Women of Colour Australia and Murdoch University are partnering to research how Women of Colour experience their workplace, including any challenges and opportunities.

Brenda Gaddi, the founder and Managing Director of the Women of Colour Australia said the results gathered from the survey will help inform Women of Colour Australia's advocacy to improve outcomes for Women of Colour in the modern Australian workplace.

“We are encouraging all Women of Colour to participate in the survey and be upfront about their experience in the workplace, so we have a wide ranging and comprehensive representation of the experiences of Women of Colour across all occupations,” Ms Gaddi said.

“2020 was a challenging year in itself with COVID and the impact of COVID on workplaces around the nation.

This survey will highlight how Women of Colour experienced the workplace during this challenging year.”

Murdoch University researcher Catherine Archer said it was important to achieve maximum participation in the survey from a diverse range of workplaces.

“We encourage all Women of Colour to participate,”  Dr Archer said. 

“By doing so, they can help shape the advocacy for Women of Colour and achieve change where deficiencies are identified, and also highlight best practice where it is demonstrated.

We know gender is still an issue in the workplace but there is very little Australian-based research on the intersection between women’s experience at work and their cultural background and ethnicity.

“While individual feedback is anonymous, we will be sharing the overall survey outcomes with participants so they can see how their personal reflections about their workplace in 2020 compares with their peers.”

Participation involves completing a short online survey, which will take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete.

Background:

• Responses are confidential and anonymous as participants are not required to provide their name.
• Survey responses will be electronically stored by the researchers and kept for five years.
• The research results will be published this year.
• By taking part in this research, participants are consenting to have their survey responses incorporated in the data analysis for distribution via the Women of Colour Australia community, academic publications and presentations.
• This study has been approved by the Murdoch University Human Research Ethics Committee (Number 2020/182).

Women of Colour can participate in the survey at Women of Colour Survey.