 The government has announced a gender equality action plan as of November 2018. Under the plan the government will hope to have university professors and lecturers 50% women, 50% men by 2024. We asked some of the students at ECU what they think of the government's gender equality action plan. I think it is important that we have more female representation, but it seems unfair to focus your efforts solely towards hiring females. The person who gets the job should be the most qualified for the job. I think it's a good thing overall, but I think when employing people I think we should employ them because they have great skills, not based on their gender. I think there's not enough women during the teaching and I think it's just going to set the balance a bit more. Well I think that equality is great and yes women should be represented in all forms but you know if you're good at your job that's why you should get the role. If institutions continue with their current practices it could take more than 20 years to achieve 40% gender balance at professional level. The student union along with USI are positive towards this change by the government. And critics of the plan says that it promotes equality of outcome rather than opportunity. What would the student union think of that? Well over the past few years there hasn't been an increase of one or two percent every year of women becoming professors. If this was to continue it would be 20 years, 40% gender balance in professorships. So I think this is a positive thing and it makes it 50-50 women. This action plan will provide key recommendations and a strategic approach to help a culture of gender equality for all staff across all levels.