Beating the Odds: A Practical Guide to Navigating Sexism in Australian Universities

An academic since 1991, a professor since 2008, senior university executive since 2012, and now a global thought leader in education and equity, Marcia Devlin has plenty of experience as a woman beating the odds. An accomplished academic, with colleagues she has won over $6 million in competitive, commissioned and other funds and has led numerous national research projects on education and equity. Internationally recognised for her expertise in these areas, she has been invited to give over 100 headline addresses in nine countries and has been elected a Lifelong Fellow of the UK-based Society for Research in Higher Education (SRHE). An award-winning writer, Marcia has over 320 publications comprising academic, professional and media outputs. She was a regular contributor and columnist for Fairfax Media for over 20 years, wrote for the Murdoch Press for more than a decade and has been writing for APN Educational Media since 2003. Marcia has also been published by The Conversation, SmartCompany, Women's Agenda as well as numerous academic publishers. Her research and commentary work are widely read and cited across the world.Marcia is a strong and vocal advocate for women. She has mentored, coached and/or directly and indirectly supported hundreds, if not thousands, of women seeking to progress and advance in their careers. She has created and introduced institution-wide programs to advance women's careers. She has personally supported numerous women to win awards - for their teaching, their leadership, their policy-making and their administration. Marcia served as co-leader of the Universities Australia Executive Women initiative, co-commissioning practical guides to help universities recruit more senior women and to sponsor women's career advancement.Women have told Marcia she has inspired them to ask for raises, say no to unfair requests, query decisions that negatively affect their career, make enquiries about pay gaps, challenge biases, negotiate higher salaries, change jobs, support their daughters in their ambitions, enrol in further qualifications to improve their career options and to improve their sense of worth and self-esteem. She has written this book to augment those contributions.