ACADEMIA Letters Reflections on sexism in Australian universities Marcia Devlin Women dominate the lower levels of academia in Australia, with more women than men as associate lecturers (Level A) and lecturers (Level B). Conversely, men dominate the upper levels of academia, with more men than women as senior lecturers (Level C), associate pro- fessors (Level D) and professors (Level E). Many female Australian academics assume that by working hard and being good academic citizens, success will follow. This is an erroneous assumption – the data does not lie. In 2019, there were: • 7 percent more women at Level A; • 10 percent more women at Level B; • Five percent more men at Level C; and • 30 percent more men at Levels D and E (reported together in Australia) Given the state of the gender differences in academic levels, it is not surprising that the most senior academic appointment in an Australian university, the vice-chancellor – some- times also called the President – is much more often a man than a woman. At the time I am writing in late 2020, of Australia’s 37 public university vice-chancellors, 10 are women (27 percent) and 27 are men (73 percent). That’s right – around three-quarters of the top jobs in Australia are held by men. The year 2020 was one of shifts in Australian university leadership with vice-chancellors at 15 public universities either announcing their departure from, or actually departing, the role. The trends in the gender of new and incoming vice-chancellors are worth noting. As of Academia Letters, February 2021 Corresponding Author: Marcia Devlin, mttdevlin@gmail.com Citation: Devlin, M. (2021). Reflections on sexism in Australian universities. Academia Letters, Article 234. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL234. 1 ©2021 by Academia Inc. — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0