RCGS news

RCGS members on the inaugural SA Women's Honour Roll

Emeritus Professor Alison Mackinnon and Associate Professor Julie Mills have both been acknowledged on the inaugural SA Women's Honour Roll. Alison Mackinnon is Emeritus Professor of History and Gender Studies and Foundation Director of the Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies until 2005. Julie Mills is Associate Professor in Civil Engineering, co-founder of the South Australian Women in Engineering Group, and a member of the South Australian Women's Advisory Council. She was awarded the Carrick Citation for outstanding contributions to student equity and diversity in 2006.

Alison Mackinnon Prof Mackinnon said the importance of recognition like the honour roll provides a forum for the work of women to be acknowledged and valued. 'All of the women from UniSA are an important part of the community in educating the next generation of professionals and carers and women do play a large part in voluntary and caring work often as an extension of, or in addition to their professions', she said. 'In many ways much of women's work is still unsung. Many women would consider that now they are working harder that ever so it was very warming to see the wide spectrum of women's lives being valued and honoured.'

Prof Mackinnon said the importance of recognition like the honour roll provides a forum for the work of women to be acknowledged and valued.

New research grants for Women in Adult and Vocational Education (WAVE)

Elaine Butler is a foundation member and national co-ordinator of Women in Adult and Vocational Education (WAVE). On 15 June the Office for Women announced that WAVE had won two research grants for capacity building from its Women and Leadership Funds.

WAVE will receive funding to undertake Women on track: addressing skills shortages in transport and construction industries to be undertaken in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia and Minmaku Palyantja Palya: Waltja Women Leaders' Project to be undertaken in Central Australia and the Northern Territory.

Members' research activities in 2008

Prof Rhonda Sharp presented a paper at the Gender, Youth and Economic Empowerment in the Pacific conference of the Australian National University College of Asia and the Pacific and AusAid in Canberra in April. She also conducted a workshop with Dr Cara Ellickson, Director of the Gender Consortium, Flinders University on gender analysis and gender-responsive budgeting for the Federal Government's Office for Women in Canberra. At the post UN Commission for the Status of Women sessions of Security for Women Secretariat of the Federal Government Prof Sharp briefed the meeting on the implications of the United Nation's recommendations on gender budgeting for Australia.

Assoc Prof Jean Duruz presented an invited paper entitled 'Growing up transnational: travelling through Singapore's Hawker Centres' at the Inhabiting Diversity and the Asia Pacific Workshop hosted by the Centre for Research on Social Inclusion at Macquarie University in April 2008. A/Prof Duruz will also present a paper entitled 'Growing up transnational' at the 2008 ACS Crossroads in Cultural Studies Conference at the University of the West Indies, Kingston, Jamaica in July, and will be an invited member on a panel on 'Transmutations: Making Food and Moving Bodies'.

Assoc Prof Suzanne Franzway conducted two public seminars in the United Kingdom in April: 'Women, domestic violence and work: an Australian perspective' at the University of Warwick, and '"My life was on track until I met him": Employment and domestic violence' at Ruskin College, Oxford. A/Prof Franzway also conducted an intensive Masterclass in Women's Studies at Ruskin College, Oxford.

Dr Sarah Wendt (with Dr Brenton Prosser and Dr Michelle Tuckey) will research 'The personal domain: exploring what sustains professionals through the narratives of teachers, social workers and emergency service workers' funded by EASS Divisional Research Performance Fund. Dr Wendt has recently had two journal articles published: 'Christianity and domestic violence: feminist poststructural perspectives', in AFFIFIA: Journal of Women and Social Work, 23(2), 144–155 and with S. Jamieson 'Exploring men's perpetrator programs in small rural communities', in Rural Society, 18(1), 39–50. Dr Wendt, with J. Boylan, has another article in press: 'Feminist social work research engaging with poststructural ideas' in International Social Work. Dr Wendt is also involved in organising a one-day conference United Against Domestic Violence hosted by Soroptimist International of South Australia Inc. in conjunction with the School of Social Work and Social Policy on Friday 4 July 2008. Further information is available at http://www.uadv.xljitservices.com.au/

Dr Laura Dales is currently working on a monograph manuscript Feminist movements in contemporary Japan (under contract with Routledge), will be presenting a paper entitled 'Connecting women: NGOs and women's activism in contemporary Japan' at the Activating Human Rights and Peace Conference in Byron Bay, 1–4 July, and a paper entitled 'Productive differences and feminist research' at the Australian Women's and Gender Studies Conference to be held in Perth, 9–11 July. Dr Dales, with David Chapman and Vera Mackie, has an article in press: '"Minority women will change the world!": perspectives on multiple discrimination in Japan' to be published by Women's Studies International Forum in September 2008.

National Press Club discussion on equal pay

Transcript of National Press Club panel discussion on equal pay, 7 May 2008 (PDF 443 kb). Panel members: Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Status of Women; Heather Ridout, Australian Industry Group; Ilona Charles, National Australia Bank; Prof Mark Wooden, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economics and Social Research and University of Melbourne.

Visiting scholar Associate Professor Xu Jie

Assoc Prof Xu Jie (Cindy), a visiting scholar with the Research Centre for Gender Studies from the Northeast Forestry University (NEFU) in China, is researching women and equity following market reform in China during her visit. The Chinese economy moved from mainly rural production under a feudal state to an industrialising planned economy under a socialist state. Since China's Reform and Open Policy, which commenced in 1978, there has been an ongoing economic and cultural transition to a market economy. As a market economy focuses more attention on money and material wealth than the previous centrally planned economy, Cindy is looking at the changes that have taken place to women's status since the market reforms. Cindy plans to present a paper at the International Associate for Feminist Economics (IAFFE) Conference in Torino, Italy in June 2008. She has also written an article in English stemming from her PhD research (completed in Mandarin Chinese) on the ecological crisis in China, which has been submitted to an Australian journal.

New member

RCGS is pleased to welcome Dr Nicole Moulding as a member of the centre. Dr Moulding is a lecturer at the School of Social Work and Social Policy. She is a qualified social worker with a background in women's health and community health. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of gender and mental health, social exclusion and mental health and interpretive research methodology, particularly post-structural approaches. She has a particular interest in the social construction of subjectivity and the implications for mental health and wellbeing.

ARC success

Prof Rhonda Sharp (with Assoc Prof R Broomhill and Prof J Brodie), 'Restructuring the male breadwinner model: new challenges for a rapidly changing Australia' (2008–2010)

This project investigates changes to the Australian male breadwinner gender order in the key spheres of labour markets, households and public policies. Gender arrangements in these spheres play a key role in economic development, reflecting the intertwining of economic and social processes in a country's well-being. Increased understanding of the implications of current changes affecting the gender order and social reproduction will enhance economic well-being for both individuals and society in Australia. The impact of these changes are vital policy issues. This international collaboration will develop a conceptual framework for identifying policy reform to strengthen Australia's social and economic sustainability.

Research activities in 2007

Dr Margaret Peters was an invited participant at the launch of the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity (CRED), School of Business and Management, at Queen Mary University in London on 18 June 2007. Links between the Research Centre for Gender Studies and the Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity were formalised at this time. Margaret also presented papers at the GWO Conference held at Keele University, UK in June, at the European Group of Organisation Studies (EGOS) Conference in Vienna, Austria in July, and at the World Communication Association (WCA) Conference, at QUT, Brisbane in July 2007. Margaret also gave invited workshops and lectures in the Department of Sociology at the Royal University of Phnom Penh in July 2007. Margaret also has a contract with co-author Assoc Prof Geraldine Bloustien with Palgrave McMillan for a book entitled Playing for Life Research.

Ms Elaine Butler, in partnership with Kimberly Turner-Zeller, produced three reports for Security4Women.

Dr Laura Dales gave a presentation in Japan on 24 September 2007 at the Osaka Prefectural Women's Centre (Dawn Centre) on 'Australian women's work–life balance and lifestyle'. The presentation targeted the general public, and the 71 participants ranged in age from 10 to 70 years. Laura has a journal article published in Intersections, Issue 15 'Connection and collaboration: women's centres and NGO women's groups in Japan' and her amended PhD thesis, titled Feminist movements in contemporary Japan, will be published by Routledge in their Women in Asia series in 2009.

Assoc Prof Suzanne Franzway presented a keynote address titled 'What does it matter? The problem of gender equity in engineering' to the Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics, and Science Studies Second Conference hosted by Arizona State University, 8–10 February 2007. Suzanne has also become a founding member of the UNESCO Women's Studies and Gender Research Network, which was launched from the Human Rights and Gender Equality Section, Social and Human Sciences Sector at a meeting held at Miriam College, Manilla, 25–26 July 2007. The network's objectives are to advance WS/GR by research and advocacy for women's rights, encourage capacity building for students, researchers and WS programs and research centres, and encourage collaborations between UNESCO and inter-university partnerships. In 2008–2009, the network will support three projects, 'Women and the judiciary' (which is focused on the Middle East), 'Radical democratisation of daily life', and 'Social rights and women's trade union leadership'. Suzanne has been working on the development of the third project over the last 18 months together with Prof Valentine Moghadam, Purdue University and Prof Mary Margaret Fonow, Arizona State University. The network will be based at Miriam College for two years and limited to 26 participants in order to produce a clear organisational and policy framework. Suzanne also has a contract with Illinois University Press for a book she is co-authoring with Prof Mary Margaret Fonow called Transnational alliance between women's movement and unions, a book chapter in a Canadian book for the Global Union Research Network of the International Labour Organisation, and a forthcoming article in the journal Signs on women's trade union activism. She is also currently working on a project on the impact of domestic violence on women's work with Dr Donna Chung.

Dr Tangi Steen presented a paper 'Questioning technology: the way forward for a more technologically informed Tongan society' at the 12th Tonga Research Conference held from 11 to 14 July 2007 in Nuku'alofa, Tonga. She presented 'Creating an Indigenous space within higher education in South Australia: what does it mean in terms of curriculum design and teaching practice?' at the 13th conference of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies, 3–7 September 2007, Sarajevo. Her chapter 'Creating a culturally safe space for Tongans in Adelaide: The Gap Project' was published in Tonga and Tongan's heritage and identity by BPA Group, Melbourne, edited by E Wood-Ellem. Tangi was also awarded a UniSA Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning and a Quality Teaching Award for 2007.

Prof Rhonda Sharp gave an invited presentation at the United Nations 51st Session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which was held in New York from 26 February to 8 March 2007, on the theme of financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women. Rhonda was also invited by the United Nations Development Programme and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to present a paper on gender and economic policies at the 10th Triennial Conference of Pacific Women and the 3rd Pacific Ministers Meeting on Women held in Noumea, New Caledonia from 27 May to 1 June 2007. Rhonda also presented invited workshops on gender analysis to senior government officials of the APEC countries at the Cairns APEC SOM Conference, 25-29 June. Her co-authored manual, with Susanne Schech, Flinders University, Gender analysis: concepts, tools and practice has been published by Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). She was a visiting professor at Curtin University's WiSER centre in July where she collaborated on a symposium on women's retirement incomes, which will be published in the Australian Journal of Labour Economics. Rhonda was invited as an international expert to the United Nations Expert Roundtable on 'Financing Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment', held in Oslo, 3–8 September 2007. The findings of the roundtable will be reported at the 52nd UN session on the Status of Women in New York in March 2008. Rhonda, in conjunction with Prof J Brodie and Assoc Prof Ray Broomhill, University of Adelaide, was successful in securing an ARC Discovery Grant for the research project 'Restructuring the male breadwinner model: new challenges for a rapidly changing Australia', which will commence in 2008.

Dr Sarah Wendt organised the visit of Dr Jenny Hornosty, University of New Brunswick, Canada, who specialises in domestic violence against women in rural areas. A research collaboration between Sarah and Dr Hornosty has been planned.

Dr Lana Zannettino had several publications in 2007: 'Hyphened identities: representations of race, gender, and diaspora in contemporary Australian teenage literature' in International Journal of Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations; 'Personal and emotional meaning in the development of subjective gender: girls, cultural texts, and psychoanalytic theory' in International Journal of the Humanities; and 'Belonging, connectedness, and self-worth: building socially sustainable communities through a school-based student support program' in Journal of Student Wellbeing. Lana also presented the following conference papers: 'Hyphened identities: representations of race, gender, and diaspora in contemporary Australian teenage literature' at the Seventh International Conference on Diversity in Organisations, Communities and Nations, Amsterdam; 'Personal and emotional meaning in the development of subjective gender: girls, cultural texts, and psychoanalytic theory' at the Fifth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities, Paris; and 'Points of convergence: synthesising discourse analysis and object-relational psychoanalytic theory in feminist research focusing on identity' at the New Zealand Discourse Conference: The Challenge of Discourse Analysis, 6–8 December, Auckland.

Ms Bev Majda, PhD student, presented a paper titled 'Critical discourse analysis: a tool for the sociopolitical analysis of health policy reform' at the New Zealand Discourse Conference: The Challenge of Discourse Analysis, Auckland, December 2007.

Forthcoming conferences

Gender, Work and Organization 'Engendering Leadership' Conference, University of Western Australia, Perth, 22–24 July 2008

Gender Indicators Online

Gender Indicators Online is a South Australian resource for policy makers and researchers. The site arose out of a recommendation of a report commissioned by the Premier's Council for Women, Gender data online: the development of a gender-disaggregated data management resource authored by HRISS researcher Rhonda Sharp and Australian Institute for Social Research (AISR) researchers John Spoehr, Ray Broomhill, Sonia Martin and Carla Medlin. HRISS Professors Eleanor Ramsay and Alison Mackinnon were members of the report's reference group.

Gender Indicators Online is linked to South Australian Policy Online (SAPO), a joint initiative of AISR, HRISS and Flinders University. The conceptual framework and key features of Gender Indicators Online was published in the September 2006 issue of Development Bulletin in an article authored by Sharp, Broomhill and Spoehr.

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