Rationale, Objectives and Activities

Rationale

Since 1985, the ACU's Gender Programme has sought to enhance and increase the participation and profile of women in the leadership and management of higher education. The Programme is underpinned by the following values and principles:

• a commitment to natural justice

• a commitment to the principle that universities should reflect and represent their societies

• a commitment to helping universities access the entirety of their human resource potential

• recognition of the importance of having senior women as role models (not least to encourage more young women into science, engineering and technology)

• recognition of the need for the ACU to play its part in equipping women with the skills and confidence to bid for and assume leadership and management positions

• recognition that the improved recruitment of women into all levels of leadership and management in higher education is integral to the overall development of universities in terms of both equity and quality.

Objectives

The key objectives of the Gender Programme are:

• to increase both the quantity and quality of women leaders and managers in higher education institutions in the Commonwealth

• to develop for women leaders, managers and potential managers in higher education a range of training strategies and materials that will be replicable or may be adapted for use in the various Commonwealth regions

• to make those materials easily and wide accessible

• to provide training opportunities and support for the development of indigenous trainers and consultants at national and regional levels

• to assist in the development of a Commonwealth-wide gender network whose members are encouraged to provide one another with professional and moral support

• to develop a database of women who are already, or who have the potential to be, leaders; and, through all of the above:

• to help improve the management of higher education institutions in the Commonwealth.

Activities and Outputs

The core activities and outputs of the Gender Programme are described under the following headings: Training Workshops; Training Modules; Reports and Publications; Surveys; Networks; and Past Successes.