The under-representation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines has been well documented. We discuss an affirmative action recruitment strategy from the University of Melbourne's STEM disciplines where only female applicants were eligible to apply for academic positions. This strategy has been very…

Under neoliberalism, parents as consumers are expected to provide their children with opportunities to get ahead. Governments defend elite schools on the grounds that 'diversity' and 'choice' are in the public interest but not everybody has an equal opportunity to choose. School websites act to promote specific images of schools with opportunities…

Limited scholarly work has been conducted on obtaining equal opportunities to participate in employability-related programmes by international students while studying in Australia. Drawing on a qualitative study, 20 South Asian postgraduates were interviewed to explore their experiences in accessing employability-related programmes. Based on the…

Gender equity is an area of concern within STEM, where women are underrepresented in education and career roles. Increasing the representation of women in STEM and removing negative gender stereotypes are necessary actions, both of which can be fostered during formal education through employability initiatives and in the workplace. This study…

Despite decades of Equal Opportunity legislation, gender inequality persists in Australian universities. This is largely due to the shaping of universities by new market principles, discourses of individualisation that render the asymmetry of gender relations invisible, and privileging masculine epistemologies. Concurrently, industrial relations…

This paper investigates the communication strategies of schools to engage linguistically diverse parents through enrollment information on their websites. The importance of the study is due to the known educational disadvantage experienced by migrant children as well as the known positive influence of parental engagement on educational…

In 2017, SPERA [Society for the Provision of Education in Rural Australia] members and supporters were surveyed on their views of rural education. Forty-two participants responded to the online survey through targeted and snowball recruitment. Participants shared their opinions of the main issues in rural education, the challenges facing rural…

This qualitative study investigated the experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) teacher educators in England and Australia working within the predominantly white space of the academy. Data analysis was informed by a multidimensional theoretical framework drawing on Critical Race Theory, whiteness and Puwar's concept of the Space Invader.…

In the world's richest countries, some children do worse at school than others because of circumstances beyond their control, such as where they were born, the language they speak or their parents' occupations. These children enter the education system at a disadvantage and can drop further behind if educational policies and practices reinforce,…

The growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in Australian higher education from 1959 to the present is notable statistically, but below population parity. Distinct patterns in government policy-making and programme development, inconsistent funding and political influences, together with Indigenous representation during the…

The teacher workforce could be better prepared to cater to the learning needs of special needs students. The low percentage of teachers reporting a positive impact from their professional development signals that there is more to be done regarding the quality of the training offered in special needs education. Also, allocating more experienced and…

Australia is currently responding to an international trend that encourages social inclusion and the provision of equal opportunity for all. In a climate that is encouraging and supporting social inclusion, it can be enriching to look back at Australia's history and consider the benefits that have been gained in a previous era when people were…

This article examines the effects of edu-capitalism and neoliberal education policies across Australia, New Zealand and United States to disrupt hegemonic policy logic based on neutral human capital. Current frameworks, standards and assessment tools govern and control how early childhood educators see and assess children and in turn develop and…

Women remain a minority in the Australian professoriate despite decades of equal opportunity policy. This article discusses the findings of an intensive case study that investigates why women's representation declines at the most senior academic levels. Through in-depth interviews with 24 women, the study explores the extent to which women's…

In this article, I ask how university students with disabilities negotiate with staff arrangements for alternative assessment practices. I draw on three case studies using a personal pronoun perspective to challenge the conventional view that educational policy and teaching practice are forms of rational action. I demonstrate how the lives of…