A senior researcher who is taking Deakin University to VCAT over pregnancy discrimination believes the issue is more widespread but difficult for women to fight.
Senior researcher in Indigenous studies Cameo Dalley, who was on a three-year contract at the Alfred Deakin Institute, claims she lost a contract and was discriminated against because she was pregnant.
But on November 2, less than a week after the team won the grant, she told an influential senior female professor she was pregnant and the tone of their meeting changed.Then, on November 10, she said, “a wall went up” and she was told she would no longer be offered a contract to work on the project.She said she was given no explanation for the change of heart and was told a one-year contract would be advertised instead.
A Deakin spokesperson said the university was wholly supportive of parental leave and provided a range of entitlements for primary caregivers and partners. She said women often came into the sector at childbearing ages and she knew women who debated whether to delay having a baby, not disclose their pregnancy or have a baby between contracts.She has since started work as a lecturer at the University of Melbourne, which she said had been supportive of her being a working parent of a young child.
National Tertiary Education Union national president Alison Barnes said the Deakin matter included serious allegations of discrimination affecting a hard-working academic who was brave in pursuing her case. She said there were strong policies around gender and women at universities, but there could be a gap between rhetoric and reality.
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Uni makes embarrassing error in huge bannerThere was an awkward error for the University of South Australia, as it promoted the quality of its studies in design, with a design fail
Read more »
Uni makes embarrassing error in huge bannerThere was an awkward error for the University of South Australia, as it promoted the quality of its studies in design, with a design fail
Read more »
How a University of Tasmania student graduated onto Ukraine's front linesA university course designed for people looking to work in extreme and often chaotic environments was the perfect grounding for Jack Dear as he headed off to Ukraine to help the injured.
Read more »
How do echidnas stay cool in the blistering heat? They blow snot bubbles and perform belly flopsThe furry and spiky pointy-beaked critters perform some out-of-the-ordinary behaviours to avoid overheating, researchers from Curtin University find.
Read more »
China's coronavirus cases hit 900 million, study saysThe country recently reported 60,000 COVID-related deaths since early December, but some experts believe the government is likely underreporting deaths. 9News
Read more »
Alabama’s Darius Miles supplied gun used in murder of young mother, say policeInvestigators say a University of Alabama basketball player charged with capital murder provided the gun used in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old woman
Read more »