From Problem to Impact

• The Socratic Index treated research output as the primary measure of academic success without accounting for teaching, service, leadership, fractional work, career breaks or ARTO. From 2017 to 2019, women received lower high-performance appraisal ratings than men.
• Teaching-intensive roles were viewed as low-status and career-limiting. The 2017 staff survey found 69% of women and 65% of men thought teaching was regarded favourably within their work unit, while 92% of women and 87% of men thought research was regarded favourably
• ARTO was not consistently embedded in human resources processes, while the 2017–2019 sabbatical policy excluded teaching-intensive staff and women’s sabbatical rates were lower than men’s in each of those years.

What actions did UWA deliver?

• Academic Council discontinued the Socratic Index in 2019, removing the research performance metric that Schools had used for appraisal, sabbatical, promotion, grants and awards, and teaching allocation.
• In 2019–2020, UWA introduced a teaching-intensive pathway to Professor with level-specific promotion criteria, joined the Advance HE Fellowship scheme, and incorporated the Fellowship framework into relevant promotion criteria.
• From 2020, UWA embedded ARTO in promotions, sabbaticals, performance appraisal and research awards; in 2022 it amended the sabbatical policy to include teaching-intensive staff, equity considerations and travel support for adult dependants with disability.