Hawke Policy Website

But do journalists really want to hear what university academics have to say? And do academics understand what the media needs to know? Is ‘university language’ the kiss of death? Are academics willing to compromise content for comprehension?

In this look at the push and shove between ‘dumbing down’ and ivory tower sensibilities, UniSA staff who regularly talk to the media gave us their views.
 

Ms Nardelli argues that researchers need to learn to adjust their speech to fit in with what the media are looking for. ‘The media operates in a succinct environment and that is what they need from academia: succinct, meaningful, interesting information. If the aim of research is to better people’s lives, to understand the human condition, to be healthier, to improve then part of the researchers’ end goal must be to communicate that information in ways that people understand.’
 

Government and business leaders have been warning us about the perils of an ageing society with fewer and fewer children. So several UniSA researchers were asked how the government could encourage Australians to have more babies … and whether that was even the right question.

Prof Alison Mackinnon argues that we should not talk about making people have babies, as people should only have babies if they want to. ‘One problem’, she says, ‘is that some people would like to have children, but find they are too caught up in the need to work for economic reasons, or the difficulty in taking time out of work for career purposes. So they have to put off or forgo having children.’

‘Workplaces and the government should provide opportunities for women to take time out of the workforce and to return to work part-time, if they wish. This should include a fully funded national maternity leave scheme, and strong financial and mentoring support for women returning to work after child rearing.’

Associate Professor Suzanne Franzway does not think Australians need to have more babies anyway. ‘Worrying about how many babies are born in Australia is the wrong approach’, she argues. ‘If the ageing population in Australia is a problem, but many other countries have more youthful populations, then the solution is to encourage family migration. As well as selecting skilled migrants we could encourage families with young children to migrate.’

She also recognises that policy reforms are needed to help families with young children, whether born here or overseas. ‘We need more resources for child care and more resources for schools, as well as universal paid maternity leave.’

One out of every five Australian families has only one parent. Many critics see this as a social problem, citing research that children growing up in single-parent households are twice as likely to suffer a mental illness, commit suicide or develop an alcohol-related disease, than children who live with both parents.

Are single-parent families the cause of these problems? Or do the statistics mask a range of contributing factors? Two researchers at UniSA share their views.

Dr Elspeth McInnes (Convenor of the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children) notes that family structure is not the major risk factor. ‘Children growing up in single-parent families typically have fewer family supports, are much more likely to live in poverty, and are much more likely to have been exposed to domestic violence and post-separation conflict than children in couple families.’

So what is the government doing to support single parent families? Critics such as Anne Summers say that the government’s family assistance schemes are designed to favour two-parent families, and that the huge cuts to the national childcare budget have disadvantaged single mothers. If children from single-parent families are so vulnerable, then why isn’t our government doing more to assist their parents?

Dr McInnes argues that the government can reduce the risks for these children by increasing access to family support, reducing poverty and improving safety for women and children. ‘Single parents, like other parents, love their children and want what is best for them, but they often have more problems to contend with. Poverty, abuse and violence create the harm to children, not the number of parents they live with. We need to make sure that all children get the support they need and deserve.’

Dr Cameron argues that single families within ‘entrenched pockets of poverty and unemployment’ are in particular need of support. She recommends policies that encourage the parent to further their own education. ‘Children in this situation receive a very different role model – and maybe some hope in the future. A single mother who is focused on educating herself also encourages her children to gain better qualifications, too.’
 

Dr Dale Bagshaw says football is not the source of the problem.

‘Hyper-masculinity or machismo is found everywhere, not just in football clubs. From Parliament to the playground we find men and boys boasting about their sexual prowess and their ability to attract girls. Boys’ popularity is often tied to their ability to score sexually. And girls can perpetuate the sexual double standard by buying into it, calling each other sluts.’

‘We need to teach students from an early age to question ideas about what is masculine and feminine. Recruiting more male teachers is not enough. We need male teachers that are comfortable with a more complete model of masculinity that includes gentle and nurturing qualities.’
 

Dr Donna Chung agrees.

‘Just educating a few successful sportsmen is unlikely to change broad community attitudes. Sports stars can get away with a lot more than most men because in Australia top footballers are seen as a model of successful masculinity.’

‘The attitude is that these men have plenty of willing female sexual partners and would never need to resort to “sexual assault”. That stereotype undermines the women victims’ credibility. Another myth is that elite sportsmen have strong biological sex drives over which they have no control.’
 

Academics such as Dr Peter West (University of Western Sydney) say that boys are in crisis, and that the education system is the best place to tackle the problem.

But is there really a crisis in boy’s education? Many researchers at UniSA say that the figures do not back up the claim for increased spending on boys in schools.