Making a difference

CMCRC-SIRCA’s Industrial PhD Program delivers equality and diversity as a matter of course…

The Australian Government has some sobering statistics regarding pay inequality between men and women. Women make up 47 percent of the workforce, yet their average weekly earnings are 14.6 per cent less than for men. 

This is despite the fact that Australian women are better educated, with more women than men receiving qualifications at Year 12, undergraduate and postgraduate level. 

The pay gap means that while the Australian 2018 financial year finished on June 30 for men, for women, it didn’t end until 31 August. In other words, women had to work 62 extra days to earn the same as men. 

Pay inequality is a global issue (a number of countries mark “Equal Pay Day” in November). Ms Leduc, who spearheads diversity initiatives within CMCRC-SIRCA, notes that the Group’s Industrial PhD Program is an example of equality and diversity in action. 

Research equality and diversity

Every researcher accepted into the Program receives the same tax-free scholarship. “It’s 100 per cent equal,” Ms Leduc says. “We pay them the same – female and male. We just do it as a matter of course.”

Not only that, but “the researchers at the Centre are a mix of ethnicities and nationalities and hail from every corner of the world, except for the two frozen poles. We’ve got researchers from everywhere, gender and creed.”  

Mr David Wright, CMCRC-SIRCA Group CEO, adds that a commitment to diversity and equality is vital. 

“It’s very important to me that we are seen as a welcoming to all and we act upon it.”