Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Creating a safe, supportive and productive environment for all

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Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee is dedicated to fostering an inclusive community which values diversity, promotes equality, and nurtures a working, learning and social environment where the rights and dignity of all its staff and students are respected.

Our Vision: Our vision for the School of Engineering is to be a fair, diverse and truly inclusive School community which flourishes on the exchange of ideas from inside and out – a community which is diverse in representation and distribution across disciplines and levels, underpinned by fair and equitable policies, systems and procedures.

Our Aim: Our aim is to build an inclusive organisation where all staff/students are aware of their rights, where all perspectives are welcomed and can be robustly debated, and where students and staff can make a meaningful contribution in a safe and nurturing environment.

In line with Macquarie University’s vision as an educational institution, we offer three descriptions as below:

Equity: Fairness and fair treatment based on the needs of all members of the university in education and employment.
Diversity: The differences individuals bring to the university environment. These may be individual qualities - such as personality, traits, identity, learning styles and life experiences; group/social - such as cultural and linguistic background, ethnicity, class, age, gender and sexual identity, disability, family responsibilities; and affiliations – such as cultural, political, religious.
Inclusion: Intentional and sustained engagement with diversity through and throughout the university’s leadership, governance, educational, employment and community activities.

Members

Dr Noushin Nasiri (Chair)
noushin.nasiri@mq.edu.au

Nicholas Tse (academic)
nicholas.tse@mq.edu.au

Yijiao Jiang (academic)
yijiao.jiang@mq.edu.au

Golnaz Alipour Esgandani (academic)
golnaz.alipour@mq.edu.au

Shuying Wu (academic)
shuying.wu@mq.edu.au

Vahik Avakian (technical staff Rep)
vahik.avakian@mq.edu.au

Byron Wilson (professional staff Rep)
byron.wilson@mq.edu.au

Kathy Htun (students Rep)
kathy.htun@students.mq.edu.au

Committee Dimensions

The Equity, Diversity & Inclusion dimensions are university wide. Its aim is to imbue equity, diversity and inclusion principles and practice throughout the university:

Gender Equity: embedding leadership commitment and accountability for gender equity, building our talent pipeline by attracting and recruiting more academic women, improving the representation of women in senior and leadership positions.
Sexual and gender diversity: supporting sexual and gender diversity, and promoting a safe campus where people who identify as (or questioning being) lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) can work and study free from sexual discrimination or prejudice.
Cultural diversity: progressing diversity and inclusion at the School of Engineering to remove structural and cultural barriers faced by academic and professional staff as well as students, developing resources to help our staff and students to better understand and incorporate diverse perspectives, including international perspectives into their research, teaching and services.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: building strong relationships with the Aboriginal communities and working together to close the gap of disadvantage between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians.
Disability and accessibility: building an inclusive workplace accessible to all staff and students with disability, accommodating more flexible work practices and enabling all staff and students to fulfil their roles regardless of their disability.
Age diversity: implementing internal communication activities which are age-positive and addressing negative stereotypes and age discrimination, creating cross-generational mentoring programmes to encourage all staff to work together in age-diverse teams and help them to understand the benefits of working in a multi-generational environment.

Help and Support

To receive advice about Domestic and Family Violence, visit MQ DFV support and resource webpage
To receive support measures as a parent or carer, visit MQ Carers Hub webpage
To receive cultural support for Indigenous staff and students, visit the Engage with Walanga Muru and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander students webpages
To receive wellbeing support, visit the MQ Staff Wellbeing or MQ Students Wellbeing webpages
To receive support for international students, visit MQ International students webpage
To receive information about Ally Network or to become an Ally, visit MQ Ally Network webpage