Last week saw two guest speakers at the Avondale Women’s Network meeting held at ABS.
Professor Toni Downs, recently retired from the position of Deputy Vice Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic) from Charles Sturt University. Toni spoke about how to participate adequately in committee meetings, how to encourage participation of others and how to strategically position yourself to get heard in meetings. She gave some great examples of how to get the most use out of meeting time and how to turn problems into solutions.
A few days later, Professor Kerri-Lee Krause, a former Avondale College Alumni, who is currently Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at La Trobe University spoke to the AWN about her participation in the Universities Australia Executive Women’s (UAEW) Group. As a co-founder and Co-Chair of the UAEW group, she is very proud of the work they have done, in particular with writing the “Guidelines for addressing unconscious bias”. Their research includes work done by the UN on Women’s empowerment principles, and Male Champions of Change.
The Universities Australia website is located at www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au with the link to the Guidelines for addressing unconscious bias, at https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/uni-participation-quality/Equity-and-Participation/Women-in-universities/Universities-Australia-Executive-Women-Group#.W574CaYzaUk
The AWN recently secured a grant from the Avondale College Research Committee to continue their research into “Women in Higher Education Institutions: Constraints and Enablements”. Both speakers were well received by the AWN members, generating much conversation regarding communication in meetings, and addressing unconscious bias.
