Dr Anne Stephens ~ Adjunct Associate Professor

Download my most recent publication. Inclusive Systemic Evaluation for Gender equality, Environments and Marginalized voices (ISE4GEMs): A new approach for the SDG era

Dr Anne Stephens (BA, BEd (GE), PhD) is a Lecturer and Senior Researcher in Education in the College of Arts, Education and Society at JCU.

Anne has a PhD in Sociology looking at the intersection between systems thinking, gender equality and the environment.  Described here in a keynote plenary address she gave in Washington D.C., Anne's work formed the basis of the ISE4GEMs methodology now in use to evaluate the gender mainstreaming, equity and empowerment programmes of United Nations agencies and NGOs in international development.

Anne had a three-year Post-Doctoral appointment with the Northern Futures Collaborative Research Network where she was lead researcher in the field of economic and workforce development through Vocational Education and Training for Northern Australia. She has ongoing collaborations with Universities across the north, including CDU, the Nulungu Research Institute and the Batchelor Institute in Darwin.

Anne now teaches Education Sociology in the JCU Bachelor of Education programs and is integrating her love of teaching and research to investigate the effect of major education policy reforms of the last ten years.  As a former teacher and public servant in the Queensland education department, she has a personal interest in re-examining major reforms including the National Curriculum from a post-implementation perspective, drawing on several of Australia’s most influential education academics in the process. The outcomes feed into course content to improve the subjects for JCU pre-service teachers.  

Recent Awards

Anne received a 2016 Endeavour Fellowship and was Visiting Scholar at Columbia University's, School of International and Public Affairs in New York.

Research

Anne is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Cairns Institute.  With collaborators in Australia and internationally, she works across four thematic areas:

 ·         Australian education policy;

·         Indigenous vocational education;

·         Community & capacity development evaluation, and

·         Violence prevention.

Current projects include:

Methodological trial and practitioner experience with Inclusive Systemic Thinking and the GEMs Framework (UN Women; University of Hull; Deakin University)

Health workforce training and capacity development (Indigenous RTOs, the Primary Health Network)

Community Violence Prevention and resource development (Primary Care Professionals and the Queensland Rural Doctors Association Foundation)

Australia’s Education Revolution: In conversation with Education Leaders on Ten years of Education Reform (UQ, Melbourne University, global education consultants)

Anne is a reviewer for the Australian Research Council, and international and Australian journals including the Journal of Australian Indigenous Education; Journal of Australian Public Administration and Systems Research and Behavioural Science.

Professional Memberships

Anne is a registered teacher with the Queensland College of Teachers. She is a member of The Australian and International Sociological Associations; American, European and Australian Evaluation Associations and Societies, and has been an active member of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, since 2006.

Community Engagement

Anne regularly convenes events with staff and colleagues such as the #MeToo – A Hypothetical Journey at The Cairns Institute.  She was co-convenor of the 2015 Australian Sociological Association Annual Conference.  She conducts training workshops in Systemic Evaluation methodology in Australia and overseas.  Anne has been on the inaugural boards of three not for profit organisations:  Food Connect (2002 – 2006); FoodSwell (2013 – 2015) and currently, Violence Prevention Australia (website under construction). 

Interests

Professional

• Undertaking a Masters of Business Administration (Conflict Negotiation) (JCU); Continuing studies in French language

Experience

• 2016 - Visiting Scholar, Columbia University: Gender and Public Policy Specialization at the School of International and Public Affairs (New York)
• 2013 to 2016 - Post-doc, The Cairns Institute (James Cook University, Cairns)
• 2011 to 2013 - Senior Researcher, The Cairns Institute (James Cook University, Cairns)
• 2006 to 2012 - PhD candidate, The University of Queensland (Brisbane)
• 2000 to 2005 - Teacher and researcher of the New Basics trials, Education Queensland (Brisbane)

Research Disciplines

• Sociology (4410)
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education (4502)
• Education systems (3903)

Awards

• 2009 - The Sir Geoffrey Vickers' Award presented by the International Society of Systems Scientists
• 2017 to 2018 - JCU Learning and Teching Peer Review of Teaching Grant

Fellowships

• 2016 - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Endeavour Post Doctoral Fellowship

Other

• 2009 to 2010 - Post-graduate PhD scholarship University of Queensland

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Stephens A and Zoellner D (2019) The changing balances of equity, control and market choice in the Indigenous vocational education and training sector. Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, 24. pp. 4-20
• Stephens A, Taket A and Gagliano M (2019) Ecological justice for nature in CST. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 36 (1). pp. 3-19
• Stephens A and Monro D (2019) Training for life and healing: the systemic empowerment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women through vocational education and training. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 48 (2). pp. 179-192
• Stephens A, Lewis E and Reddy S (2018) Towards an inclusive systemic evaluation for the SDGs: gender equality, environments and marginalized voices (GEMs). Evaluation, 24 (2). pp. 220-236
• Stephens A, Bohanna I and Graham D (2017) Expert consensus to examine the cross-cultural utility of substance use and mental health assessment instruments for use with Indigenous clients. Evaluation Journal of Australasia, 17 (3). pp. 14-22
• Zoellner D, Stephens A, Joseph V and Monro D (2017) Mission-driven adaptability in a changing national training system. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 46 (1). pp. 54-63
• Snijder M, Shakeshaft A, Wagemakers A, Stephens A and Calabria B (2015) A systematic review of studies evaluating Australian indigenous community development projects: the extent of community participation, their methodological quality and their outcomes. BMC Public Health, 15. pp. 1-16
• Stephens A, Oppermann E, Turnour J, Brewer T, O'Brien C, Rayner T, Blackwood G and Dale A (2015) Identifying tensions in the development of northern Australia: implications for governance. Journal of Economic and Social Policy, 17 (1).

Book Chapters

• Stephens A and Liley W (in press) We use systemic empowerment to prevent interpersonal harm. Will you? In: Handbook of Systems Sciences. Translational Systems Series. Springer, Tokyo, Japan
• Stephens A, Opperman E and Dale A (2021) Revisiting governance systems analysis in Northern Australia: exploring critical systems thinking as a framework for engaging with multiplicity and incommensurability. In: Rethinking Northern Australia Development. ANU Press, Canberra, ACT, Australia, pp. 509-540
• Stephens A (2015) Ecofeminism and systems thinking: shared ethics of care for action research. In: Sage Handbook of Action Research. Sage Publications, London, UK, pp. 564-572

Conference Papers

• Guenther J, Bat M, Boughton B, Dwyer A, Skewes J, Stephens A, Williamson F and Wooltorton S (2016) Enhancing training advantage for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander learners. Proceedings of the Australian Association for Research in Education Conference. In: AARE 2016: Australian Association for Research in Education Conference, 27 November - 1 December 2016, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 53+ research outputs authored by Dr Anne Stephens from 2003 onwards.

Advisory Accreditation: I can be on your Advisory Panel as a Primary or Secondary Advisor.

These Higher Degree Research projects are either current or by students who have completed their studies within the past 5 years at JCU. Linked titles show theses available within ResearchOnline@JCU.

Current

• Failing Feminism: Culture, Female Empowerment and Agricultural Development (PhD , Secondary Advisor)

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.