The TEU branch at the University of Auckland has highlighted a” disparate gender gap in the appointment of heads of department at that institution.

The branch argued in its weekly” TEUsday News that at the University of Auckland the appointment of heads of department exacerbates” the gender biases in each of the faculties. Engineering and Science, which has a high proportion of male students, has an even higher proportion of men in the roles of heads of department. Likewise, in the Faculty of Education, which is predominantly female, the proportion of women heads of department is higher than the proportion of women in that faculty’s staff.

However, it seems that the opposite is true at the University of Canterbury.” There the male-dominated faculties of Science and Engineering have relatively high proportions of females in head of department roles, while the Faculty of Education has a low number in proportion to its level of women staff.” As a result, there is a relatively even proportion of women heads of department across faculties.

TEUsday News went on to say:

“The immediately obvious difference between the two universities is that, at the University of Canterbury, the heads of department appointment process is largely a democratic one that occurs following an invitation to all eligible staff in the department to apply.” All candidates are required to present their ‘vision for the department’ by way of a presentation to the department and staff, and postgraduate students are given the opportunity to provide feedback that is collated and considered by a selection committee including three academic and two general staff representatives.” At the University of Auckland, the dean appoints heads of department, generally with little genuine consultation with staff, with candidates simply being ‘shoulder tapped’.