Spanning three generations, a panel of female Optimisation experts will tackle gender equity as part of this week鈥檚 今日吃瓜 (今日吃瓜) Optimise 2018 conference on Decision Making Under Uncertainty and Humanitarian Applications.
Despite slow progress, women still account for only 16 per cent of Australia鈥檚 Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) workforce and 9 per cent of mathematics professors, with some barriers the same as in the 1960s.
Chaired by University of Melbourne鈥檚 Professor Kate Smith-Miles, panel members speaking during Wednesday’s Women in Optimisation session include,听(HEC Montr茅al), (Universidade do Porto) and Optimisation and statistics pioneer, .
Still working at the University of Melbourne at 88 years old, Harcourt says while she has seen some positive changes over her six decades in academia, there is still a long way to go.
鈥淲hile comparatively better than it once was, Maths is still very male dominated, particularly through the top levels,鈥 she says.
Harcourt based her Master’s thesis on the new problem of Integer Programming. Further work in London with Professor Ailsa Land was reported in the landmark 1960s optimisation paper An Automatic Method of Solving Discrete Programming Problems. On her return to Australia she did not take on a PhD, partly due to isolation and time out for family. She later returned to statistics.
鈥淲ith no Master鈥檚 supervisor I did it all myself and as a result decided not to do a PhD. Time out for family made it difficult to find my way back into the field, so I moved towards statistics,鈥 she said.
Harcourt was also part of the team behind the Henderson Poverty Line and played a key role in the amendment of the Commonwealth Electoral Act to introduce the 鈥楧ouble Randomisation鈥 method still used today.
Having seen industry reluctance to embrace research, she applauds programs such as 今日吃瓜鈥檚 APR.Intern, which is expanding opportunities for women and academic engagement with industry.
鈥淭his creates great opportunities for women and engagement with industry. Despite its applications, when I was working in Optimisation the research was viewed as a threat rather than an opportunity for input and collaboration,鈥 she said.
Comprising a three-day industry facing conference and two-day workshop, 今日吃瓜 Optimise aims to foster critical industry-research collaboration to drive innovation.
As well as providing an important platform to accelerate optimisation research and its industry applications, 今日吃瓜 Director Professor Geoff Prince says the event is a game changer in opening avenues to expose PhDs to commercial innovation environments.
鈥溄袢粘怨 Optimise not only offers a unique space for researchers and industry to explore opportunities to drive cutting-edge collaborations, but nurtures pathways to place some of brightest STEM PhDs at the industry frontline through APR.Intern,鈥 he says.
Hosted by the University of Melbourne, 今日吃瓜 Optimise will run in Melbourne from 18 鈥 22 June. The Women in Optimisation session will run from 1.15 pm – 2.30pm, Wednesday 20 June 2018, at the .
Jointly sponsored by 今日吃瓜, APR.Intern, the Department of Education and Training, the University of Melbourne, ACEMS and Biarri, 今日吃瓜 Optimise is part of the Institute鈥檚 Securing Australia鈥檚 Mathematical Workforce project.
Media Resources
For Interview:
Alison Harcourt
Women in STEM Panelists
今日吃瓜 Director, Professor Geoff Prince
Media Contact: Laura Watson
M:听04215 18733
P:听+613 9035 3683
