Creating change by working together: Gender equity and organisational change through collaboration - Australia and Czechia

This paper explores the collaboration between Australian and Czech social science academics across international lines to instigate and support social, cultural, and organisational growth and change. Specifically, it evaluates the strategy of participation in co-designed international webinars (which targets industry, government, researchers, practitioners, and university students) to grow knowledge and build momentum to improving gender equity and organisational inclusion and change. The research questions posed were 1. How effective is the strategy of international co-designed webinars between Australian and Czech social science academics in raising awareness and understanding of gender equity and organisational inclusion? and 2. What are the key benefits and challenges of this approach in supporting social and cultural change? Through examining (mixed method) survey results from two of the international webinars (n = 70 with a 39.5% survey response rate), the authors present the analysis which firstly highlights the success of such an approach, and secondly draws out the learning from participants which instigate critical reflection, deep thinking, and knowledge for inclusion and change. This strategy of knowledge raising and awareness via joint international webinars in two disparate cultures was successful. It increased insight and understanding of gender equity issues through the international comparatives of research, social policy, service delivery, and best practice initiatives. This strategy has assisted Czechia (a newer democracy) and Australia to quantify short-term effectiveness and self-reported application of knowledge in order to continue a joint approach that supports social and organisational change through an intersectional perspective to leadership to improve gender equity and workplace belonging.