The Chat: our readers weigh in on flexible work, emergency responses and more

Our readers contributed much vibrant discussion to The Conversation’s journalism in the past month. Amid a national reckoning on the issue of gender inequality emanating from Canberra, they were particularly engaged with the topic of how women and their partners can be better supported in the workplace.

Our LinkedIn followers discussed gender equality at work

University of Melbourne academics Leah Ruppanner and Jordy Meekes’ recent piece on the gender implications of flexible work policies was featured by LinkedIn News Australia. They argued that flexible working arrangements can help women but only if they are also offered to their partners, to ensure an equitable distribution of time away from work.

The national spotlight elicited a discussion among Australian professionals on the social media platform about how best to structure flexible work arrangement to improve gender equality.

Cinzia Lea, a Sydney-based account manager for a science tech company, also posted her perspective on a recent article we posted on The Conversation’s LinkedIn page on why it’s not lack of confidence that is holding back women in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).

This insightful article sheds light on the reasons why #women tend to choose non STEM careers, despite of the fact that they perform on a similar level to boys in maths and science… My advice: find a partner who’s supportive of your career also.

To join the discussion, follow us on LinkedIn and leave a comment on our posts.

Our readers traded views on emergency responses with our expert authors

As disaster events continue to beset our nation, our readers had some constructive exchanges of ideas with academic experts about how individuals and governments can respond to crises.

Reader James Benson and author Mel Taylor, an Honorary Associate Professor at Macquarie University, discussed the psychology behind why people leave it too late to flee oncoming floods amid the recent New South Wales extreme weather event.

The Conversation The Conversation is currently working with the Paul Ramsay Foundation on a series about disaster and disadvantage. If you’ve got any questions about natural disasters you’d like our expert authors to answer, email us. Meanwhile, the ongoing emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to generate debate among our audience. Deakin epidemiologist Catherine Bennett helpfully answered many of our readers’ questions about the recent outbreaks in New South Wales and Queensland, including this exchange with reader Tony Simons. The Conversation Our Twitter followers shared their favourite articles Finally, The Conversation’s 10th birthday celebrations wrapped up in late March, for which we asked our senior editors and readers to send in their favourite pieces we’ve ever published. On Twitter, our followers continued to share their reflections on some of our editors’ top picks. Former journalist and women’s advocate Tracey Spicer concurred with our Chief of Staff Alexander Hansen in her praise of Kevin Brophy’s beautiful essay on the ending of a friendship. Monash University Professor Ian Davis echoed our Editor Misha Ketchell’s appreciation of Deakin philosopher Patrick Stokes’ 2012 classic on why you’re not ‘entitled to your own opinion’, which was resoundingly the most popular article among our readers. For those wishing to join the conversation (pun intended), we encourage you to comment on our articles, share your thoughts on social media or email us.