Why Gender Equity Work Matters

Why Gender Equity Work Matters: A Brief Overview of Persistent Barriers for Women in the Workplace 

In 2018, GenEQ produced a summary providing a concise, research-informed overview of ongoing barriers that women face in the workplace—and in academic institutions in particular—including discrimination in hiring, promotion, compensation, and everyday experiences of bias. While not exhaustive, it offers a critical snapshot that underscores why targeted gender equity initiatives remain necessary—even within academic institutions. 

Developed as a foundational document for our committee’s work, this overview helps ground our efforts in broader structural realities. It reinforces our mandate to advance gender equity at the University by showing that meaningful progress requires a clear-eyed understanding of persistent systemic inequities. 

Over the last 50 years, there have been many advancements in the representation and status of women in many parts of the world, within Canada, and at our institutions of higher learning. Yet Canadian women still do not experience parity with men within important organizations, such as workplaces, universities, and colleges. Indeed, some indictors reveal that little progress has been made since the 1990s. Furthermore, advancement is not equal for all types of women: those with multiple stigmatized identities (e.g., Indigenous women, trans women, women with disabilities, women who are visible minority immigrants, and less educated women) can fare much worse. Assome of the statistics below reveal, equity for women is still far from realized in: male- dominated fields, the worth of their work, positions of leadership, and the double shift at home. These statistics are important because they show that although much has improved there is still a need for work to address inequality and addressing these remaining areas of inequality can positively impact the lives of Canadian men and women.

Some Important Findings

• In 2016, Canada ranked only 35th of 144 countries in the international rankings of the Global Gender Gap Index that considers economic participation and opportunities, educational
• attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.
• Among full-time workers in Canada, women working earn $0.83 to every $1.00 earned by men 2 and is largest for those with the least education ($0.70/dollar). The wage gap has been stable since the mid-1990s when it was $0.77/dollar. Aboriginal women earn $5,000 less than the median annual income of non-Aboriginal women.Visible minority immigrant women earned about $5,600 less per year than non-visible minority women. Only 34.6% of management positions in Canada are held by women. Visible minority women comprise only 7.8% of managers. These numbers are lower for senior management in the private sector (under 25%). Of the 750 TSX companies, 45% have no women on their boards, 30% having only one woman.
• More women hold more precarious jobs than men (e.g., minimum wage and part time jobs) and are more likely to work part time to care for children.
• Women spend substantially more time each week on unpaid childcare than men (50 vs. 24 hours) and household chores (14 vs. 8 hours). Additionally, 49% of women versus 25% of men spend 10 or more hours each week caring for a senior.
• 43% of Canadian women and 12% of men reported they had been sexually harassed at work. 78% of those experiencing sexual harassment did not report the behaviour to their employer.

Within Universities and Colleges

• Within Canadian Universities, female professors earned $0.90 to every $1.00 earned by male professors.
• Women hold 53.6% of Lecturer, 48.5% of Assistant Professor, 43% of Associate Professor, and 27.6% of Full Professor positions. The percentage of female teachers is similarly skewed within Canadian Colleges.
• Within Canada in 2016-2017, the percentage of female professors at Canadian Universities well represented in some fields—Humanities (46.3%), Social and Behavioural Sciences, and Law (44.6%); Education (62.2%); still underrepresented within the fields of Architecture, Engineering, and Related Technologies (15.5%); Business, Management, and Public Administration (39.4%); Mathematics, Computer, and Information Sciences (20.6%); Physical and Life Sciences, and Technologies (24.8%)
• In 2016 at Canadian Universities, females comprised 38% of board members; 20% of university Presidents; 25% of Vice President Research positions; and 37% of Vice PresidentAcademic positions. The number of female presidents at Canadian Universities has remained relatively unchanged since the mid-1990s when it was 18%.
• In 2016, women made up only 19.8 of Tier 1 Canada Research Chairs and only 39.0% of Tier II Canada Research Chairs. 
• In 2017, there were 13 female head coaches at Ontario Colleges, compared with 134 male head coaches.
• Among students in Canadian post-secondary programs in (a) mathematics and computer and information sciences, only 26.5% are women, (b) architecture, engineering, and related technologies, only 20.3% are women. 
• A survey of 23000 undergraduate students from 81 schools in Canada found that 20% of emale students and 6.9% of male students had been sexually assaulted.

The above statistics reveal that much gender inequality persists particularly in terms of women’s representation in leadership roles and in traditionally male dominated fields, as well as in the valuing of their work. This is true in both academic and non-academic workplaces. The experiences of women in organizations should be considered in relation to their experiences at home, where they still bear the brunt of the burden for child and elderly care and for housework. Thus, women experience a double duty. Furthermore, their experiences at work can be shaped by a chilly work environment that include sexual and gender harassment. Such barriers, in addition to either intentional or unintentional forms of discrimination, can create stress for women at work and affect their well-being and work performance. Clearly, there is much work to be done to create gender equity in Canadian workplaces and universities.