pia Rowe

Social scientist
I'm a Research Fellow at the 50/50 by 2030 Foundation, University of Canberra

Dr Pia Rowe is a Political Scientist and a Gender Equality advocate.

I study the everyday life and the culture because I believe that the social fabric of the society is just as important as the structures that govern them.

My research spans from innovative forms of citizen-participation to unpaid labour at home and national gender equality attitudes in Australia.

My work has been published widely in peer-reviewed academic journals and in the mainstream media.
At the current rate, closing the global gender gap will take 135.6 years. We can't afford to wait that long.

My Academic Journey

My return back to academia after several years' break had very personal and private beginnings. In 2010, the famous catchphrase 'the personal is political' gained a whole new level of relevance to me, as I found myself at home, negotiating a new life with a toddler and a newborn in tow. Too tired to organise catch-ups with my friends and in a fog of relentless exhaustion, I found myself connecting...

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"We need to change the discourse if we want to see a real cultural shift in gender norms and child rearing."

In the media

Women are not the problem, but rather they are casualties of an ineffective and old-fashioned system which was geared towards the single income, male-breadwinner model
Forbes
We're trying to increase women's workforce participation — but unless we can change what's happening at home, that's not going to happen.
ABC Australia
Most men supported gender equality, the survey found, but opined that women are naturally better at caring for children; they agreed that women are suited for leadership roles, but expressed frustration that women enjoy unfair advantages in the workplace. “It’s important that we understand these nuances,” Rowe says.
Fatherly