Leading women: Ten years of the Women and Leadership program at the University of South Australia

Women are in the majority as both students and staff in Australian universities but are still under-represented at the senior and management levels. Affirmative action strategies were mainstreamed into the strategic planning processes at the University of South Australia in 1996 with the aim of increasing the retention and participation rate of women at higher levels within the organisation. The Women and Leadership program at the University provides a support vehicle for the achievement of this goal. Research was undertaken to investigate the impact of the Women and Leadership program at the University of South Australia and whether it was perceived to have made a difference to the working lives of women who participated. Women were surveyed to obtain information on whether they attribute changes in their working lives to participation in the program, and data on promotion and retention was extracted from the human resources information system. The study found that program participants are more likely to be retained at the University, and women reported a number of positive changes in their working lives which they attribute to their involvement in the program. The evidence supports the program as being a contributing factor to women moving into senior and decision-making positions within the University. A review of the Women and Leadership program was undertaken in its tenth year and there are a number of contemporary factors influencing the future direction of the program. This paper presents the results of the study into the impact of the Women and Leadership program at the University of South Australia and provides an overview of the evolution and future direction of the program.