ECU researchers Giselle Woodley, Professor Lynore Geia and Dr Gemma Doleman.
International Women's Day is held annually in March and this year's United Nations theme is 'March Forward' - for all women and girls. In 2025 we also celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, which set a bold vision for gender equality.
It is bold vision that ECU shares for rights, equality and empowerment for all.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Clare Pollock launched the March celebrations with a global message to staff.
"As a community we are immensely proud to be the only university in Australia to be named after a woman and that woman - Edith Dircksey Cowan OBE - was such a remarkably brave, bold trailblazer, so ahead of her time in every way," said Professor Pollock.
"Edith's commitment to public education, including that sex education to be taught in schools, along with her contribution especially to women's health and social justice issues, created profound and lasting change for the status and welfare of women and children.
"I am honoured to lead a university where I see that same bold vision embodied in the research and advocacy that ECU's academics and researchers are out there doing everyday."
International Women's Day provides a valuable platform to celebrate and raise the profile of the bold and visionary research begin conducted at ECU. Here are profiles of three ECU researchers who are marching forward with bold vision to foster and facilitate positive change for gender equity.
Giselle Woodley
Giselle Woodley is a researcher in ECU's School of Arts and Humanities, dedicated to reshaping how young people navigate relationships, sexuality education, and digital intimacy.
As part of the Australian Research Council project on adolescents' perceptions of online harm, Giselle's work challenges outdated narratives, ensuring teens' voices inform policies on pornography, sexting, and sexual health.
She is currently investigating teens' perspectives of Sexually-Explicit Materials (SEM), including pornography and their experiences of their Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE).
Giselle is a sexologist and has a background in Arts and Media. She is a co-founder of Bloom-Ed a Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) advocacy group.
ECU sex education research.
Embodying this year's International Women's Day theme of March Forward, Giselle's research empowers young people through knowledge, advocating for education that prioritises well-being, consent, and respect—key steps toward gender equality and a safer digital world. Edith would be proud.
Read more about Giselle's recent study that has revealed that Australian teens feel sex education is falling short, leaving them unprepared to navigate complex relationship dynamics.
Professor Lynore Geia
Professor Lynore Geia is a Bwgcolman woman, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman from Palm Island, North Queensland. Dr Geia is Professor of Nursing and Midwifery, and an educator and researcher at ECU's School of Nursing and Midwifery.
Dr Geia's work as a health professional has spanned four decades and is inherently connected with her Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity and community leadership and amplifying the voices and roles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in co-designing and co-producing health reform practices.
Her research has been focused on seeking collaborative nursing and midwifery education reform for improved care of Australia's First Nations People.
Dr Geia's cultural and community lived experiences underpins and informs her work in nursing and midwifery, while her research emboldens others to March Forward in the pursuit of better health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Read more about Professor Lynore Geia.
Dr Gemma Doleman
Dr Gemma Doleman is a research fellow within the School of Nursing and Midwifery, working to better the lives of frontline healthcare workers.
Dr Doleman's recent research has highlighted the prevailing gender wage cap experienced in Australia's nursing sector, as well as the lack of career advancement for female nurses.
She is currently investigating, and co-designing support and wellbeing strategies with nurses and midwives that are aimed at enhancing the practice environment. The co-design approach fostering a sense connection and validation among the workforces.
Dr Doleman has worked as a registered nurse for nearly two decades working in anaesthetic nursing before completing her PhD and commencing work in the tertiary education sector
Embodying March Forward, Dr Doleman's research aims to better the working environment for healthcare staff by addressing areas of job satisfaction, worker retention and organisational communication.
ECU researching nurses gender wage gap.
Despite making up nearly 90% of the workforce in the healthcare industry, female nurses were still faced with a pay gap of between 4% to 13% when compared with their male counterparts.
Read more about Dr Gemma Doleman.
"As women all over the world are celebrated for their achievements this International Women's Day, we celebrate and thank all the women in our University community who emulate Edith's values and share her lifelong conviction that education is the key to growth, change and Improvement in society," Professor Pollock.
Edith Cowan Memorial Lecture
Please take the opportunity to celebrate with us at ECU with a panel of distinguished industry leaders for the Edith Cowan Memorial Lecture as we reflect on the importance of a more equitable society.
Thursday, 20 March 2025 - 9.45am (for 10.00am start)
Networking and morning tea from 11.00am
ECU Mount Lawley Campus
Building 17, Lecture Theatre 17.157
2 Bradford Street, Mount Lawley WA 6050
RSVP: FREE public event but please register your attendance by Friday, 14 March 2025
Follow more International Women's Day stories this month on the ECU Newsroom.
