Posts
 |
| The Institute of Quantum Computing at the University of Waterloo.
Waterloo is the only Canadian university to sign on to the United
Nations HeForShe campaign, with a promise to boost participation of
female students in STEM fields. Photo:The Globe and Mail |
Announced
Tuesday morning, the commitment to increasing the representation of
women at one of Canada’s most innovative universities comes as renewed
attention is focusing on gaps in gender and pay equity in Canadian
academia. Last week, McMaster University announced that it would raise
the salary of all female faculty after it found that female professors
earned $3,515 less on average than their male colleagues. To redress
such inequities over the long term, universities are now making
far-reaching changes to their hiring, promotion and family-support
policies.
“We were committed to doing things without
the HeForShe initiative, but this accelerates our progress,” said
Feridun Hamdullahpur, the university’s president and vice-chancellor.
“Our broader objective is to create an environment where equity is
absolutely important, not just for universities. As a university we
cannot sit back and say this is how it is; we have a critical role to
play.”
As part of its UN commitment, Waterloo aims to raise female enrolment in science, technology, engineering and math programs to 33 per cent by 2020 – its first-year engineering class was 27-per-female last year – and increase the proportion of female faculty by a half percentage point in each of the next five years, to 30 per cent.
“It’s
about sustainable equity and building the pipeline of talent,” said
Diana Parry, the special adviser on women’s and gender issues to
Waterloo’s president.
The university is
also conducting an inquiry into gender pay gaps at the school, the
second such probe in several years, after an earlier pay adjustment.
Source: The Globe and Mail
