ABSTRACT:

Working conditions, including gender diversity, play a key role in the health and workplace productivity of all Australians. Print media continues to be an essential part of our public communications ecosystem, and a key source of social media content, that drives messaging about workplace health and diversity. The media’s role in reinforcing workplace inequalities or highlighting possibilities for change could have a large impact on community support for or rejection of workplace gender diversity, and initiatives to increase it.

In this study, we used the machine learning technique of topic modelling, as well as qualitative content analysis, on a large sample of articles published in high-circulation Australian printed media across five financial years (between 2014-2019) with the objectives to:

1. Explore the ways workplace gender diversity issues are discussed.
2. Identify the most common types of arguments for and against striving for greater workplace gender diversity.
3. Evaluate whether the year and month of publication, the type of diversity discussed and the sex of the author are related to the types of arguments for and against workplace gender diversity.

In this presentation, I will highlight our program of research on lay and dominant narratives about workplace gender diversity/equality. Then, I will present the methods, findings and recommendations of our latest media analysis study.

BIO:

Victor is a Senior Lecturer in Leadership at the University of Melbourne, a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, King’s College London, a Non-Executive Director on Our Watch’s Board, and an Associate Editor of the Australian Journal of Social Issues. In his research, Victor uses a multidisciplinary and intersectional approach and focuses on four areas: (i) factors that facilitate and hinder gender equality in occupational and sport contexts, such as incivility, gender and sexual harassment, work-family conflict and unconscious bias in talent management; (ii) the design, implementation and impact of diversity management/social and economic inclusion strategies, for example, anonymous applicant procedures and Indigenous preferential procurement; (iii) the impact of gender inequality on public health outcomes; and (iv) leadership development in the public sector.

Please email naomi.snowball@anu.edu.au for zoom link.