The meeting was Chaired by Linda Hancock (Deakin).
Minutes taken by Louise Chappell (Sydney).
Present: Megan Alessandrini, Roz Averis, Karen Bird, Deb Brennan, Verity Burgmann, Helena Catt, Louise Chappell, Linda Colley, Jennifer Curtin, Elizabeth Eddy, Felicity Grace, Katie Grace, Gwen Gray, Linda Hancock, Lisa Hill, Robyn Hollander, Sheila Jeffreys, Sue Keen, Maaike Knottenbelt, Jennifer Oriel, Lauren Rosewarne, Penny Rossiter, Marian Sawer, Kelly Sexton, Marian Simms, Merryn Smith, Bron Stevens, Donna Weeks.
1. That the minutes from 2003 WAPSA Caucus meeting be accepted.
Moved Deborah Brennan, seconded Louise Chappell. Carried.
2. Audit of the position of women in the professions and a gender audit of first- year reading material
It is now 5 years since the last audit of the position of women in the discipline and the caucus agreed it was time to conduct another audit of the number and position of women in political science.
It is now 8 years since the last gender audit was begun of first year texts in Political Science and so the caucus decided to undertake another of these in the next year. There was some discussion about the problem of only auditing text books as so many courses rely on reading kits.
Rather than resolving the methodological issues related to the audits at the meeting, the caucus agreed to establish a steering committee to oversee the audits. Committee members include Sheila Jeffreys, Linda Hancock and Jennifer Curtin. A New Zealand member of the sub-committee will also be appointed, Marian Simms to advise.
Due to the time consuming and detailed work needed to undertake the audit, the caucus agreed to seek money from the Association for the purposes of employing a research assistant to collect data for the audit projects.
The caucus voted to put the following motion to the AGM:
It was resolved at the womenÕs caucus meeting to request $2000 from the Executive for the purpose of follow-up audits of the discipline including an audit of womenÕs position in the profession and a gender audit of 1st year course reading material.
Moved Lisa Hill, seconded Marian Sawer. Carried.
[The AGM subsequently agreed that the Executive provide $2000 for a research assistant to undertake work in relation to the audit. Sheila Jeffreys will need to contact Rod Rhodes (APSA Treasurer, rhodes@coombs.anu.edu.au) for this money).
3. The Women and Politics Prize
Deborah Brennan, Chair of the 2004 Women and Politics Prize praised the high quality of the entries for this yearÕs prize but lamented the small number of entries.
The caucus discussed ways to increase the number of entries including revisiting the eligibility criteria for the prize which it agreed are currently too restrictive.
The caucus agreed that the prize should remain open only to students, but thought it was necessary to extend the period of time a student could submit an essay after graduating.
Members of the caucus will develop a formal motion to change the prize rules for the 2005 AGM in time for the next prize that will be awarded in 2006.
A motion was put that the caucus revise the eligibility criteria and develop a clear rationale for the prize in time for the next WAPSA Caucus meeting.
Moved Jennifer Curtin, seconded Marian Sawer; Carried.
4. Gender Audit of the AJPS
The caucus discussed the AJPS and agreed that the outgoing editors of the journal be praised for their efforts in maintaining a gender audit of the journal. It was agreed that in the WAPSA Caucus report to the AGM, encourage the incoming editorial team to maintain the audit.
5. Development of the WomenÕs Caucus
The caucus discussed the need to highlight its role in the association and encourage new members. In order to achieve these goals, the caucus decided to request that the APSA membership form include an option for women members of the discipline to select to become a member of the caucus and to be put on the caucus email list.
Caucus members also noted that it is difficult to find links to the womenÕs caucus section on the APSA web site and would like to see the link on the home page rather than its current location under ABOUT APSA.
The caucus agreed that the conference program should provide information about the caucus and invite all women members of the discipline to its annual meeting.
The caucus voted on the following motion being put to the AGM:
The womenÕs caucus requests that the membership form for the Association be amended to include an option for women members of the profession to become a member of the womenÕs caucus and that the web site link to the womenÕs caucus be moved to the home page.
Moved Louise Chappell, seconded Lisa Hill. Carried.
[The AGM subsequently agreed to these changes]
6. The Maintenance of women and politics thesis database
Marian Sawer maintains a database of all thesis related to women and politics and public policy broadly conceived. Marian asks that anyone who has supervised students working on these topics please inform her of the author, year, title, department and type of degree the thesis was submitted for.
The database is used as a research resource and contributes to tracking the nature of women and politics research in Australia.
Marian Simms moved a motion of thanks to Marian Sawer for her efforts in maintaining the database. Lisa Hill seconded the motion. Carried unanimously.