ICS Researchers Feature in Future-Makers

We are delighted to present you the Gender Equality Edition of Future-Makers. This special issue concentrates on the latest research happening at WSU addressing the UN Social Development Goal 5: Gender Equality & Women's Empowerment.

In this issue, five articles showcase the work led by the ICS researchers. These pieces cover a broad range of topics and demonstrate innovative and interdisciplinary research's positive impact on women locally and globally.

The land is vital in women's lives in rural India as they depend on it for their livelihoods. Most women are expected to work as free labourers on family farms, and single women are left to fend for themselves. Our PhD student Bhavya Chitranshi is trying to change this through her research project. Stronger Together: Single Women Revive Sustainable Farming discusses the work of  Bhavya, who helped establish Eka Nari Sanghathan, a single women's collective in eastern India, which practises sustainable farming using traditional techniques.

The number of female entrepreneurs in Australia falls short of the OECD average. The Factors Behind Female Entrepreneurial Success looks at the research by Sheree Gregory, which investigates the challenges female entrepreneurs face in Australia. The research has already provided many valuable insights, with some results presented to the NSW Government in 2022.

Sheree was also part of a research team which examined the gendered obstacles in the screen industry. The research concluded that caring duties at home cause women to experience discrimination at work. Curtains for Carers looks at how Sheree's work has led to industry recommendations to address this problem.

Most of the current aged and disability care services provided in the community have not been designed considering the distinct needs of Australians from multicultural backgrounds. The intersection of age, migration, ethnicity, disability, and gender has long been a focus of Karen Soldatic, who is part of the research team that has teamed up with the Multicultural Disability Advocacy Association (MDAA) of NSW to develop a toolkit for aging carers from CaLD backgrounds. You can read all about Karen's work in A Culture Change for Carers.

Inspired by Greta Thunberg's 'School Strike for Climate' protest outside her country's parliament at 15, thousands of school students around Australia have joined strikes and climate action. These young people find creative ways to call for urgent climate action. Emerging Voices for the Planet focuses on Phillipa Collin's ARC-funded project, which aims to help governments, educators, and the community listen to young people and recognise that they can contribute to the climate discussions in Australia.