Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Intervention Effectiveness: Supporting Women and Increasing their Representation in Academia

We have an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated student with a background in social psychology/organisational psychology/statistics (and other related fields) and a passion to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion issues in organisations. This project is jointly funded and conducted between UNSW Business School and UNSW Engineering.

Project Description:

For decades, universities have struggled to increase the representation of female academics, especially those at higher levels. To address this challenge, research has largely focused on identifying barriers to career progression of women in academia. However, less is known about the effectiveness of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) interventions designed to reduce gender gaps in career success, increase representation of female professors, and enhance the feelings of inclusion and belongingness for women in academia. In general, workplace interventions stem from the fields of organisational psychology and healthcare and can be classified as primary (i.e., those that aim to remove/reduce barriers to employees’ career progression), secondary (those that equip employees with effective coping skills to overcome the barriers), and tertiary (those that aim to mitigate the negative consequences of barriers). The effectiveness of these interventions therefore involves multiple outcomes at multiple levels of analysis. Furthermore, Nishii et al. (2008) showed that the attributions/perceptions employees make about why a HR practice (and intervention) is implemented influences whether this practice has a positive or negative impact on employee outcomes. This explains why some DEI interventions can bring about unintended consequences, both positive and negative (Leslie, 2019).

To date, we lack evidence-based knowledge about the effectiveness of these DEI interventions in academia and how the attributions employees make about why the interventions are implemented complicate both intended and unintended outcomes of these interventions. As a result, senior management within universities makes poorly informed decisions about which intervention to implement and does not know how best to communicate why certain interventions are selected. In this PhD project, DEI interventions designed to increase the proportion of female academics at the professorial level and support those in the pipeline will be examined to understanding their effectiveness in terms of both intended and unintended consequences.

Scholarship:

Stipend $38,438 per annum (3.5 years), plus $10,000 top up from the UNSW Business School. 

Eligibility:

Domestic or International PhD candidate. Preferred start date Term 3 2025.

How to apply:

If you are interested, please send a copy of your CV, academic transcripts and writing sample to Associate Professor Suzanne Chan-Serafiin at s.chan-serafin@unsw.edu.au, Professor Karin Sanders at k.sanders@unsw.edu.au and/or Professor Rita Henderson r.henderson@unsw.edu.au by 10 July 2025.