Targeted, timely support boosts women in research

As in all areas of life, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected women in academia and the last two years have been challenging times for women in research. Numerous studies have shown that women have taken on a higher proportion of the caring and domestic load during the prolonged periods of working from home.?This has had a direct impact on the productivity of women researchers, especially those in their early careers, who are more likely to be juggling work with caring responsibilities. Universities are in a unique position to address this through timely, targeted intervention.?

Small interventions can make a big difference?

During the early days of the pandemic, our Women in Research Sub-Committee recognised that women, and especially early-career women, were submitting fewer journal articles than men.?Research showed that even in health journals, which saw a pandemic publishing boom, the disparity between the number of male and female lead authors was striking, with up to a 20 per cent gap between the genders. Just as the demand for such research was growing, female academics working in the health fields were faced with the challenge of rapidly moving their classes to an online learning environment while also juggling more responsibilities at home, home-schooling children or caring for elderly relatives. So QUT created an Editing Support Scheme to provide timely, targeted intervention that supported women researchers’ careers in a practical way.??

The scheme provided funding to hire an editor to help get journal articles or book chapters publication-ready or to polish grant applications. The sub-committee assembled a panel of experienced editors to make the process as simple as possible and remove potential barriers to participation. The grants were awarded to 93 academic women who had experienced increased barriers and interruptions to their research as a result of the pandemic.??

Most of the women who received funding have either published their work or are in the process of getting articles submitted for publication.?

Helping women build networks and dedicate time for research?

These interventions support women to grow their networks or to take time away from teaching or family responsibilities to prepare material for publication. Some initiatives do both: our regular facilitated writing retreats provide valuable opportunities to connect with fellow researchers while taking advantage of dedicated time out from university to finish a paper or a book chapter.??

QUT also supports our women in research to network on a formal level. Our biannual Women in Research Showcase events provide an opportunity for mid-career researchers doing valuable work to come under the radar of the university’s senior leadership. This helps them to achieve goals of promotion or next-level research, and results in their attracting collaborators across the university.??

We also provide financial support for women to access teaching relief or travel to achieve a research outcome through our Women in Research grants provide financial support. Recipients have credited the grant with helping them gain promotion: for example, taking time out from teaching to finalise research can lead to a solid publication portfolio which then supports a promotion application.???

New program to mentor female researchers?

We recognise that, as well as small interventions, sometimes what is needed is broader cultural change. To this end, this year we are piloting a Women in Research Strategic Mentoring Program across all faculties. Launching in March, the scheme will pair 20 mentees with mentors drawn from the professoriate. Importantly, the pilot will also encourage sponsorship: we are asking our mentors to identify opportunities to put their mentee forward for speaking opportunities, collaborations, or opportunities to co-publish. We look forward to our pilot mentoring program being as successful as our existing programs, where the results speak for themselves.

Thanks to these thoughtful and targeted interventions, we have seen huge numbers of publications completed, conference papers delivered, grant applications won, books published, and important research projects finished. Most important of all is the feedback we receive from the researchers who have been supported to overcome a career hurdle or barrier such as maternity leave or care-giving responsibilities: not only do we see the outcomes in terms of increased research outputs, but we also see the confidence and joy it brings women to see the university investing in them and their research.