Data Brief
By: James L. Nuzzo
Published: Mar 20, 2026
The graph below shows the proportions of employees at universities in Australia in 2024-25 who were women. The data are from 39 of Australia’s 40 universities, with data unavailable from the University of Divinity. Employees represented in the graph include the combined total of professors, administrative staff, maintenance workers, etc.
Key Points
In 2024-25, all universities in Australia employed more women than men.
The Australian Catholic University was the university with the greatest proportion of female employees: 70%.
The University of New South Wales was the university with the lowest proportion of female employees: 53%.
Edith Cowan University, the university that cancelled me, had the third highest proportion of female staff: 68%.
A total of 25 of the 39 universities had proportional representations of female employees that were 60% of greater.
Source
Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WAGE) Employer Data Explorer Tool.
Bonus Commentary
These data show that in 2024-25 there were more female than male employees at each university in Australia. These employees included professors, administrative staff, maintenance workers, and all other roles employed through these universities. Regarding women’s and men’s proportional representations in these specific job categories, I previously published annual data (1997-2023) on faculty and non-academic staff at all Australian universities combined. The results were as follows:
Faculty. Women were 34.4% of faculty at Australian universities in 1997 and 49.8% of faculty in 2023.
Non-academic staff. Women were 59.9% of non-academic staff at Australian universities in 1997 and 66.9% of non-academic staff in 2023.
All staff (faculty plus non-academic staff). Women were 49% of all staff at Australian universities in 1997 and 59.5% of all staff in 2023 (comparable to the results in the graph above for all employees in 2024-25).
The representation of women on university campuses as staff and students is the largest it has ever been – both in Australia and the United States. This is part of what Helen Andrews called The Great Feminization. Current and former academics like Janice Fiamengo, Leigh Revers, Cory Clark, and me have all written about the increased female-to-male ratio on campus (i.e., the feminized university) and its implications for education, research, and society.
With women’s equal or greater representation as faculty, non-academic staff, and students, “gender equity” advocates are now shifting their focus to women’s equal representation as university presidents (Canada, United States) and vice-chancellors (Australia). See my post, “Sex of University Vice-Chancellors in Australia, 2024,” for more details.
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There are zero universities in Australia where men outnumber women.
In ten of them, the ratio is 2:1. Even the worst of them, ACU, is still doing "gender equity" initiatives.
