The achievement of gender parity in a large astrophysics research centre

Abstract

In Australian astronomy, women's representation remains at historic lows, despite a decade of initiatives aimed at improving the representation and support of women in astronomy and academia more generally. Drawing from research in the fields of sociology and psychology, we designed a new evidence-based program to increase the percentage of women recruited and retained in astronomy. We applied the identical recruitment method to 47 fixed-term postdoctoral positions across nine universities from 2017-2022 within the ARC Centre of Excellence for All-Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D). Through this method, ASTRO 3D achieved 50% women in 5 years, including 53% women postdocs and 56% women students recruited. A tipping point was reached at 40% women overall, after which women students enrolled in the Centre in accelerating numbers. Evidence-based retention initiatives were highly successful, yielding greater retention of women than men. The percentage of women in teams correlated strongly with the team lead gender, highlighting the importance of diverse team leadership. This work presents a clear pathway for organisations to achieve and retain gender diversity within postdoc and student cohorts without quotas.