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The achievement of gender parity in a large astrophysics research centre

Nature Astronomy volume 7, pages 1525–1531 (2023)Cite this article

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Abstract

In Australian astronomy, women’s representation remains at historic lows, despite a decade of initiatives aimed at improving the representation and support of women in astronomy and academia more generally. Drawing from research in the fields of sociology and psychology, we designed a new evidence-based programme to increase the percentage of women recruited and retained in astronomy. We applied identical recruitment methods to 47 fixed-term postdoctoral positions across nine universities from 2017 to 2022 within the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D). Through this method, ASTRO 3D achieved 50% women personnel in five years, including 56% women postdocs and 52% women students recruited. A tipping point was reached at 40% women overall, after which women students enrolled in the centre in accelerating numbers. Evidence-based retention initiatives were highly successful, yielding greater retention of women than men. The percentage of women in teams correlated strongly with the team lead gender, highlighting the importance of diverse team leadership. This work presents a clear pathway for organizations to achieve and retain gender diversity within postdoctoral and student cohorts without quotas.

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Fig. 1: Percentage of women and growth in personnel in ASTRO 3D over time.
Fig. 2: ASTRO 3D postdoctoral applicants and appointments.
Fig. 3: The fraction of women and men students and postdoctoral researchers retained in ASTRO 3D over time.
Fig. 4: Percentage of women in women-led and men-led teams in ASTRO 3D over time.

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Data availability

The data that support the figures within this paper and other findings of this study are part of the ASTRO 3D membership database available from https://astro3d.org.au/membership/find-a-member/. The change in membership and fraction of women in ASTRO 3D over time is in the ASTRO 3D annual reports publicly available from https://astro3d.org.au/annual-reports/. The ASTRO 3D hiring guidelines and the ASTRO 3D equity and inclusion action plan are available at https://astro3d.org.au/diversity/astro-3d-equity-and-diversity-resources/. Aggregate, non-confidential data may be available from the corresponding author upon request if approved by the ASTRO 3D Executive Committee.

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Acknowledgements

L.J.K., J.S.B.W., K.-V.T. and I.M. are supported by ASTRO 3D, through project number CE170100013.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research School for Astronomy & Astrophysics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Lisa J. Kewley, J. Stuart B. Wyithe & Ingrid McCarthy

  2. ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D), Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

    Lisa J. Kewley, J. Stuart B. Wyithe, Kim-Vy Tran & Ingrid McCarthy

  3. Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Lisa J. Kewley & Kim-Vy Tran

  4. University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia

    J. Stuart B. Wyithe

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  1. Lisa J. Kewley
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Contributions

L.J.K. designed the research, conducted the analysis and prepared the figures. I.M. prepared the membership databases and the application data. L.J.K. and J.S.B.W. wrote the draft manuscript. L.J.K., J.S.B.W., I.M. and K.-V.T. reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lisa J. Kewley.

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Nature Astronomy thanks Ramon Barthelemy and Natasha Quadlin for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Kewley, L.J., Wyithe, J.S.B., Tran, KV. et al. The achievement of gender parity in a large astrophysics research centre. Nat Astron 7, 1525–1531 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-023-02079-6

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