Melissa Hitchman is a PhD candidate in the National Security College (NSC) of the Crawford School of Public Policy. She collaborates with the Global Institutes for Women’s Leadership at ANU and King’s College London. Her research interests include the intersection of gender with diplomacy, national security, civ-mil relations, and public policy. 

Her thesis, Women with a Mission: A study of Five Eyes’ diplomacy, seeks to benchmark Australia against its Five Eyes’ partners on women in diplomacy, in terms of representation and influence. She is interested in embedding gains to future-proof gender in Australian diplomacy through best practice.