Taskforce to tackle gender inequality in higher education

A NEW Government taskforce is being launched today to tackle gender inequality among senior staff in Irish higher education.

It is being given the job of preparing a prioritised threeyear action plan, which will include a tracking mechanism to monitor progress.

The group will also oversee a review of the recruitment and promotion policies and practices with a view to identifying good practice and highlighting areas that need improvement.

The taskforce comes on the heels of a number of high-profile controversies over the lack of women in senior positions in third-level colleges, and the difficulties encountered by some when they sought promotion.

A report by the Higher Education Authority last year showed that men held 81pc of the most senior academic positions and 72pc of the higher paid non-academic positions in higher education.

Higher Education Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor said she was very concerned that nearly three-quarters of respondents to a HEA survey indicated there were issues with transparency in recruitment, promotion and progress in higher education institutions.

“I want these issues thoroughly examined and changes put in place where needed,” she said.

The taskforce will be chaired by Marie O’Connor, who was a financial services partner at PwC in Ireland for 30 years.

Ms O’Connor said the recent HEA review indicated that talent alone was not always enough to guarantee success for women and that a culture change was necessary.

The Irish Federation of University Teachers (Ifut) general secretary Joan Donegan welcomed the initiative.

Ms Donegan said her organisation hoped it would “complement and support implementation of the detailed recommendations” contained in an earlier report on the issue by former EU commissioner for Ireland Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.