Webinar 17: Breaking through glass ceilings and glass walls

Glass ceilings and glass walls are metaphors that represent key barriers women face in the workplace. These barriers can be invisible, yet nonetheless are significant obstacles for many women’s career advancement.

Within academia, many female academics have felt the need to become someone they're not, in order to be perceived as capable at performing in senior leadership roles and advance their careers.

In the final webinar for the year of the Women in Research 'Small Wins' series, we will take a deep dive into possibly one of the biggest topics of our time: what are the invisible barriers that inhibit women’s advancement in the workplace or that keep them confined to more stereotypically-female areas? And what strategies help to break through these barriers?

Our host, ARC Laureate Fellow and John Curtin Distinguished Professor Sharon Parker from Curtin University will share research findings and advice around breaking through the invisible leadership and occupational barriers.

She will be joined by two female ARC Laureate Fellows, Professor Leann Tilley (The University of Melbourne) and Professor Ann McGrath (Australian National University), who will share their experiences and provide tips about what can be done to improve the career opportunities for women in academia.

You can submit your questions to the guests upon registrations. We hope to see you online!

Speakers

Professor Sharon K. Parker

Discipline: Organisational Psychology

Professor Sharon K. Parker is the Director of the  Centre for Transformative Work Design within the Future of Work  Institute at Curtin University. Sharon’s research focuses on job and  work design, employee performance and development, mature workers,  mental health and well-being, and related topics. As part of her ARC’s  Kathleen Fitzpatrick Award, Sharon created the Women in Research  initiative and hosts the Women in Research "Small Wins" webinar series.

Professor Leann Tilley 

Discipline: Biochemistry and Pharmacology

Leann Tilley is Professor of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, working in the Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, The University of Melbourne. She was an Australian Research Council Georgina Sweet Australian Laureate Fellow (2015-2020). Professor Tilley’s group undertakes research in the areas of cell biology and drug development related to the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

Professor Ann McGrath AM

Discipline: History

Professor Ann McGrath AM is a WK Hancock Distinguished Professor in History at the Australian National University in Canberra. She is Director of the Research Centre for Deep History and an Kathleen Fitzpatrick ARC Laureate Fellow (2017–2022). Professor McGrath's current interests are deep history in global context, spatial history and scale.

Eligibility

Open to all women academics who engage in research as part of their  role, Level A to Level E, across all disciplines and  Universities/Research institutions.