Cora Baldock joined Murdoch University in 1978 as a Senior Lecturer in Social and Political Theory.

She had previously worked for three years at the Australian National University (ANU) and, prior to that, taught at universities in Leiden, Netherlands; Christchurch, New Zealand; San Diego, California; and the City University, New York.

Her American experience left her ill-prepared for the chauvinism which was then endemic in Australia, especially because she arrived in Canberra as the mother of a toddler and a six-week old baby. The contrast strengthened her commitment to feminism and interdisciplinary studies, something that has continued throughout her academic career and beyond.

At Murdoch, the support of Perth feminists and female politicians who welcomed Cora with open arms to Western Australia was vital.

From the outset, (now Emeritus) Professor Baldock was asked to oversee Women’s Studies as well as Sociology. She believes those who appointed her failed to take the significance of their request seriously. She did, however.  

Together with her colleague Professor Bev Thiele, she pioneered Women’s Studies at Murdoch, making it one of the first universities in Australia to offer a full program in the subject.

This was a highly significant development as she and Professor Thiele designed a unique inter-university, interdisciplinary external Women’s Studies program. At the time, External Studies in itself was a remarkable achievement, particularly given it occurred before the development of the digital technologies that now make external studies much easier to organise.

Image caption: Women's studies meeting (1988)

Interdisciplinarity was a key feature of Murdoch’s early years. Professor Baldock recalls the development with appreciation, especially noting the creative energy of her colleague Emeritus Professor Patricia Harris and the freedom of thought represented in her program. During her time as chair of the Social and Political Theory Program, tutors included the political luminaries, Kim Beazley and Geoff Gallop.

Professor Baldock’s career represents a road hard travelled. She applied for promotion to Associate Professor not long after she arrived at Murdoch, a move disturbing some senior male colleagues.

A staunch supporter, though, was Professor Geoffrey Bolton. And so, I became Murdoch University’s first female Associate Professor in 1980.
Professor Cora Baldock

She remained in that position until 1993, when she was awarded a Personal Chair in Sociology, becoming the first female professor at Murdoch and the fifth person to receive a Personal Chair since Murdoch’s start in 1974. 

Image caption: Professor Cora Baldock's story was published in the September 1993 edition of Murdoch News.

As a member and Chair of many Committees at Murdoch – and a member of important national Committees (especially the Australian Research Grants Committee) – Professor Baldock was often the “First Female”. This made her a symbol, a figurehead, even a scapegoat.

“At a graduation ceremony, a Chancellor once made a sexist remark in front of a large audience and then commented ‘Professor Baldock wouldn’t approve of this,’ without withdrawing the joke.

“Another time, a Vice Chancellor attended a lunch with principals from the local high schools and allowed one of the principals at my table, where I was the ‘senior female’, to comment that ‘women are obviously intellectually inferior to men”

Professor Baldock is philosophical about such incidents.

“Perhaps an accomplishment of mine was that I maintained my enjoyment in teaching and research despite such comments, due to the support of colleagues who were feminists like me. For that, and the many years of collegiality and friendship with likeminded Murdoch academics I remain grateful,” she said.

During her time at Murdoch, Professor Baldock published extensively on women’s work, equal pay, equal opportunity, and volunteering. Looking back on her accomplishments, she gives pride of place to her work with mature age women.

I strived to help mature aged women develop a sense of self-worth, and an ability to think analytically. I believe it was a commitment I shared with female academic colleagues across Australia.

Alongside key women such as Dr Irene Greenwood and Dr Patricia Giles (both Honorary Doctors of Murdoch University), Professor Baldock was a trailblazer for women in academia, forging a path for feminism and social change.

In 2001, Professor Baldock was awarded Murdoch University’s highest honour, the degree of Doctor of the University (also known as the Honorary Doctorate). In her speech, Professor Baldock records how being the first does not mean much if you are also the last.

Image caption: Cora Baldock (right) with friend and colleague Pat Giles (left) at the 2001 graduation ceremony.

There is not much joy in being the first woman professor at Murdoch, or the first sociology professor if I am the last.
Professor Cora Baldock

“There is actually a sense of “otherness” when women, or Aboriginal people, or migrants for that matter are told that they are the FIRST. As a well-known feminist Zillah Eisenstein has said with reference to women: ‘It does more to remind us that all the others are men than ...to help us imagine that all the others could be women’.”

Cora Baldock was the first female Professor at Murdoch University, but certainly not the last.

Her dedication to giving better opportunities to women is still valued, appreciated and reflected upon today by every woman who has followed in her footsteps.