How gender equality is blocked by unconscious bias

Editor's note

On International Women’s Day, Beatrice Alba argues that to really achieve gender equality, we must first tackle our unconscious biases, which the research shows privileges male over female.

Also today, we look at Australia’s policy to improve equity in girls’ education, which was last updated 21 years ago. Deborah Towns writes we need new gender equity guidelines, targets and progress reports to address sexism in schools.

Amanda Dunn

Section Editor: Politics + Society

Top story

Gender equality does not mean pretending that “male” and “female” do not exist. Shutterstock

To achieve gender equality, we must first tackle our unconscious biases

Beatrice Alba, La Trobe University

Equal rights are not enough. Inequality exists in our minds, in our biases and prejudices, and that remains to be fixed.

Land clearing, as seen here in a property near St George, Queensland, does not trigger Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act. AAP

Why aren't Australia's environment laws preventing widespread land clearing?

Samantha Hepburn, Deakin University

Australia's federal environment laws are inadequate to halt Australia's alarming rates of land clearing and species loss. A more robust set of laws are urgently needed.

Politics + Society

Politics podcast: the "X factor" in the South Australian election

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra

In South Australia Labor is pitching for a fifth term, with former senator Nick Xenophon's SA-Best party injecting a high element of unpredictability into the result.
Australia and Timor Leste settle maritime boundary after 45 years of bickering

Donald R. Rothwell, Australian National University

The two countries have come to a historic agreement, but some matters remain unresolved.
Phenibut, online drug markets and the limits of law enforcement

Andrew Childs, Griffith University; Melissa Bull, Griffith University

The increasing availability of drugs online raises questions about policing methods that were developed to deal with more traditional drug markets.

Education

Sexism needs to be challenged in schools, not just workplaces

Deborah Towns, University of Melbourne

Australia is held back not only socially, but also economically by gender inequality, and it needs to be addressed in the classroom.
Should we shorten the long summer break from school? Maybe not

Rebecca English, Queensland University of Technology

While cutting the long summer holidays would help working parents, it may not be so great for teachers who need to plan and do professional development, and kids who need a rest.

Science + Technology

Why social media are more like chocolate than cigarettes

Babak Abedin, University of Technology Sydney

Critics want social media platforms regulated like Big Tobacco, but our research shows that their impact on your health depends on how you use them.
The science of landslides, and why they're so devastating in PNG

Benjy Marks, University of Sydney

Why is Papua New Guinea so susceptible to landslides? Steep terrain, earthquakes and aftershocks plus recent seasonal rains have created an environment that is prone to collapse.

Health + Medicine

The buzz from your smartphone won't stop mosquito bites

Cameron Webb, South Western Sydney Local Health District

The sounds of mosquitoes may be annoying to many but tuning into their musical whines could help design new mosquito traps. Just don't expect sounds from your smartphone to protect you from bites!
White, brown, raw, honey: which type of sugar is best?

Sze-Yen Tan, Deakin University

Next time you're baking a cake or putting a spoonful of something sweet in your coffee, here's which sugar you should choose and why.

Business + Economy

How the government can pay for its proposed company tax cuts

David Ingles, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University; Miranda Stewart, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

A cut in the Australian company tax rate to 25 or even 20% is important because it will attract foreign investment, boosting wages and the economy in Australia
'Down down’ and ‘cheap cheap’ are gone gone: why supermarkets are moving away from price

Gary Mortimer, Queensland University of Technology; Louise Grimmer, University of Tasmania

Coles plans to compete with competitors by moving away from low prices to a focus on other attributes, such as sustainability, local produce and community.

Cities
Building a 'second nature' into our cities: wildness, art and biophilic design Jordan Lacey, RMIT University If the nature we desire is, in fact, its expression as untamed wildness, then we should turn to the creativity of artists as well as urban designers when building our cities.

Arts + Culture

What writers and publishers must learn from the Deadly Woman Blues fiasco

Aaron Corn, University of Adelaide; Marcia Langton, University of Melbourne

Clinton Walker's Deadly Woman Blues was a missed opportunity and a lesson in how not to tell other people's stories.
Memorial is a shattering excavation of the scars of war through poetry, dance and mind-blowing score

Julian Meyrick, Flinders University

Memorial brings Alice Oswald's poetic retelling of the Iliad to the stage, with its furious indictment of war and its aftermath.

Environment + Energy

Virtual power plants are in vogue, but they can be like taking a sledgehammer to a nut

Evan Franklin, University of Tasmania; Frank Jotzo, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University

'Virtual power plants' offer extra power to the grid by tweaking the operation of batteries and appliances right across the network. But even this might be too blunt a tool for our future energy needs.