The academic as activist: managing tension and creating impact

ABSTRACT

Drawing on my involvement as an academic in the campaign that resulted in the introduction of paid parental leave in Australia in 2010, I describe what is involved if academics choose to be activists, the dilemmas which are encountered and the barriers which may be put in their way. I also consider the career tensions academics may experience when participating in the public sphere. My experience in advocating for improving policies relating to women and work shows that while managing the tensions can be difficult, academics may find additional intrinsic reward and make a significant impact if they take an active role in translating their research into public policy. In 2020, the COVID-19 experience highlights, more than ever, the need for academics to provide their expertise in community, work and family research to inform better policy and practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Public policy
• paid parental leave
• academia
• activism
• women
• work

Acknowledgements

This ‘essay’ was originally presented as a Keynote Address at the 8th International Community, Work and Family Conference, Malta, 23 May 2019. I wish to thank Ms. Alison Williams, University of Sydney Business School, for her research assistance for the original speech which formed the basis of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributor

Marian Baird AO is Professor of Gender and Employment Relations at the University of Sydney, Head of the Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies and Co-Director of the Women and Work Research Group in the University of Sydney Business School. Marian is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and is a leading scholar in work and family policy. In 2016, Marian was awarded an AO (Officer of the Order of Australia) for outstanding services to improving the quality of women’s working lives and for contributions to tertiary education.

Notes

1 Marie Coleman was instrumental in coordinating and driving the efforts of The National Foundation for Australian Women in advocating for paid parental leave. The National Foundation for Australian Women is a feminist organisation advocating women’s interests. See https://www.nfaw.org/

2 See https://www.sydney.edu.au/business/our-research/research-groups/women-work.html

3 ‘Rort’: Australian slang, meaning a dishonest practice. ‘Rorters’ in this context suggests that mothers had fraudulently mis-used government funds.

4 ‘Mutton dressed up as lamb’ is a colloquialism which infers something old misrepresenting itself as something new or young, usually intended as an insult applied to older women looking like younger women.