4. Staff Learning and Development

There are two sides to an equity-conscious manager's responsibilities for staff learning and development.

Firstly, you are responsible for ensuring all staff and students know about their equity rights and responsibilities for a work and study environment free from discrimination and harassment.

While you must ensure staff and supervisors receive the appropriate training, it is also important to remember your own training needs. You need to feel confident that you have the knowledge, skills and experience to manage a diverse workforce and student population.

Secondly, you are responsible for providing learning and development opportunities which give staff the skills and knowledge to perform their current and future duties effectively. Staff also need opportunities to acquire new skills and experiences which will further their careers.

Many formal staff development programs exist at QUT but not all needs can be met through formal programs of this nature. It is therefore largely up to you to identify, create and support development opportunities. While all staff will benefit from this approach, it will be particularly important for staff in lower classified positions and in support roles.

Research has shown that women and staff in other equity groups generally tend to be disadvantaged in terms of career development opportunities and outcomes. Often women are prevented or discouraged from accessing learning and development opportunities altogether. Alternatively, they may be given access to training which simply allows them to do their current jobs better. This is particularly true for women at lower levels and in support roles and can lead to women feeling as if they are 'over trained'.

Many women are given opportunities to acquire new skills and experiences which are inappropriate or not consolidated by actual on-the-job experience. Often actual experience is more highly regarded than participation in a training course.

The opportunities and outcomes for staff in other equity groups are not as well documented and systematic data is not yet available at QUT. However, enough is known to indicate that disparities in outcomes and opportunities also exist for these staff.

• Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (Qld)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984

  Under legislative provisions, the University can be liable for discrimination and harassment if managers do not take adequate steps to ensure staff and students are aware of their responsibilities and what constitutes discrimination and harassment.

• QUT Policy

  Managers are accountable for contributing to the achievement of QUT's equity objectives and strategies (MOPP B/B_09.01.html).

• QUT Policy

  Implementation of staff development programs rests primarily with deans of faculty, heads of school, heads of division and heads of department. It is the responsibility of every manager and supervisor to ensure that staff in their area are aware of the appropriate opportunities for development and are encouraged and supported to participate in such programs. Supervisors are specifically responsible for
  

  	reviewing training and development needs of staff and assisting staff to identify and develop plans to meet those needs
  	providing funding for appropriate staff development opportunities
  	enriching staff work duties by promoting information sharing, decision-making, the application of new skills and job enlargement opportunities.

  (MOPP B/16.13.2)

• Actively redesign jobs to improve career development opportunities, develop career paths and increase job satisfaction. One way of doing this is to increase task variety and include some challenging tasks in each person's job. You could give staff the opportunity to use skills which would be useful in higher-classified positions. You could provide multi-skilling opportunities so that people do not become 'indispensable' in their current positions and effectively trapped by their specialist knowledge.

• Reclassify positions which have expanded or developed more responsibility.

• Recognise the invisible skills inherent in a lot of routine work. Women in clerical and support roles often have difficulty getting recognition for their skills. Many have communication and organisational skills which include the ability to analyse, prioritise and coordinate. Their interpersonal skills can include negotiation and conflict resolution skills.

• Give credit for skills learnt informally on the job and for uncredentialled learning. If only formal qualifications are recognised, many lower-level general staff women, in particular, may be disadvantaged because their family commitments may prevent them from enrolling in formal programs. It is more important to recognise the actual competencies people need to do their jobs effectively.

• Acknowledge pastoral care duties and skills. An example is providing personal and academic support and guidance to students.

Strategies

4.4.3 Teaching Skills

See Chapter 10. Teaching and Learning.

4.4.4 Research

In 1998, women represented only 29% of research grant applicants. They represented only 11% of ARC Spirt grant applicants (with one woman successful) and 15% of ARC large grant applicants (no women were successful). In comparison, women represented 52% of applicants for QUT Grants for Scholarships in the Professions and 45% of applicants for the QUT Early Career Program.

Women are less likely than men to have a PhD. In 1998, at QUT, 34% of female academics had a PhD compared to 55% of male academics. National research has shown that women, on average, are six years older than men when they get their PhD (Probert et al, 1998:23).

Obligations