Publications and reports
International affairs; national security and intelligence; gender, sexuality and women’s leadership; Australia-ASEAN; Asia Pacific.
- Academic publications
- Academic conferences and presentations
- Academic panel chairing
- News media, engagement and blogs
- Invited keynotes and other speeches
Academic publications
Books
- Elise Stephenson, The Face of the Nation: Women Leading International Affairs, Oxford University Press (Forthcoming).
Peer-reviewed articles
- Elise Stephenson 2022, “The Diplomatic Glass Cliff: Women’s Representation and Diplomacy’s Decline”, The Hague Journal of Diplomacy.
- Elise Stephenson 2022, “Why do women remain under-represented in Australian international affairs?”, Australian Journal of Politics and History.
- Susan Harris Rimmer, Elise Stephenson and Tom Verhelst 2021, “New Dimensions of Gender and Political Leadership During COVID-19: Linking Feminist Stewardship and Electoral Success in Queensland, Australia”, SAIS Review, Vol. 41, No. 1, Winter-Spring, pp.49-59.
- Elise Stephenson 2021, “Invisible while visible: an Australian perspective on queer women leaders in international affairs”, European Journal of Politics and Gender, Vol. 3, No. 3.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Domestic challenges and international leadership: A case study of women in international affairs”, Australian Journal of International Affairs, Volume 73, Issue 3, pp. 234-253.
- Elise Stephenson, Kaye Broadbent and Glenda Strachan 2017, “Climbing the ‘Staircase’: Do EEO policies contribute to women achieving senior leadership positions in universities in Australia and Hong Kong?”, Griffith Journal of Law and Human Dignity, Vol. 5, pp. 122-152.
Book chapters
- Elise Stephenson 2021, “Am I Ambassadorial Enough? Gender and Australian international representation,” in Katrina Lee Koo & Zareh Ghazarian, Australian Gender and Political Leadership, Newsouth Publishing, Melbourne.
- Elise Stephenson 2020, “Queer Women, Diplomacy and Security: A Case Study of Australian Leaders Deployed in the Asia Pacific”, Gender & Sexuality Justice in Asia, Springer, Malaysia.
Peer-Reviewed Policy papers
- Elise Stephenson, Jack Hayes and Matcha Phorn-In, “Furthering LGBTIQ+ Inclusion and Rights Through Feminist Foreign Policy”, 2022.
Book reviews
- Elise Stephenson 2020, “Beyond the band of brothers: The US military and the myth that women can’t fight,” Security Challenges, Vol 14, No. 2, pp.144-149.
“The world needs good ideas and it needs a lot of them. We can’t assume they will all come from the same place.”
Academic conferences and presentations
- Elise Stephenson 2023, “How is space ‘gendered’? What the data says”, Diversity at the Frontier: Gender Equality in Space Conference, 12-14 April.
- Elise Stephenson and Susan Harris Rimmer 2022, “Bolstering the Boys Club: Gender and Diplomatic Gatekeeping”, Gender and Diplomacy Workshop, Gothenburg, Sweden, 19 June.
- Elise Stephenson 2022, “Classified and Secret: Understanding Gender in the Intelligence Sector”, International Studies Association Conference.
- Elise Stephenson 2022, “Gender in Outer Space: Decision-Making, Diplomacy and Policy”, International Studies Association Conference.
- Elise Stephenson 2021, “Gender and Diversity in Security and Intelligence: A Review of the Literature”, Australian Political Studies Association Annual Conference, 20-22 September.
- Elise Stephenson 2021, “Making Feminist Institutional Theory Intersectional: Learnings from Researching Diplomacy”, Australian Women’s and Gender Studies Association Conference – ‘Unknowing’ Institutions: Decolonisation and Critical Intersectional Practice, 13-16 July.
- Elise Stephenson 2021, “Navigating Connection and Distance: critical feminist friends and the study of gender and diplomacy”, International Feminist Journal of Politics (IFJP) Virtual Conference, 17-20 February.
- Elise Stephenson 2021, “What does the research tell us? Women in National Security” Women in National Security Course, National Security College, Australian National University, 1 March.
- Elise Stephenson 2021, “Gender, Diversity and Inclusion in National Security”, National Security College, Australian National University, 24 February.
- Elise Stephenson 2020, “Gender and Institutional Change: Australian Diplomacy and Security”, Gender and Diplomacy Workshop, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, 8-9 October.
- Elise Stephenson 2020, “What the Research Says: Women in National Security”, Women in National Security Course, National Security College, Australian National University, 12 March.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “How did you gain access? Gaining evidence on women’s leadership in Australian international affairs”, paper presented at The Gendered Dynamics of Australia’s Political Leadership Culture, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, 18-19 July.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Gender, Diplomacy & Security: Experiences of Women Leaders in Australian International Affairs”, Women in Security Studies Workshop, Griffith University, 23 August.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Diplomacy in Liquid Modernity: Disruption and Transformation of Diplomatic Practices”, Asia Pacific College of Diplomacy, Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, Australia.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Queer women, diplomacy and security: A case study of Australian leaders”, paper presented at Gender and Diplomacy Workshop, University of Gothenburg, Sweden, 26-28 June.
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “Why are women still marginalised in international representative leadership?”, paper presented at the Australian Human Rights Institute Gender & Politics Workshop, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, 16-17 July.
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “Who represents Australia internationally? A case study of women leaders in Australian international-facing agencies across foreign affairs, defence, policing and immigration”, paper presented at International Political Studies Association (IPSA) World Congress, Brisbane, Australia, 21-25 July.
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “The experiences of women leaders in Australian international-facing agencies: A case study of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence, the Australian Federal Police, and the Department of Home Affairs”, paper presented at International Political Studies Association Research Committee 7 and 19 Pre-Conference Workshop, Brisbane, Australia, 21-25 July.
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “Disrupting diplomacy: A comparative case study of Australian LGBT women leaders deployed in the Asia Pacific”, paper presented at Conference on Gender and Sexuality Justice in Asia (COGEN), Monash University Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 12-14 November.
- Elise Stephenson and Sharon Spriggs-Murdoch 2016, “LGBTIQ Intimate Partner Violence Prevention”, presenter, Australian Ally Conference, University of Western Sydney, Australia.
- Elise Stephenson 2015, “Preliminary Findings: Women in Leadership in Hong Kong”, paper presented at Absent Women: Women in Academia in Hong Kong, University of Hong Kong, sponsored by the Faculty of Education and HKU United Nations HeForShe, Hong Kong.
- Elise Stephenson, Julien Rosendahl, Ethan Bowering, Yanjie Fu, Linqing Shi, and Han Shen 2013, “Australia-China Soft Power Potential”, paper presented at the Australia-China Futures Emerging Leaders Dialogue 19-20 October 2013, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Podcasts
- Elise Stephenson interviewed by former prime minister Julia Gillard 2023. “Spotlight on Gender Equality in Space”, A Podcast of One’s Own.
- Elise Stephenson 2023. “Why we need to change systems not women”, Future Women.
- Elise Stephenson 2022. “Women in National Security: What the Research Says”, National Security College Podcast, August.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Elise Stephenson on the Core Reason Someone Will Support Your Social Enterprise,” Impact Boom podcast, 25th November.
Panel Chairing
- Chair and discussant, panel titled “Women in MFAs and Foreign Service”, Gender and Diplomacy Workshop, Gothenburg Sweden, 2022.
- Chair and discussant, panel titled “Gender and Security”, International Studies Association, Nashville, 2022.
- Chair and discussant, panel titled “Gender and Security”, International Feminist Journal of Politics (IFJP) Virtual Conference 2021, 17-20 February 2021.
- Discussant, panel titled “Women, Gender and Foreign Affairs”, Gender and Diplomacy Workshop, University of Gothenburg, 7-8 October 2020.
- Discussant, panel titled “Gendered Diplomatic Institutions”, Gender and Diplomacy Workshop, University of Gothenburg, 5-7 June 2019.
Media engagement and blogs
- Elise Stephenson and Cassandra Steer 2023, “Just 1 in 5 employees in the space industry are women. This lack of diversity is holding us back”, The Conversation, 15 May.
- Elise Stephenson and Susan Harris Rimmer 2023, “Why security vetting in Australia can be detrimental to diversity”, The Conversation, 22 February.
- Elise Stephenson, Kareena Dhillon, Naomi Hartanto, Isabella Vacaflores, and Sarah Furman 2023, “Expanding the Women, Peace and Security agenda to the next frontier – space“, Lowy Institute- The Interpreter, 14 June.
- Elise Stephenson, Naomi Hartanto, Kareena Dhillon, Isabella Vacaflores, and Sarah Furman 2023, “Diversity and Inclusion in Space: What Can We Do?” Broad Agenda, 6 June.
- Elise Stephenson and Jack Hayes 2021, “LGBTIQ+ people are being ignored in the census again. Not only is this discriminatory, it’s bad public policy”, The Conversation, 18 August.
- Susan Harris Rimmer and Elise Stephenson 2020, “Queensland is making election history with two women leaders, so why is the campaign focused on men?”, The Conversation, 26 October.
- Elise Stephenson and Susan Harris Rimmer 2020, “Remember Quexit? Five reasons you should take the Queensland elections seriously”, The Conversation, 9 October.
- Elise Stephenson 2020, “The most successful female diplomats? Women with wives”, BroadAgenda.
- Elise Stephenson 2020, “Poverty and Power: Women’s Entrepreneurship in the Asia Pacific Region”, Griffith Asia Institute.
- Elise Stephenson 2020, “Youth-led diplomacy: Big opportunity for big impact”, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute.
- Elise Stephenson and Susan Harris Rimmer 2020, “COVID-19 responses: Why feminist leadership matters in a crisis”, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Social entrepreneurship in Brunei and Australia,” The Scoop Radio, Brunei Darussalam, 4th December.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Domestic violence, social entrepreneurship and social change – learnings from Australia,” Lao Youth Radio, 27th November.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Young entrepreneurs and leaders speaker series – news article”, VTB Television, Vietnam, 25th October.
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Young entrepreneurs from Australia discuss social enterprise and social innovation,” VTV Vietnam Television breakfast show, Vietnam, 23rd October
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “Women’s Leadership in International Affairs: Continuing the Momentum”, The Strategist, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
- Elise Stephenson and Lisa Sharland 2019, “Women in Security and Defence Network Profile of Elise Stephenson”, Women in Security and Defence Network, Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI).
- Elise Stephenson 2019, “As Julie Bishop Exits, How Far Have Women Come in World Affairs?”, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute.
- Elise Stephenson and Jane Alver 2019, “Beyond the Headcount: Diversity in Diplomacy”, BroadAgenda (re-published).
- Elise Stephenson and Lara Stephenson 2018, “Meet Elise + Lara from Social Good Outpost,” The Bold Platform podcast, May.
- Elise Stephenson and Susan Harris Rimmer 2018, “A Slap in the Face For Diverse Diplomacy”, The Interpreter, Lowy Institute.
- Elise Stephenson and Jane Alver 2018, “Beyond the Headcount: Diversity in Diplomacy”, Global Institute for Women in Leadership (GIWL) Blog, Kings College London.
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “Disrupting Diplomacy: Reflections on Gender and Sexuality”, BroadAgenda
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “Breaking the Barriers: Women in Diplomatic Leadership”, BroadAgenda.
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “What’s Missing From Australia’s Foreign Policy?”, Machinery of Government Blog.
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “Foreign Policy in an Uncertain World”, Machinery of Government Blog.
- Elise Stephenson 2018, “Women of the World: The Power of Stories”, BroadAgenda.
- Elise Stephenson 2017, “Addressing gender inequality through innovation”, interview with Mike Bidwell for The Legal Forecast.
- Elise Stephenson 2015, “Women’s Leadership in Universities in Australia and Hong Kong, SAR”, Griffith News, 27 May.
- Elise Stephenson 2015, “Reports on the Gender Pay Gap”, interviewed by the APN Newsdesk and River 94.9 Radio Station, published in The Chronicle, The Northern Star, and Tweed Daily News.
- Elise Stephenson 2013, “A Course of Action to Prevent Violence”, Red Couch Blog, Griffith News 13 November.
Invited talks and keynotes
- “Diversity in Space”, keynote, Diversity at the Frontier: Gender Equality in Space Conference, 12-14 April 2023.
- “Soft Power in the ASEAN-Australia Relationship”, masterclass, ASEAN-Australia Strategic Youth Partnership, 15 October 2020.
- “Diversity in International Affairs”, keynote presenter, Raise Our Voices, 29 September 2020.
- “Diversity and Inclusion in a Post-Covid-19 Era,” keynote presenter, Go1, 12 June 2020.
- “Building Influence,” keynote presenter, Asialink Business, 11 June 2020.
- “Antifragility in Academia: Building long-term research and engagement partnerships,” keynote presenter, Griffith Asia Institute, 4 June 2020.
- “Social Enterprise and Making Impact in the Asia Pacific Region,” keynote presenter, International Conference on Social Marketing, Gold Coast, 2020 (postponed)
- “You Can Ask That,” chair, Women of the World Festival, Brisbane, 2020 (postponed).
- “Gender and Sexuality Justice,” keynote presenter, Brigidine College International Women’s Day, 8 March 2020.
- “Social Justice,” keynote presenter, Brigidine College Staff Leadership and Training Day, 27 January 2020.
- “The Future of Business: Social Enterprise”, workshop presenter and facilitator, Australian High Commission to Brunei Darussalam, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, 29 November 2019 – plus 5 additional events.
- “Entrepreneurship and Social Change”, workshop presenter and facilitator, ILO, STELLA, Australia Volunteers and Australian Embassy, Vientiane, Laos, 26 November 2019 – plus 7 additional events.
- “Driving Social Impact Through Enterprise”, workshop presenter and facilitator, RMIT Activator, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 21 October 2019 – plus 11 additional events.
- “Social Enterprise in Australia and ASEAN”, workshop presenter and facilitator, Future Forum, Phnom Penh Cambodia, 30 July 2019 – plus 6 additional events.
- “Gender justice, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, chair and facilitator, Human Dignity Festival, Hong Kong.
- “Critical human rights issues facing LGBTIQ communities globally”, chair and facilitator, Human Dignity Festival, Hong Kong, 2018.
- “Doing Business in the Indo-Pacific Region Beyond Your Studies”, keynote presenter, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s New Colombo Plan Queensland Networking Event, alongside State Director Derek Brown, Queensland, Australia, 2018.
- “How can we pitch our innovative, scalable, sustainable solution that makes a difference in the world, and for humanity?” panelist, MAYK It Happen Day, Kelvin Grove State College with 440+ students, Brisbane, Australia, 2018.
- “Social enterprise”, workshop facilitator, Crowd Round, Unconference, Sunshine Coast, Australia, 2018.
- “Entrepreneurial support and mentorship”, keynote presentation, Advancing Women in Business, Boosting Women as Mentors, Office for Small Business, Queensland Government, Brisbane, 2017.
- “The importance of volunteering for national volunteering week”, presenter and MC, Young Women’s Forum, Brisbane, Australia, 2014-2016.
- “MATE LGBTIQ domestic violence prevention”, presenter, Australian AIDS Council, Canberra, Australia, 2016.
- “Griffith University Social Entrepreneurship Projects in Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Mental Health”, presenter, ENACTUS National Conference, Sydney and Brisbane, Australia, 2013-2014.
- “Young Professionals Accord”, presenter, Asia Pacific Cities Summit, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2013