Today the Lowy Institute launches the online survey Gender Diversity and Australia's International Relations.
This new survey is an important part of a research project being undertaken by the Lowy Institute to better understand the nature of the gender balance in Australia’s international relations architecture.
As part of this research we are looking at a range of Australian government and non-government organisations which coordinate, manage, report on, promote and influence Australia’s place in the world. This spans Australia’s economic, diplomatic and defence resources, our six intelligence agencies, academic institutions, think-tanks, media, international NGOs and business.
We want you to take part in this survey. It’s an ambitious project and we need your help. Your participation will involve answering 30 multiple-choice questions over approximately 15 minutes. We will not ask you to provide your name, contact details, where you currently work or your geographic location. You also won’t be asked to identify as working in government, civil society or the private sector. If there are questions you prefer not to answer, most questions have a ‘don’t know/no view’ option.
For those concerned about online security, the survey uses SSL encryption. We have elected not to collect respondents’ IP addresses, which means data remains personally unidentifiable (so nothing remotely like this can happen).
The design of the survey questions incorporates the Lowy Institute’s rigorous polling standards. The questions have been informed by research, similar surveys done in Australia and overseas, and the many interviews and meetings we have held over the past six months. The survey has been tested, critiqued and improved thanks to feedback from a diverse group of men and women working in the sector.
Our research, to be published in 2017, will be better informed with your input, so please take a look at the survey. If you complete the survey, and you believe it’s an important and worthwhile exercise, please alert your friends and colleagues so they also have an opportunity to provide their views. For more detail about the project, you can contact aoliver@lowyinstitute.org and Danielle.Cave@anu.edu.au.
Photo: Getty images/Anadolu Agency