SAGE is proud to recognise the University of Melbourne with its second SAGE Cygnet Award, for sustained, evidence-driven work to achieve gender parity in academic promotion through fairer, transparent, and more supportive promotion pathways.
At SAGE, we know that structural change in academia is hard-won and slow. That is why it is particularly meaningful to celebrate an institution that has moved the needle through coordinated, evidence-based action.
We congratulate the University of Melbourne and everyone who contributed to making this happen,” said Dr Janin Bredehoeft, CEO of SAGE.
“What stands out here isn’t a single initiative, but a coordinated commitment, held over five years, to understand the real barriers and dismantle them. The result is structural change we can see in the numbers: more women at the most senior levels, stronger application rates, and a promotion process that is genuinely working more equitably.”
Identifying the gaps to make targeted interventions
2019 data revealed a stark crossover at Level C (Senior Lecturer) where women outnumbered men, followed by a dramatic drop at Levels D (Associate Professor) and E (Professor), where women accounted for just 36% and 32% of staff respectively.
The data also showed that the problem wasn’t bias in promotion outcomes. Women’s success rates, where they did apply, were already comparable to or higher than men’s.
The real barriers were more subtle: uncertainty about what a strong application actually looked like, inconsistent supervisory support, and a widespread lack of trust that the process and Performance Relative to Opportunity (PRO) considerations were applied fairly.
PRO is an evaluative framework that assesses a staff member’s achievements based on what they accomplished given the specific opportunities, time, and circumstances available to them.
“It’s very hard to understand how it works and what exactly they’re looking for. I know they give you a little matrix of, like, here are things we’re looking for… but what happens behind the scenes?” said one Focus group participant in 2017.
A coordinated response for systemic change
The University deployed a coordinated suite of initiatives between 2019 and 2024, including conducting briefing sessions on PROs, faculty-specific mentoring programs, and university-wide workshops on mitigating bias in promotion panels.
“The Women’s briefing, PRO session and mentoring make a big difference. They demonstrated to me that the university acknowledged a problem. The visibility of these programs matters,” commented one Level D woman from the Faculty of Science.
PRO guidelines were comprehensively revised in 2022 to include broader examples of personal circumstances, from parental leave and disability to the long-term impacts of COVID-19, and to explicitly frame PRO as a positive acknowledgement of achievement, not a lesser standard.
Measurable and structural change
Between 2019 and 2024, the share of women securing Associate Professor appointments rose from 36% to 47%. And over the space period, the share of Professor appointments that were women rose to 39% from 32%.
While not yet at gender parity, it’s evident that a structural shift has taken place, as women’s promotion success rates have increased along with the number of women applicants (48 in 2019 to 113 in 2024).
By 2024, women’s promotion success rate to Associate Professor had risen to 82% (from 77% in 2019).
Women’s promotion percentage at Professor now exceeds men’s from 15.2% versus 15.8% respectively in 2019, to 18.7% verses 17.5% in 2024. This is driven by a significantly higher success rate (81% versus 58%), despite fewer applications than men.
The revised PRO guidelines and dedicated briefing sessions appear to be genuinely shifting how applicants present their achievements and how panels assess them. Women citing PROs achieved an 85% success rate at Associate Professor and 89% at Professor in 2024, compared to 68% and 41%, respectively, for men.
Laying the foundations for future progress
The University of Melbourne’s second SAGE Cygnet Award demonstrates what is possible when institutions pair rigorous data with targeted, sustained action.
At the same time, the University acknowledges that the work is not finished. Further actions are planned to address Level E underrepresentation of women, ensuring supervisory support is more consistent, and trust that promotion decisions are fair and equitable needs to be strengthened, especially among non-binary staff.
“This work will continue to be underpinned by listening to the perspectives of our staff and ensuring our initiatives make a difference in their sense of belonging and inclusion at the university,” Professor Georgina Such, Athena Swan Lead University of Melbourne
SAGE congratulates the University’s leadership, its Athena Swan team, and every staff member who contributed to this work.
About the SAGE Cygnet Award
SAGE Cygnet Awards celebrate organisations that have demonstrated progress in making their workplaces more equitable by removing or reducing a barrier to inclusion. They must be able to show that these changes have had a real impact on staff and/or students.
This builds on The University of Melbourne’s Athena Swan Bronze Award, and it’s first SAGE Cygnet Award for addressing sexual misconduct.
You can read all about The University of Melbourne’s actions, outcomes, and impact in their full Cygnet Award Application, or read an overview version in this Progress and Impact Summary.
About SAGE
Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) is Australasia’s leading advocate and accrediting body for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the education and research sector. It is the guide our region’s brightest minds turn to when they want a vibrant workplace where everyone can thrive.
Using an evidence-based and impact-focused framework, SAGE helps institutions build systemic, structural, and cultural change. Their world-respected Athena Swan accreditation program drives and measures institutions’ progress against international benchmarks.
