| ARC Centre Of Excellence for Climate Extremes | |||
| Policy and Procedure: | Diversity, Inclusion and Harassment | ||
| Date Written: | 30 June 2017 | Latest Revision: | 15 Aug 2019 |
| Author: | S. Gray | Approved: | For CE/CI agenda |
Preamble: Equity, diversity, respect and acceptance are core values of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes. In a traditionally male-dominated field, we seek to increase participation and advancement opportunities for people of all genders. We also cultivate a culture where ethnicity, (dis)ability and sexual orientation are no hindrance to recruitment, success, advancement or inclusion in the workplace.
Policy: All staff and students associated with the Centre are expected to agree to and abide by the principles set out in the preamble and the procedures that follow. This policy and accompanying procedures sit alongside our partner universities’ institutional policies and procedures to inform expectations of ethical standards of conduct in this regard. This policy document should be read in conjunction with the Centre’s comprehensive Equity Plan (https://climateextremes.org.au/equity-diversity-and-culture/)
Procedures: Recruitment: The Centre’s gender profile is typical for scientific organisations where there is more or less parity at PhD and post-doctoral level, but strong male-weighting at more senior levels.[1] In line with collaborating partner institutional policies, all selection committees should be made up of members that bring a diversity of backgrounds and experience to the recruitment process. All candidates will be assessed on merit relative to opportunity – including taking into account delays or interruptions to career for family and care giver responsibilities, and other reasons (e.g., health) that may have impacted previous opportunities. This includes the option of part time or flexible appointments to staff.
All selection panel members must have completed training on unconscious bias. Selection panel chairs will lead a conversation at the commencement of interviews on unconscious bias to ensure awareness throughout interactions with candidates.
Opportunities & retention: Roles within the Centre will be offered either full time or part time to suit the incumbent’s circumstances and the Centre will negotiate in good faith to enable flexible working arrangements.
Due to the gender profile, which becomes less equal with seniority, the Centre seeks to mentor female scientists through their early and mid-career stages. This includes partnering with other institutions and organisations (e.g. AMOS) to highlight opportunities for women in science and create networks and support structures within the Centre to specifically address systemic disadvantages faced by female staff. We will incorporate initiatives from the Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Program.
Families: CLEX is committed to a flexible and family friendly work environment. Centre personnel are encouraged to speak to their supervisor about working from home arrangements where this facilitates balancing work and home commitments. The Centre’s video conferencing infrastructure and Zoom subscription enable all meetings to be offered in a format that enables staff to join remotely. The Centre will endeavour to schedule key meetings and events around school holidays and between 9:30-15:00 to avoid school drop off and pick up times.
Culture and Diversity Committee: CLEX will establish a committee made up of a cross section of Centre participants that will be tasked with engendering a positive and inclusive Centre culture. This committee will establish, monitor and evaluate performance indicators on the Centre’s diversity and inclusion initiatives.
Centre Events: Our commitment to ethical, respectful behaviour and language extends beyond the workplace to all Centre events (including workshops, winter schools and social events, etc.). It remains an expectation and requirement that all attendees, presenters and guests at such events will uphold the highest level of ethical behaviour and respectful language. Any breaches of this should be brought to the attention of the Graduate Director, Centre COO and/or Chair of the Culture and Diversity committee. Breaches may result in exclusion from the remainder of the workshop or event.
Where a Centre event necessitates shared accommodation, attendees’ preferences for sharing with colleagues of the same or other gender will be respected in the allocation of rooms. We will also provide single rooms where health, religious or family reasons dictate.
Harassment & recourse: Each collaborating and partner organisation involved in the Centre maintains their own harassment and bullying policy and procedure. Institutional policies will, in most instances, supersede this policy where an aggrieved staff member or student wishes to make a formal claim of harassment. However, the Centre of Excellence also seeks to provide a mechanism by which victims or observers of discriminatory or offensive behaviour can be heard so that these matters can be addressed. The following are trained to respond to concerns about discriminatory or inappropriate behaviour that is not limited only to gender related issues.
Stephen Gray (stephen.gray@unsw.edu.au ) – Centre Chief Operations Officer. Co-Chair of the Culture and Diversity Committee. UNSW Ally for staff and students of diverse gender and sexuality: https://student.unsw.edu.au/ally
Melissa Hart (melissa.hart@unsw.edu.au ) – Graduate Director,
Co-Chair of the Culture and Diversity Committee
Resources: Institutional resources available at the centre’s partner universities:
UNSW https://www.hr.unsw.edu.au/diversity/
U.Melb https://about.unimelb.edu.au/careers/diversity-and-inclusion
Monash http://www.monash.edu/about/who/glance/social-inclusion
ANU https://services.anu.edu.au/human-resources/respect-inclusion
UTAS http://www.utas.edu.au/equity-diversity/university-of-tasmania-workplace
[1] https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/gender-equity