Research as praxis: a research mentoring platform for academic women

In response to the continuing under-representation of women in academic positions of higher rank, the Faculty of Commerce and the Employment, Equity and Diversity unit at the University of Wollongong jointly supported a Women in Commerce Research Platform (WICRP) with the view to increasing research of women in commerce. We describe the WICRP and evaluate it in the context of prior research related to the specific challenges faced by female academics. The WICRP pilot period was reviewed using surveys and open ended questions and our findings are generally consistent with prior research. This paper draws on these findings and in writing about them (both as researchers and participants) we focus on the role of research as praxis. We discuss the potential impact of specific strategies to support academic women in research and its contribution to the ideal of community. In suspending methodological and theoretical differences we note the imperative for a shared space to also accommodate diversity as an empowering strategy. Just as dichotomies between work and family need to be problematised, so must the differentiation between research, teaching and administration in evaluating career progression.