furthering women @ UNE

Welcome to the furthering women @ une blog. The aim of this blog is to provide an accessible and safe forum for female employees of UNE to discuss relevant issues, as well as to highlight development opportunities and provide progress updates on initiatives belonging to the ‘furthering women @ une’ strategy.This blog will be updated fortnightly by administrators, Bron Kirk, Gill de la Motte and Eliza Kent.

Blog Etiquette.

It is important that this blog be a safe space for people to express ideas and opinions. To this end, we asked that bloggers avoid naming individuals, work units, or identifiable workplace situations. We would also ask bloggers to observe the usual courtesies and to respect confidentiality. If you need specific advice on workplace issues, please contact Eliza Kent, Employment Equity & Diversity, on equity@une.edu.au, or visit www.une.edu.au/eeo for further information. All conduct and content in this blog must comply with relevant IT policies and the UNE Code of Conduct.

All female general staff at levels HEO6 to HEO9 are invited to apply for a position in the General Women’s Leadership Shadowing Program.

Successful applicants will be paired with a UNE leader.  Over the course of the program, May to October, they will attend a number of sessions with their leader, observing them in a variety of contexts and activities, to develop their own leadership skills and understanding.

Want to find out more? Come along to one of our information sessions:

Thursday 17 March, 10-11am

Monday 21 March, 1-2pm

in the OD Training room, top floor, Lamble Building.

Contact: Gill de la Motte x3431

Applications close:  31 March 2011

Download an information pack and application form.

Just a quick “sorry” to anyone who has made a comment over the last month or so. The blog was inundated with about 500 comments (most for NFL, Superbowl, teeth-whitening, fake Prada or shoes) so if there were any legitimate comments they may have been lost in the spam removal.

- Joel (ODU)

See the Fair Work Australia website for information about requesting flexible work.

Tuesday 7th September
10am-12pm
Education room 224

All UNE women are welcome. Refreshments will be provided, so please rsvp by Monday 6th September

Flexible working arrangements – how successful are these and how widespread across UNE?
What types of flexible arrangements have you negotiated with your supervisor? Has it helped you achieve a work/life balance? Are you still able to meet deadlines?

Join us at this forum to discuss flexibility at work, share some tips, issues and success stories.

This campaign aims to make pay equity for women an issue in the run up to the next election, which is probably not far off!  For more information, to register your support or to see the open letter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, go to the Pay Equity Campaign page at the CLW website.  

Cheers
Gill de la Motte

Are women missing out on opportunities at UNE –  and if so, why?  This is an issue discussed at both our March and June forums.

So that we can put programs together to increase opportunities for women at UNE, we need some data and comments on women’s career experiences here.  We have come up with a  Women’s Access to Opportunities survey to get some feedback on this issue. 

If you haven’t already completed the survey, it would be great if you could take the few minutes required to complete it.  The more responses we get, the more accurate and powerful the data we collect.  We are also looking for some solutions – how can processes be improved?

Thanks for your help.  Any questions, please feel free to ring or email me.

Cheers

Gill

Gill de la Motte

Training and Development Officer

Anne Summers has commented on Australia’s first female Prime Minister. Does female leadership make a difference for women in the workplace?

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/historic-moment-but-barriers-remain-for-half-the-population-20100624-z3bp.html?autostart=1

Good afternoon,

As an Administrative Assistant at HEO4 recently employed at UNE I am interested in further mentoring for Women who work at equivalent HEO levels. One area which has stood out is the wide range of systems and software used across campus by Administrative Staff. To enable wider education and development of staff a hands on buddying system could be implemented. By this I imagine a scenario such as:

I work with the preparation of exam papers, special extensions and special exam requests – in order to fully understand the system, and the other side of callista I would buddy with a another HEO 3 or 4 within examinations for say one day a week for a month. Not only would I expand my knowledge of the wider system, I would also pick up hands on training within the callista system and the examination process.

If I had an interest in progression, say to HEO5, and I was interested in the Student Assist area, I could ask for similar time within that area, so that when an opportunity arrived I would be in a position to judge if the position suited my abilities.

Likewise if an Admin was interested in moving from Central Services to a School they could buddy with me in my position.

I have spoken to Admin staff at this HEO level who comment that they don’t feel confident, or that they have the abilities, to apply for promotion. I believe this would build not only knowledge which would then be useful for the employee in her existing position, it will create networking and a support system, as well as confidence for Women in striving for promotion and progression.

Those that attended the discussion forum for the launch of the Furthering Women@UNE strategy indicated there was concern among UNE women employees that they were not as able as their male colleagues to access opportunities within the organization. The 2nd discussion forum will be held on the 15th of June, 10am-12pm (Rm 224, Education Building) and we would like to explore this further.

We are asking those who have concerns about this aspect of employment at UNE to post brief comments on this blog, and the comments will form the basis of the discussion at the forum on the 15th June.

Women in the NSW Public Service have won the right to breastfeed at work, or to have access to a private, comfortable space to express milk. For the full story see the link below.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/public-servants-allowed-to-breastfeed-20100502-u1iv.html