The University of the Sunshine Coast has received national recognition for its actions in breaking down barriers to gender equity, diversity and inclusion. 

The Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) organisation has granted UniSC five prestigious Cygnet Awards for its work to meet global benchmarks. 

Vice-Chancellor and President, Professor Helen Bartlett, said receiving the awards demonstrated UniSC’s commitment to advancing gender equity. 

“This is a significant milestone for UniSC,” Professor Bartlett said. 

“It reflects the progress we’ve made towards creating an equitable, diverse and inclusive environment for study and work. 

“I’m proud of actions we’ve taken to embed systems and practices in specific areas including academic promotion, career development and STEM pathways. 

“We’re always striving to do more, and we remain dedicated to taking further steps to enhance our culture." 

SAGE Chief Executive Officer Dr Janin Bredehoeft congratulated UniSC on its success. 

“The awards acknowledge UniSC’s leadership in advancing their transformative work around gender equity, diversity and inclusion, " Dr Bredehoeft said. 

“It’s a collective effort involving many staff across the institution and we’ll continue to partner with UniSC to progress further change across the university.”  

UniSC has received five SAGE Cygnet Awards:  

The SAGE Cygnet Award for Academic Promotion reflects UniSC’s commitment to improving the process for academic promotion by strengthening support, expanding mentoring and providing extra preparatory resources. 

The SAGE Cygnet Award for Parents and Carers acknowledges UniSC’s actions to support staff balancing work and caring responsibilities, including centralised parental leave budgets, inclusive policy language and a Parenting Toolkit. 

The SAGE Cygnet Award for Career Support and Development recognises UniSC’s efforts to strengthen career development practices, including targeted supervisor training, expanded mentoring opportunities and enhanced leadership pathways. 

The SAGE Cygnet Award for Academic Recruitment highlights UniSC’s advances in implementing reforms aimed at improving the experience of women applying for academic roles. 

The SAGE Cygnet Award for STEM demonstrates UniSC’s significant progress in improving gender equity across STEM pathways for students and academics in the School of Science, Technology and Engineering (SSTE). 

UniSC is now eligible to apply for SAGE Athena Swan Silver accreditation status. 

The university was awarded SAGE Athena Swan Bronze accreditation status in 2020.