Did you know that worldwide, women tend to live longer than men, but spend more years in ill health? Or that women do more unpaid work in the home, while they earn less money in the labor market than men, even for equal work? Or that highly educated women are more likely to migrate to a different country for work than highly educated men? This course will examine sex and gender differences in population processes (health & mortality, family & fertility, household & the labor market, migration), and critically investigate where these gender inequalities come from, why they are so persistent, and what could be done about them. We will engage in transdisciplinary perspective taking and address these population issues from different social science angles. While an empirical dichotomisation of “sex” into male and female is often central to population research, what do demographers mean when they talk about sex difference? How do their concepts of sex and gender, and approaches to understanding and explaining gender inequalities, overlap with those from other disciplines? How do they deal with non-binary gender identities? What are other disciplines’ perspective on these gendered issues, and how does research from different fields on these issues speak to each other? We will explore answers to these questions and develop a ‘gendered’ understanding of a variety of issues in population studies, examining them through the lenses of theories and perspectives from demography, sociology, gender studies, and economics.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- identify and understand key concepts on sex and gender in population studies and other social sciences;
- analyse and critically reflect upon research on gendered population issues from a range of different disciplinary lenses (transdisciplinary perspectives);
- learn how to read and critically assess quantitative empirical studies;
- develop practical problem-solving strategies to sticky gender inequalities in a team; and
- communicate ideas in a group setting effectively and expand teamworking skills.
Indicative Assessment
- Two in-class quizzes (Weeks 4, 10) (30) [LO 1,2,3]
- Research paper: Groups Proposal (Week 6, 750 words) (15) [LO 2,3,4,5]
- Research paper: Group Final Paper (Week 12, 2500-2750 words) (45) [LO 2,3,4,5]
- Student participation in lectorials (Weekly) (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
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Workload
130 hours of total student learning time made up from:
a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 18 hours of lectures and 18 hours of workshop and workshop-like activities.
b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
Not applicable
Preliminary Reading
Not applicable
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
Commonwealth Support (CSP) Students
If you have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). More information about your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 14
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Course fees
- Domestic fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $4320 |
- International fee paying students
| Year | Fee |
|---|---|
| 2025 | $5580 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Second Semester
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9239 | 21 Jul 2025 | 28 Jul 2025 | 31 Aug 2025 | 24 Oct 2025 | In Person | N/A |