Emeritus Professor Gillian Whitehouse

Emeritus Professor

School of Political Science and International Studies
Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences

Overview

Professor of Political Science

Background:

Gillian Whitehouse researches in areas of gender and employment equity, focusing in particular on the impact of regulatory frameworks and legislative change on gender equity in contemporary societies. Her research has attracted significant funding from Australian and international agencies (including the Australian Research Council, Government departments in Australia and Britain, the OECD and the European Commission). She is a member of several international networks of researchers in the areas of employment rights and equity, including the International Network on Leave Policies & Research which produces an annual report on parental leave policies in over 30 countries. Her work has been influential within and beyond academic, contributing in particular to pay equity and parental leave policy developments in Australia.

Research Interests:

  • Gender Pay Equity: This research spans a considerable period, commencing with cross-nationally comparative analyses of the relationship between institutional frameworks for wage setting and gender equity outcomes and extending to occupational case studies of female-dominated occupations and the resilience of wage gains won through pay equity cases, particularly in times of legislative change. Gillian Whitehouse’s work in these areas has informed pay equity inquiries and claims before tribunals at national and state levels in Australia.
  • Parental Rights in Employment: This research focuses on the work/family intersection and includes analyses of the use of parental leave in Australia and investigations into the impact of parental leave type and duration on outcomes such as career progression, gendered parenting roles and family well-being. Following on from the design and implementation of Australia’s first comprehensive survey on the use and impact of parental leave (which informed a major Productivity Commission inquiry and national policy development), Gillian Whitehouse is currently part of a consortium undertaking an evaluation of Australia’s paid parental leave policy.
  • Work and Occupations: This research has focused on gender equity and work/family balance for a number of different occupational groups, including academia, professional roles in universities, architecture and - more broadly - science and technology. Aspects of this research have addressed horizontal and vertical patterns of sex segregation within computing work and emerging ‘creative’ areas such as multimedia, as well as the use of technology in changing the spatial and temporal organisation of work (e.g. via telework). Recent project work includes contribution to the European Commission project Practising Gender Equality in Science which focused on organisational strategies to attract and retain women in leadership positions in science and technology occupations in 20 countries.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor (Honours) of Arts, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Arts, The University of Queensland

Publications

View all Publications

Supervision

View all Supervision

Publications

Book

  • Alexander, Michael, Whitehouse, Gillian and Brennan, Deborah (2009). Australia. Employment relations research series No.102 United Kingdom: Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, UK.

  • Alexander, Michael, Whitehouse, Gillian M. and Brennan, Deborah (2008). Australia. Employment relations research series No. 100 United Kingdom: Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, UK.

Book Chapter

  • Whitehouse, Gillian and Smith, Meg (2023). Prosecuting Pay Equity in Australia. The Evolution of the Gender Pay Gap. (pp. 185-201) London: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003333951-15

  • Whitehouse, Gillian, Baird, Marian and Morrissey, Suzy (2022). Legacies of an Antipodean model? Parenting leave policy trajectories in Australia and New Zealand. Research handbook on leave policy: parenting and social inequalities in a global perspective. (pp. 244-257) edited by Ivana Dobrotic, Sonja Blum and Alison Koslowski. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. doi: 10.4337/9781800372214.00029

  • Whitehouse, Gillian (2017). A cross-national comparison of gender gaps. Women, Labor Segmentation and Regulation: Varieties of Gender Gaps. (pp. 97-116) New York, NY, U.S.A.: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-55495-6_6

  • Strachan, Glenda, Peetz, David, Broadbent, Kaye, Bailey, Janis, Whitehouse, Gillian and Troup, Carolyn (2017). Academics: How career structures and segmentation undermine pay regulation. Women, Labor Segmentation and Regulation: Varieties of Gender Gaps. (pp. 155-174) New York, NY, U.S.A.: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1057/978-1-137-55495-6_9

  • Whitehouse, G., Baird, M., Brennan, D. and Baxter, J. (2016). Australia. 12th International Review of Leave Policies and Research 2016. (pp. 45-56) edited by A. Koslowski, S. Blum and P. Moss. Online: International Network on Leave Policies and Research.

  • Whitehouse, Gillian and Rooney, Tricia (2011). Approaches to gender-based undervaluation in Australian industrial tribunals: lessons from recent childcare cases. Work and employment relations : an era of change : essays in honour of Russell Lansbury. (pp. 109-123) edited by Marian Baird, Keith Hancock and Joe Isaac. Sydney, NSW, Australia: The Federation Press.

  • Alexander, Michael, Whitehouse, Gillian and Brennan, Deborah (2010). Australia. International review of leave policies and related research 2010. (pp. 42-50) edited by Peter Moss. London, U.K.: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

  • Campbell, Iain, Whitehouse, Gillian and Baxter, Janeen (2009). Australia: Casual employment, part-time employment and the resilience of the male-breadwinner model. Gender and the contours of precarious employment. (pp. 60-75) edited by Leah F. Vosko, Martha MacDonald and Iain Campbell. London, United Kingdom: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203874424

  • Alexander, M., Whitehouse, G. M. and Brennan, D. (2007). Australia. International Review of Leave Policies and Related Research 2007. (pp. 72-85) edited by Moss, P. and Wall, K.. United Kingdom: Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

  • Whitehouse, Gillian (2006). Women and Computing Careers in Australia. Encyclopedia of Gender and Information Technology. (pp. 1223-1229) edited by Eileen M. Trauth. Hershey, PA, USA and London, UK: Idea Group. doi: 10.4018/9781591408154.ch193

  • Whitehouse, G. M. (2004). Justice and Equity: Women and Indigenous Workers. The new Province for Law and Order: 100 years of Australian Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration. (pp. 207-240) edited by Joe Isaac and Stuart Macintyre. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

  • Whitehouse, G. M. (2004). Women's Policy: Special interests or mainstream?. Australian Public Policy. (pp. 361-387) edited by A. Fenna. Australia: Pearson Longman.

  • Lafferty, George, Whitehouse, Gillian and Diamond, Chris (2003). Telework in Australia: Findings from a National Survey. Organisation and Work Beyond 2000. (pp. 315-332) edited by P. Jackson and B. Rapp. Heidleberg: Physica-Verlag. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-57346-0_24

  • Whitehouse, G. M. and Frino, B. (2003). Women, wages and industrial agreements: Recent Australian trends. Women and work. (pp. 9-20) edited by J. Burgess, G. Strachan and A. Sullivan. Newcastle, Australia: Employment Studies Centre, University of Newcastle.

  • Whitehouse, G. M. and Zetlin, D. J. (1999). Globalization and the pursuit of pay equity: Contradictory pressures in the Australian case. The Global Economy, National States and the Regulation of Labour. (pp. 160-181) edited by Paul Edwards and Tony Elger. London: Mansell Publishing.

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Edited Outputs

Other Outputs

  • Hewitt, Belinda, Baird, Marian, Baxter, Janeen, Brady, Michelle, Coles, Laetitia, Dickenson, Jane, Strazdins, Lyndall, Whitehouse, Gillian, Xiang, Ning and Yerkes, Mara (2017). Millennium Mums Report, waves 1-5. Indooroopilly, QLD, Australia: Institute for Social Science Research.

  • Strachan, G., Peetz, D., Whitehouse, G., Bailey, J., Broadbent, K., Troup, C. and Nesic, M. (2016). Women, Careers and Universities. Where to from Here?. Nathan, QLD, Australia: Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing (WOW).

  • Strachan, Glenda, Peetz, David , Whitehouse, Gillian , Bailey, Janis , Broadbent, Kaye , May, Robyn , Troup, Carolyn and Nesic, Michelle (2016). Women, Careers and Universities: Where to from Here?. Nathan, QLD, Australia: Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing (WOW), Griffith University.

  • Martin, Bill, Baird, Marian, Brady, Michelle, Broadway, Barbara, Hewitt, Belinda, Kalb, Guyonne, Strazdins, Lyndall, Tomaszewski, Wojtek, Zadoroznyj, Maria, Baxter, Janeen, Chen, Rachael, Foley, Meraiah, McVicar, Duncan, Whitehouse, Gillian and Xiang, Ning (2014). PPL evaluation: Final report. ISSR10012 and ISSR 10333 Brisbane, QLD Australia: Institute for Social Science Research.

  • Martin, Bill, Hewitt, Belinda, Baird, Marian, Baxter, Janeen, Heron, Alexandra, Whitehouse, Gillian, Zadoroznyj, Maria, Xiang, Ning, Broom, Dorothy, Connelly, Luke, Jones, Andrew, Kalb, Guyonne, McVicar, Duncan, Strazdins, Lyndall, Walter, Margaret, Western, Mark and Wooden, Mark (2012). Paid parental leave evaluation: Phase 1. Occasional Papers Series; 44 Canberra, ACT, Australia: Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

  • Macdonald, Fiona, Whitehouse, Gillian and Bailey, Janis (2007). Tipping the scales: A qualitative study of the impact of Work Choices on women in low-paid employment in Queensland. Brisbane, Qld: School of Political Science and International Studies, University of Queensland; Department of Industrial Relations, Griffith University.

  • Whitehouse, Gillian, Haynes, Michele, Macdonald, Fiona and Arts, Dionne (2007). Reassessing the family friendly workplace: trends and influences in Britain, 1998-2004. Employment Relations Research Series. WERS 2004 Grant Fund London: Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform.

  • Whitehouse, Gillian (1995). Employment equity and labour organisation : the comparative political economy of women and work. PhD Thesis, School of Political Science and International Studies, The University of Queensland.

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision