OUR GOAL

In the original ASTRO 3D Proposal to the ARC, we included an ambitious goal:

“Over the course of this Centre, we seek to achieve a fraction of 50% females at all levels including the executive, the Advisory committee, and at all Centre sponsored events (including speakers), as well as equity in salaries and opportunities.”

Reaching 50:50 in ASTRO 3D

From the very beginning, reaching 50/50 gender representation was a defined goal for ASTRO 3D. We reached 50/50 in March 2022, an incredible achievement given gender representation in Physics & Astronomy is typically 25/75 (female/male).

Here we provide the strategies and framework that we developed within ASTRO 3D to help achieve our goal of gender diversity. The documents are developed by EDI committee members with feedback from the ASTRO 3D community. We hope these resources are shared broadly and adapted as needed by leadership across the science community.

We are grateful to the ASTRO 3D community and especially the EDI committee members. Without their sustained engagement and effort, we could not have achieved our goals.

Why gender parity?

We need to:

  • Provide role models for students and early career researchers
  • Provide an inclusive environment for all
  • Provide balanced role models for education and outreach in schools
  • Avoid inducing stereotype threat at schools and in the workplace

Graph source: Kewley (2021), Nature Astronomy, 3, 1067

A line graph displaying gender fractions at University levels in Australian Astronomy. Men start at 67% for Honour and Masters, rise to 70% for PhD students, drop to 61% for Level A, rise to 79% for Level B, drop slightly to 75% Level C, rise to 80% for Level D and rise again to 81% for Level E. Women astronomers start at 32% for honours/masters, drop to 28% for PhD students, rise to 39% for Level A, drop to 21% for Level B, rise slightly to 25% for Level C, drop to 20% for Level D and drop to 19% for Level E. The target line of 33% for the Decadal Plan is shown as constant across all levels. Only Level A women astronmers meet that target.

RECRUITMENT

ASTRO 3D initiatives

(source: Kewley, 50:50 Gender Celebration presentation)

Broad Range of Diversity Initiatives:

CAASTRO introduced some core initiatives, aimed at making the Centre more family-friendly.

ASTRO 3D, with its bold targets, through the EDI Committee, added a broad range of diversity initiatives. Those in orange were directly aimed at achieving the 50% women at all levels of ASTRO 3D. Those in black are aimed at increasing all forms of diversity, making the Centre more equitable and inclusive.

Our results were published in Kewley, L.J., Wyithe, J.S.B., Tran, K-V., McCarthy, I. The achievement of gender parity in a large astrophysics research centre (2023) Nat Astron 7, 1525-1531 https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2023NatAs...7.1525K/abstract

Balanced Recruitment Works!

How to improve culture:

  • Values-based culture
  • Codes of conduct (enforced)
  • Diversity training
  • LGBTQI+ training and support
  • Cultural awareness training
  • Indigenous awareness training
  • Family-friendly policies
  • Inclusive events (conferences, meetings etc)
  • Inclusive social events
  • Sharing our hobbies and work/life balance

MORE WOMEN LEADERS = MORE WOMEN IN TEAMS

ASTRO 3D publication rates by gender

Women are first author on 38% of 443 refereed publications by 400 ASTRO 3D members which is nearly double that of the astronomy field. The combination of female leadership and higher fraction of female members correlates with a higher fraction of female-led publications.
By Kim-Vy H. Tran, Stuart Wyithe, and Michelle Ding https://baas.aas.org/pub/2025i008/release/1