self when I was younger, as I might’ve been able tospare many people a great deal of pain and projected anger.

    I still haven’t gotten out of prison yet, and some days it’s tough in here. But I am grateful that my body is now mine, and that I am starting to love the person I see in the mirror.

    Nothing to Hide: Voices of Trans and Gender Diverse Australia is out now. 

    • Please note: the photos in this story are stock images. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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    The post The isolation of being transgender: How I got here appeared first on BroadAgenda.

    This post was originally published on BroadAgenda.

  • Labour’s caucus suspends rogue MP Gaurav Sharma for ‘breach of trust’

    RNZ News

    Aotearoa New Zealand’s ruling Labour’s caucus has unanimously decided to suspend Hamilton West MP Dr Gaurav Sharma effective immediately in the wake of allegations of bullying of and by MPs.

    This morning, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s office confirmed the meeting to discuss allegations of bullying raised by Hamilton West MP Gaurav Sharma would take place this afternoon.

    The meeting addressed Dr Sharma’s status within the party after he took his concerns to the media rather than usual party processes for dealing with disputes.

    Dr Sharma has complained, however, that using those mechanisms have got him nowhere, saying he had tried dealing with the concerns through the party whip’s office and Parliamentary Service for the past year and a half.

    He was not at the caucus meeting this afternoon.

    “I note that he did find the time to talk to media,” Ardern said.

    “Caucus has determined suspension is the most appropriate response to the repeated breaches of trust from Gaurav over recent days.

    No longer in caucus
    “This means Gaurav will continue as the MP for Hamilton West and be expected to be present at Parliament. However, he will no longer participate in any caucus events or activities unless caucus’ permission is granted.”

    Dr Sharma was emailed, phoned, and text messaged to try to get him to attend the meeting today, she said.

    Watch the conference 

    Labour’s unanimous decision to suspend MP Dr Sharma. Video: RNZ News

    Ardern said she called and tried to message him after the meeting this afternoon, as have others, and she hoped this was not the first he had heard of his suspension.

    “We have made efforts to convey this information to him directly.”

    The whips directly engaged with Dr Sharma on whether he would attend, she said.

    “Originally a range of options were sent and they didn’t receive a response. They then proposed a time and they were told at that time that no, at that time Gaurav had a specific event.

    “They then advised that we would set a meeting time at a time that suited Gaurav today, he advised that nearer to 3[pm] would suit so whips suggested 2.30, we then at that point didn’t receive any further engagement.”

    All of Labour’s MPs were invited to attend today, she said.

    Decision unanimous
    She said the decision was unanimous, and the team was clear that to function as a political party in a place where open debate and dialogue was key, members needed to be able to trust their colleagues.

    “You need to feel you can speak openly and freely. That sense of trust has been broken by repeated breaches of our caucus rules over the last five days and that made the decision very clear,” she said.

    Ardern and party leadership have continued to refer to the allegations — which in particular accuse former whip Kieran McAnulty of bullying and gaslighting — as an employment concern between Dr Sharma and the staff in his office.

    RNZ has sought comment from McAnulty repeatedly but he has not responded.

    Ardern said, based on the documents she has reviewed, the Labour whip’s office and Parliamentary Service began working with Dr Sharma to address concerns raised about his staff management. He was then asked to work with a mentor, which he objected to.

    “Finally agreement was reached at the end of last year. Further issues were later raised by additional staff members including those in his direct employment, This resulted in another pause on hirinig and again coaching, mentoring and temporary staff in the meantime.

    “Gaurav again objected to this intervention and the need for his future hiring of staff or undertakings on his part. A protracted process ensued.”

    No other concerns
    Ardern said she still had heard no concerns raised by any other MPs about McAnulty.

    She said she did not recall Dr Sharma ever raising his concerns with her and she had gone through records of events and text messages after hearing about his concerns last week.

    “I have not gone through everything but from what I can see he is a member who I’ve had less engagement with than most, that is fair to say … he’s never raised the issue directly with me, and that is an expectation I would have because it’s set out in our rules.

    “First if there’s an issue you go to the whips. If you’re unable to get resolution you go to either the Labour leader or to someone the Labour leader nominates. And if it’s still unresolved you go to caucus. That didn’t happen.

    “He did raise them with my chief-of-staff at the end of last year. He told me about that and he also told me the resolution that was reached between them and I’ve seen the messages that demonstrate that. Neither of us heard anything after that until the events that led to this.”

    After he published his column in The New Zealand Herald last Thursday, she called him and he did not pick up, she said. She then sent a text to ask about his welfare, rather than relitigating issues.

    “I received one message in response, I won’t go into the details on that but it was essentially setting out his perspective on these issues.”

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern … “caucus were clear that the team retains the right to revisit the decision at any time if the rules continue to be broken.” Image: Angus Dreaver/RNZ

    Bullying not widespread problem
    She has consistently refused suggestions that bullying is a widespread problem within the party.

    One of his allegations was found to have no basis, she said, but he has continued to make them.

    “I am equally concerned that staff members have been implicated by the level of detail that’s been shared … we considered whether or not for transparency we should release some of the communications to demonstrate our perspective on what has occurred here but again that runs the risk of exposing staff.”

    She said Dr Sharma’s status would be reviewed in December, to allow a chance for a return to caucus if trust with him was able to be restored.

    “But in making the decision to suspend, caucus were clear that the team retains the right to revisit the decision at any time if the rules continue to be broken. To be clear, the caucus’ decision was squarely focused on actions over the last few days. What gave rise to those actions also deserves some reflection.”

    Ardern said there were grounds for expulsion under the caucus rules, but the team wanted to send a message that while their trust had been lost and they considered the situation very egregious, they were a team that wanted to give second chances.

    “If he does that there’s a pathway back, if he doesn’t then he will be expelled.”

    She said the exact date in December for revisiting the decision had not been decided upon.

    Options at that time could include continued suspension, a return to caucus, or expulsion. At this point, the possibility of sending a letter to the Speaker to request his removal from Parliament under the waka jumping law has not been discussed.

    Informal caucus meeting last night
    As the meeting started this afternoon, Dr Sharma contacted RNZ claiming an earlier meeting involving some Labour MPs was held last night, without his knowledge.

    Ardern said the outcome today was not predetermined at a meeting last night. She said one of the issues of misconduct was that Sharma had been sharing the contents of meetings publicly, which meant people felt they were unable to raise questions or discuss issues.

    The reason Sharma was not informed of the meeting last night was “because people did not feel they could have an open conversation with him”.

    Sharma claimed he had an image sent to him, a screenshot of the meeting.

    “You’d note that probably if someone were deliberately sharing that message it would be more likely a gallery view,” Ardern said.

    “I also knew who took that screenshot, it was intended they were trying to capture something else on their phone, the meeting was occurring in the corner at the same time, they accidentally sent it to someone they shouldn’t.

    “What they sent was a screenshot of the conversation trying to set a caucus meeting time, it just so happened that they were multitasking … they’re somewhat embarrassed over the situation.”

    The meeting last night was not a formal caucus meeting, she said, and she was also clear there would not be a predetermined outcome.

    “Natural justice is very important to our team.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • Intersectionality in research and why it matters

    A few weeks ago I was reminded of the importance of evidence, narratives and the power held by those writing it at a workshop on Gender & Cultural Diversity in Politics: Australia, Asia & the Pacific. As a young Pacific researcher, there was much reminiscing of the audacity of the ocean as I sat on the lands of Ngambri and Ngunnawal people and reflected upon my positionality within the ecosystem of researchers and storytellers.

    As Professor Linda Tuhiwai Smith reveals, “An activist must get the story right as well as tell the story well, and so must a researcher.”

    As a non-indigenous Pacific Islander, I chose an intentionally intersectional approach of conducting fieldwork for my research which examines the gendered impacts of climate change-induced planned relocation and displacement through a political economy framework.

    Fiji has been a global advocate for the impacts of climate change induced human mobility and has developed numerous national level policies and procedures, including the Planned Relocation and Displacement Guidelines, yet the processes of relocation are political and contested.

    Drawing on a study of Fijians residing along the western coast of Viti Levu my forthcoming thesis seeks to analyze who made the decisions, who holds the power, who did the work and who benefited the most during instances of climate-induced human mobility.

    An image taken by Betty during her fieldwork in Fiji. It shows islands that are at high risk of climate-induced planned relocation off the main land in Fiji.

    An image taken by Betty during her fieldwork in Fiji. It shows islands that are at high risk of climate-induced planned relocation off the main land in Fiji. Picture: Supplied/Betty Barkha

    Within the context of my PhD, I found a pragmatic way of putting intersectionality into practice by weaving Pacific research methodologies and feminist research ethic through the following guiding principles:

    Sensitivity to context

    As a non-indigenous Pacific Islander, I recognized the historical tensions that exist within Fiji’s national context and how conducting research should not contribute to further harm. Having spent most of my life in Fiji, I knew of cultural protocols that needed to be abided by when entering iTaukei villages, who to contact within Indo-Fijian settlements and how to find partners within multi-ethnic settlements affected by sudden and slow-onset impacts of the climate crisis. For example, a research participant emphasized:

    “How do you reconcile the fact that you have to move from the land where your ancestors lived and where their bones are now buried? Where your umbilical cord is buried which protects our children, how?” – Key informant (female)

    Privacy and confidentiality

    Research across Pacific Island Countries while safeguarding participant confidentiality is a challenging task. However, this is a crucial component and was adhered to rigorously through use of pseudonyms during the coding and analysis of data. However, as my research progressed, there was evidence that participants who shared their stories wanted to be known for what they do and say within households and communities. For example, in conversation with some key informants it was known that if directly quoted it could easily be traced back because of how many people work within the thematic area.

    Respect

    This goes without saying; however, many continue to misinterpret respect in the context of undertaking research. In my research on climate-induced human mobility, this required knowledge of the devasting losses and damages faced by communities, their experiences over the years and their ability to recall the trauma and share with a researcher. As a Pacific researcher, I was also well versed of the unique value and connection of individuals and communities with the ecosystem.

    As a feminist researcher I was reminded of being attentive to boundaries, relationships and my own situatedness as a researcher.

    Free prior and informed consent

    More recently, for anyone that is a fan of rugby league will know of the poorly handled jersey debacle recently. What was meant to be symbolic of diversity and inclusion commitments turned out to be non-consultative.

    This resulted in targeted harassment of Pacific Islanders and their beliefs, when in fact it was an issue on free and prior consent. Consent must be voluntary without coercion, intimidation, or manipulation and as a researcher in the field this meant regular communication, knowledge of cultural and social structures and ways to navigate through them.

    Free prior and informed consent fosters a relationship that allows participants to take ownership of their engagement and feel confident of their interactions, particularly when speaking to the loss and damages posed by the climate crisis.

    Reflexivity and flexibility

    Building a Pacific-feminist research design required regular deliberation, where I intentionally interrogated the process, approach and considered the ethical implications of each aspect alongside my supervision team. This is also an opportunity to emphasize the importance of an enabling and supportive supervision team (thank you Monash GPS!) that understands the research direction and is aligned with your reflexive research design process. It is also about creating reflective points and building comradery amongst feminist researchers, which is not only critical in shaping technical quality of the research but also in creating opportunities for transforming ways of working.

    Meaningful engagement

    As a researcher on climate-induced human mobility, it was easy to get caught in the crowds of researchers flocking through the Pacific to “research.” A key informant once jokingly mentioned that “we should build a wall around communities to keep the researchers out.” Extractive researchers continue to reproduce colonial, neoliberal forms of engagement which often take advantage of welcoming hospitality of Pacific populations, without ever sharing lessons learnt. My research was built around willingness of individuals within affected communities and a reflection of my professional journey for key informants, that emphasized the importance of relationality in undertaking such research. For instance, a research participant highlighted:

    “You and I don’t know each other well, but we know of each other over time, and you have to be willing to have a conversation with somebody”- Key informant (female)

    Reciprocity

    While reciprocity comes naturally to many who grew up and lived most of their lives within Pacific Island countries, it is a concept that needs to be more holistically embedded within research. For my research, the findings are intended to inform ongoing and forthcoming processes of climate change induced planned relocation and displacement in Fiji and ongoing work in developing a Pacific Regional Framework on Climate Mobility. Reciprocity in this context implies a relation of mutuality whereby the research process is non-extractive and does not reinforce imperial forms of knowledge production as critiqued by numerous Pacific scholars.

    Intersectionality

    At its core, this relates to the quote by Audrey Lorde “There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” Scholars, Anna Kaijser, Annica Kronsell, Maria Tanyag and Jacqui True have also argued, that feminist scholarship contributes to an interdisciplinary analysis of climate change by revealing the multiple overlapping forms of insecurity influencing everyday lives. It is also a critical tool in comprehending the varying levels of agency across diverse populations in instances of climate-induced human mobility. For example, a research participant iterated that:

    “Even within the pocket-sized gender non-conforming community in Fiji, it matters where you come from, how much you earn and where you stay… but we don’t all share the same politics.” Key informant (gender non-conforming)

    An appreciation of the intersectionality of gender with other social inequalities is crucial for understanding the impacts of climate change (and other crises), therefore, reinforcing the need for an intersectional approach.

    As I continue to evolve in my journey as a researcher and storyteller, I strive to remain being intentionally intersectional in contributing to thought leadership and evidence generation efforts. Each research or discovery process is unique and so is its associated methodology, however as the disciplines strive to rethink frameworks and approaches, it also crucial that we seek to be intentionally intersectional in our approach.

     

    The post Intersectionality in research and why it matters appeared first on BroadAgenda.

  • Mapping support for women in STEM, a new initiative

    As part of a campaign to drive the sector toward gender equity, InnovationAus.com is undertaking a project to map every organisation supporting women in STEM, from those running education programs to internship and mentorship opportunities. The investigation includes a focus on the funding origins of the program, and a statement of impact. Despite the substantial…

    The post Mapping support for women in STEM, a new initiative appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

  • Team diversity is imperative to innovation success

    With the entry deadline approaching in less than two-weeks, the InnovationAus Awards for Excellence is driving to be a competition that both highlights the best and brightest people and organisations in Australia, and is also an exemplar advocate for diversity within innovation teams. The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence 2022 is the second edition of the…

    The post Team diversity is imperative to innovation success appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • A celebration of changemakers: TechDiversity Awards 2022

    In a celebration of diversity, equity, and inclusion across the tech sector, #TechDiversity held their annual awards night on Thursday to recognise and pay tribute to the champions of the sector. This year’s edition of the TechDiversity Awards was held at the Sofitel in Melbourne and welcomed more than 470 attendees. The awards recognise and…

    The post A celebration of changemakers: TechDiversity Awards 2022 appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • Tech Central will be ‘world’s most inclusive’ precinct: Annie Parker

    Tech Central boss Annie Parker has pledged to make the Sydney innovation precinct the most inclusive in the world and says she won’t let local communities be priced out of the inner-city areas where it is being built. In a panel session for private investors on Tuesday, Ms Parker followed her acknowledgment of country with…

    The post Tech Central will be ‘world’s most inclusive’ precinct: Annie Parker appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • Academy of Science Fellows reach gender parity for the first time

    The Australian Academy of Science has elected 22 new Fellows this year in recognition of their contributions to science, with an equal number of men and women appointed for the first time. Following a year-long process, the new fellows include University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Peter Høj, University of Canberra chancellor Professor Thomas Calma, and marine…

    The post Academy of Science Fellows reach gender parity for the first time appeared first on InnovationAus.com.

    This post was originally published on InnovationAus.com.

  • West Papuan Laurens Ikinia helps empowering fellow overseas wantoks

    Jordan Fennell of ABC Pacific Beat talks to Laurens Ikinia

    Living in New Zealand as a student Laurens Ikinia wanted to create a space for the West Papuan diaspora to gather.

    “We have been facing challenges and oppression back home so it is really hard for us to preserve and maintain our culture,” he said.

    The West Papuan Students Association in Oceania started in 2020 but they launched the “Empowering Wantoks” programme last year.

    Guest speakers are invited to discuss topics with students about West Papua and they host language classes as well.

    Ikinia is a Masters of Communication postgraduate student at the Auckland University of Technology and said that living in New Zealand had been a good experience.

    “We are studying and living in a country that has a diverse community where indigenous people and non-indigenous people live together,” he said.

    “That makes us feel like we are welcome.”

    However, the students are currently campaigning to be able to finish their studies in New Zealand after Indonesia abruptly cancelled their scholarships at the start of this year.

     

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • Woke Diversity Makes Me Proud

    WOW!  An historic day indeed. I never thought this day would come to pass. Breathtaking.

    This post was originally published on Real Progressives.

  • Despite Right-Wing Backlash, Racial Justice Education Is Still on the Rise

    Many educators are continuing to teach students the true history of the United States.

    Shortly after Alabama’s state board of education passed a resolution last August to ban public schools from teaching or purchasing materials that “impute fault, blame,” or cause students “to feel guilt or anguish” about the legacy of slavery or ongoing racial injustice, members of the Birmingham, Alabama, school board pushed back by passing a resolution of their own.

    The sharply worded statement, “A Resolution to Advance Equity for All Students,” emphasized that city educators will continue to be proactive in “dismantling the pillars of unequal justice, bigotry and oppression” and affirmed that the city of Birmingham will provide resources and professional development to educators who “teach about, celebrate, uphold, and affirm the lives of all races and that support critical dialogue among students, staff and community members about the impact of bias and racism” both within and outside of school house doors.

    Terri Michal, a member of Birmingham’s school board from 2017 to 2021, told Truthout that the resolution makes clear that “Birmingham will do what is right” to give all children what they need to excel. “We’re working to ensure that equity is not a dirty word,” she says.

    Birmingham is not the only locale that is standing up to efforts to ban everything the right deems as critical race theory, as well as efforts to ban school-based diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which attempt to present to students an accurate history of the United States and contend with — and change — the many ways that racial and gender injustice have structured classrooms across the country.

    A Growing Demand for Progressive Curricula

    Deborah Menkart, codirector of the Zinn Education Project (ZEP), a national organization working to inject accurate accounts of U.S. and world history into classrooms across the country, says that demand for ZEP materials has continually increased since the project’s 2008 founding. “The right wing would not be going on the attack if there was nothing to attack,” she told Truthout.

    Teachers download lessons from the ZEP website. These lessons, Menkart explains, go beyond what is found in traditional textbooks and examine all subjects — art, history, literature, math, music, science — with an eye toward omissions and distortions. Probing questions are asked: Who is included in the historical account? Who does the narrative benefit? Why are female mathematicians or scientists, or queer people or people of color so often left out of the accounts we read or hear discussed?

    “Students are not just learning facts,” Menkart says. “They’re learning about the choices that are made in the telling of history. They also get a sense of the role they can play in shaping the future. In this way, we’re equipping youth with a sense of hope, giving them the tools to think strategically so that they can address the gravity of the situations we’re facing.”

    Demand for lessons, she continues, comes from every corner of the country, not just urban centers, and she quickly ticks off curricula requests from teachers in Taylor, South Carolina; Holland, Michigan; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; and Columbia, Missouri. The most common requests, according to Menkart, are for materials covering the Reconstruction era, redlining, the environmental crisis and the color line that was imposed during the colonial era.

    “When children begin to think critically, they begin to understand that it is not that their parents and neighbors have not worked hard enough to get ahead, but that something systemic has held people of color, women, the poor and the disabled back,” she says. “The right wing says that this makes white, able-bodied children feel guilty, but when students learn that some white people have challenged injustice, it complicates the narrative and prompts them to question their assumptions.”

    Denisha Jones, coeditor of the book Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice, and a member of the steering committee of the National Black Lives Matter at School coalition, notes the importance of educational efforts that recognize resistance to the status quo and that support inclusive historical accounts. “About 60 percent of the population will not go to college and they will probably never learn this information if it is not taught in middle and high school,” she told Truthout. “For many people, programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion are their first encounter with material about race, class, gender, gender identity or ableism. This can spur them to a new place of understanding and inquiry.”

    Jones acknowledges that many school-based diversity, equity and inclusion programs initiatives are little more than window dressing, created to deflect criticism and give the visual appearance of racial, ethnic, gender and disability inclusivity. Still, she says, meaningful diversity, equity and inclusion programs are possible, especially if they are led by teachers and staff who are committed to helping children develop a positive racial identity.

    “Children need a solid foundation on which to build ideas about race, gender and self,” Jones says. “Helping kids feel good about themselves will enable them to function in a global world. If kids encounter silence about race, religion, disability or gender differences, this silence gets internalized and their identity formation can be negatively impacted.”

    One solution, Jones says, is for there to be mandatory Black and ethnic studies classes integrated into the curricula of every K-12 school. But this goes beyond curricula, she says. Other concrete changes in the ways schools operate are necessary to protect vulnerable students from feelings of inadequacy or ennui: ending zero-tolerance policies that suspend or expel students for misbehaving; increasing the number of available school counselors; and removing police officers from school buildings.

    Jones also wants to address the racism at the heart of the attacks on school-based diversity, equity and inclusion programs and on anything deemed by the right to be “Critical Race Theory.” “The idea that the right wing is promoting, that we have to bring in ‘all sides’ of every issue, is funny to me,” she says. “What is the ‘other side’ of Black Lives Matter? Is it that Black lives don’t matter? We need to examine that.”

    Research backs up this assertion.

    According to child psychologist Jacob Ham, “It is hard for kids to learn when they feel unsafe or threatened,” or feel as if they don’t matter or fit in. But if they feel supported and connected, they enter into what Ham calls “learning brain,” a state in which they are open to new ideas and new information, are able to handle ambiguity, and feel confident enough to share concerns or ask for clarifications.

    A Stanford University study confirms Ham’s conclusions and underscores the importance of diverse representation in curricular materials. According to the researchers who carried out the study, both students of color and white students benefited from taking even one ethnic studies course, finding that the class enhanced their sense of belonging, upped graduation rates and made them more likely to enroll in college.

    The Importance of Asking Questions

    Emily Ladau, author of Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to be an Ally, agrees that kids need to see themselves in course materials. In addition, she says that they need to be encouraged to ask questions — respectfully — about people who are different from them, including those with genetic and acquired disabilities. “Disability is not a niche issue,” she told Truthout. “There are more than 1 billion disabled people in the world. That means that schools have disabled students, disabled faculty and disabled staff and almost everyone has disabled family member. But you should not have to have a personal connection to disability to recognize that an inclusive environment benefits everyone.”

    Furthermore, Ladau argues, since disability cuts across all other identities, it should be incorporated into all aspects of learning, from pre-K classes to teacher training programs.

    Many people, however, don’t want this. Indeed, as the past year has shown, backlash against curricula that deal with diversity, inclusivity or equity is on the rise. “There is pushback against any conversation about how we can be more inclusive because this requires us to admit that we have not been doing everything possible to be equitable and incorporate everyone, regardless of their gender, race, sexuality or disability,” Ladau says. “If we can’t admit this, there can’t be progress.”

    Jennifer Lima, a school board member in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, since 2020 and the founder of Toward an Anti-Racist Kingstown, has seen this phenomenon up close. Lima has been pushing the North Kingstown school board to approve an educational audit of the nine schools in the district. “Basically, we need to know what we are doing well and what we are doing poorly when it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion,” she told Truthout. “How are we doing when it comes to retaining teachers and students of color? Is dress code enforcement done equally for all students? How about access to advanced placement classes? Which holidays are acknowledged? Do disabled, queer and trans students and staff face discrimination?”

    Lima believes that an honest reckoning will require outside auditors, with focus groups for everyone connected to public education in North Kingstown. “We’ve received two estimates from outside reviewers and know that a thorough investigation will take about six months. The local right wing sees this as unnecessary. They also argue that it can be done in-house, and they are really, really loud about this,” she says. “I disagree with them, and feel strongly that a neutral third party needs to come in. The administration can’t interview people and expect truthful answers. Our goal as a school system should be to serve every student equitably and we can’t formulate a strategy to improve what we do until we know exactly where we are.”

    The school board is expected to vote on hiring an outside auditor sometime this spring.

    But even if the audit gets approved, educators in North Kingstown — and in every other part of the U.S. — will likely still face pushback from some parents and astroturf groups (organizations that are funded by deep-pocketed donors whose money enables the groups to maintain a visible presence despite having few actual grassroots supporters). Some prominent astroturf groups in this arena include Moms for Liberty, No Left Turn in Education and Parents Defending Education, which oppose school-based diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And while many educators will continue to reach out to the Zinn Education Project and other progressive educators, and will continue to teach materials that are culturally and historically accurate, their work will be made more difficult by people who oppose anti-racism initiatives and broader equity efforts.

    This is where progressive can play a role.

    Cassie Schwerner, executive director of the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility, a New York City organization that promotes school-based social and emotional learning, told Truthout that teachers and progressive educational groups need vocal supporters. “We live in a global economy and a world that gets more and more interconnected every day,” Schwerner says. “We need to learn about each other. No one should grow up without a deep sense of curiosity or the ability to think critically, whether it is about Jim Crow, slavery, disability, or trans access to bathrooms or gym classes. As progressives, we have to defend the teaching of critical thinking and the promotion of classroom equity.”

    Schwerner then pivots and asks an important question: What do we want schools to be and who do we want them to serve? “None of us know exactly how to fight the right wing, but we know that we need to stop pretending that racism, sexism, homophobia and ableism don’t exist. We know we need to create a culture where we can have hard, even uncomfortable, conversations.”

    Furthermore, Schwerner says, we need to challenge the zero-sum mentality that says that if some kids have a positive racial identity, other kids will have a negative racial identity. “I know this sounds Pollyanna-ish, but schools need to help students feel cherished because, in truth, we all benefit when children grow up feeling safe, secure and valued.”

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.