The Global Institute for Women's Leadership

GIWL (pronounced 'jewel') was founded by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard with a simple mission – to bring together research, practice and advocacy into a powerful force for change towards gender equality.

Based at ANU and led by renowned gender equality expert and co-author of the 'glass cliff' theory, Professor Michelle Ryan, we are a multi-disciplinary research institute with world-leading expertise on workplace gender equality and leadership.

We believe that advancing gender equality requires a whole-of-society approach and work across government, non-profits, academia and corporations connecting those looking to advance change in their fields with the evidence on what actually works. By working to implement change where it matters most, we aim to eradicate the root causes of systemic gender inequality and create safe, fair and equitable cultures where all people thrive.

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What we do

When it comes to gender equality, we take a three-pronged approach at the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership...

Research

Creating an evidence base by undertaking cutting-edge research and drawing together existing best practice findings from around the world.

Learn more about our world-leading research.

Practice

Translating this research into evidence-based, solutions-focused policy, practice and training.

Find out more about how you can work with us to advance equality in your area.

Advocacy

Bringing together communities, academics, experts and policymakers from across countries and sectors to create a global network of gender equality advocates.

Explore our events program to see our upcoming workshops, conferences and panel discussions.

GIWL's 2024 Year in Review

In 2024, our incredible team have published world-leading gender equality research in 21 reports; brought together experts, policymakers, activists and industry leaders for 9 workshops, 6 events and 2 roundtables; produced 18 episodes of our award-winning podcast, A Podcast of One’s Own with Julia Gillard; hosted 15 incredible interns, published a book, and so much more! Read about all our highlights from this year in our 2024 Year in Review.

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Do our love lives play a role in our career journeys?

How does who – and how – we date impact our job satisfaction, motivation, and well-being, and, on the flip side, how does our job impact our love life?

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Addressing work-related gendered violence against Victorian healthcare workers

Work-related gendered violence is pervasive in the Victorian healthcare sector and harms employees’ physical and mental wellbeing, financial and work outcomes, the quality of care provided, and the healthcare sector as a whole. We are working with The Health and Community Services Union (HACSU) as research partners on their project, to understand the current state of work-related gendered violence in the sector, bring together the available evidence and offer evidence-based solutions to this systemic issue.

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How can you get involved?

Solving the world’s most pressing problems cannot be done by a single type of expert working in isolation. We bring together diverse perspectives and different fields of research, and convene academics, policymakers, advocates and a wide range of organisations to understand and implement change where it matters most.

So, whether you're representing an organisation, are an academic or student working on gender-related research, or are just interested in learning more about gender equality, there are loads of ways you can get involved with our work at GIWL.

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