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 programme to increase the percentage of women recruited and retained in astronomy. We applied identical recruitment methods to 47 fixed-term postdoctoral positions across nine universities from 2017 to 2022 within the ARC Centre of Excellence for All Sky Astrophysics in 3 Dimensions (ASTRO 3D). Through this method, ASTRO 3D achieved 50% women personnel in five years, including 56% women postd..