Promotion

The promotion of academic staff is managed through the Promotions Policy (Academic Staff and Titleholders).

Key points from the Policy and Guidelines relating to equity include:

• promotion is granted on the basis of merit of the case presented
• the assessment method and decision making process in promotion must be conducted according to the principles of equal opportunity and be free from direct and indirect discrimination
• the policy provides a fair and equitable method of assessment which encourages a diverse range of applicants to put themselves forward
• the policy enables flexibility in assessment in order that the various ways in which staff contribute to achievement of the University's vision can be rewarded on the basis of consistently applied standards
• staff employed at less than 0.6 FTE may make a case in their application to address a reduced number of categories
• the convenor is accountable for any equity issues in relation to the committee process and recommendations.

EEO Principles in Promotion

Key points and issues:

• Employment opportunities, including promotion, must be merit based. If there are direct or indirect barriers that block women, Indigenous staff, staff with a disability or staff from culturally diverse backgrounds from promotion those barriers must be removed.
• How the principle of merit is applied depends on the assumptions, perceptions and values of the people making decisions. All individuals will bring their own assumptions and values to the promotions process, the key is to recognise and question the validity of the assumptions and perceptions to ensure that a fair and equitable assessment of the merit of the case presented by the applicant is provided.
• Staff may experience career breaks or disruptions at various stages of their academic career for reasons such as caring responsibilities, disability or meeting cultural obligations. This may affect their ability to produce publications and engage in research and teaching activities at the same rate as staff who work full time in an uninterrupted manner. The time and effort required to re-establish teaching and research activities after a break and the reduced capacity that interruptions can bring need to be taken into account by the Promotion Committee.
• Merit and achievement are to be assessed relative to opportunity. EEO recognises that it is not always fair to treat people exactly the same. If one group of people has been disadvantaged in the past and another group has been advantaged – to treat them exactly the same would maintain the distance between those groups. Special opportunities may be given to overcome past disadvantage.
• Women can be disadvantaged in promotion as gendered concepts of merit that emphasise full-time, uninterrupted and direct career trajectory and research success can impact on their success. Women are more likely to experience career interruptions or be engaged in fractional time work due to family responsibilities. They are over represented in teaching positions and are more likely to be engaged in additional administrative and service in the University that is often not as valued as research.
• Some people with a disability may experience career disruption or be engaged in fractional employment to assist them in the management of the disability.
• Some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may experience career disruption due to cultural responsibilities and barriers created by language differences.
• Some people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds may experience career disruption due to cultural responsibilities and barriers created by language differences.