Identities and Career Progression of Women Academics in Australian STEM
University of Wollongong
Iresha Donmanige is a researcher, educator, and psychologist whose work focuses on identity, intersectionality, and career progression – particularly among women academics in STEM. With a background in organisational psychology, management, and education, her career spans academic teaching, programme coordination, and research. Iresha is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Wollongong in Australia, investigating the career progression of women academics in Australian STEM academia.
Previously, Iresha held academic and leadership roles at institutions such as the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology and the Colombo Institute of Research and Psychology. She has taught and coordinated programmes affiliated with Coventry University and Liverpool John Moores University – both in the UK – and has supervised theses at the undergraduate level and conducted corporate training workshops on mental health and stress management. Her research has been presented at global conferences, including the Association of Industrial Relations Academics in Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ), the British Academy of Management (BAM), the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), and the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM). Her publications focus on identity, diversity, and careers related to vocational psychology. Combining her research expertise with extensive teaching and leadership experience, Iresha brings a dynamic and interdisciplinary approach to her work.
The day Iresha and I met to record this episode was a scorcher – 40 degrees Celsius and humid. Consequently, we elected to record this episode outside. Over the hour that we spoke, the weather gradually turned from hot and humid to cool (read: not as hot) and rainy – a change which can be heard in the shifting wind that provides the audio backdrop of this episode. For anybody who has, as I have, watched a summer storm blow in, the sounds will be strangely familiar. It’s an added dimension that could not have been scripted.
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This episode of The Knowledge Mill was recorded on the campus of the University of Wollongong on January 28, 2025, following on from the 37th ANZAM Conference.
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