Tag: En Français

  • The Future of Work: Will Remote Work Help or Hinder the Pursuit of Equality?

    The Future of Work: Will Remote Work Help or Hinder the Pursuit of Equality?

    [fusion_builder_container admin_label=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”20″ margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” type=”legacy”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ layout=”3_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”true” spacing_right=””][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    OVERVIEW:

    The widespread shift to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about many questions on the future of work. A recent survey by Microsoft of 31,000 workers in 31 countries suggests that 52% of employees are somewhat or extremely likely to prefer hybrid or remote work in the year ahead, and 53% of employees are more likely to prioritize their wellbeing over work than before the pandemic. The way that people perceive and experience work has changed drastically over the last two years. But how have marginalized workers specifically been affected by the shift to working from home? And what types of work design will best facilitate equity, well-being, and opportunity for workers moving forward?

    Analyzing the dynamics of remote work with an intersectional lens allows us to understand how different groups may be experiencing this transformation in labour. Research suggests that remote and hybrid work models have improved many workers’ lives, but it has also been associated with career penalties, work-family conflict, higher stress, and other mental health challenges—particularly for those who already experience inequity. Many of these disadvantages come about not because of anything inherent about remote work but because of bias, stereotypes, and social norms surrounding paid and unpaid work. This report synthesizes key research insights, including the following:

    • Remote work policies must be matched by public and organizational policies that address gendered structures. Such structures contribute to increased work-life conflict and mental health issues for caregiving women while working from home. Public policies such as affordable childcare, adequate paid family leave, and a range of options for flexible work can facilitate more egalitarian relationships and households.
    • Both workers and organizations benefit from policies that remove stigma of remote work because it increases worker motivation and job performance. Organizations can offer these options on a regular basis and ensure that they are accessible for everyone and universally appealing to people of all genders and backgrounds.
    • Office workspaces and work design can be transformed to facilitate different forms of work. Studies indicate that some forms of work practices and routines (i.e., more traditionally bureaucratic arrangements) facilitate the use of remote work and flexible work policies more than others. Flexible work stigma can also be reduced by ensuring information is accessible online, and creating team-building opportunities for hybrid- and remote-working employees.
    • Organizational initiatives can decrease work-family conflict, such as by ensuring reliable and consistent communication to all employees, establishing that workers know they do not have to work longer hours at home, and eliminating employee monitoring.
    • Remote work needs will not have a major impact on the climate crisis unless accompanied by other policy measures, such as ensuring widespread availability of quality public and other low-carbon transportation and affordable housing in urban areas.

    DOWNLOAD THIS RESEARCH OVERVIEW IN ENGLISH/ EN FRANÇAIS

    The Future of Work: Will Remote Work Help or Hinder the Pursuit of Equality?” is co-funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Employment and Social Development Canada.

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/category/research-overviews/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment_medium=”” alignment_small=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” border_color=”” border_hover_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more research overviews[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”research-briefs” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false”][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” title_link=”off” link_url=”” link_target=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”briefsummary” id=”” content_align_medium=”” content_align_small=”” content_align=”left” size=”3″ animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” animated_text_color=”” text_shadow=”no” text_shadow_vertical=”” text_shadow_horizontal=”” text_shadow_blur=”0″ text_shadow_color=”” margin_top_medium=”” margin_right_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_left_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_right_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_left_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” gradient_font=”no” gradient_start_color=”” gradient_end_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ highlight_color=”” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” link_color=”” link_hover_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Research Overview prepared by

    Carmina Ravanera, Kim de Laat and Sarah Kaplan

    Published

    November, 2022

    [/fusion_title][fusion_widget_area name=”avada-custom-sidebar-researchbriefsidebar” title_size=”” title_color=”” background_color=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Care Work in the Recovery Economy: Towards a Caring Economy

    Care Work in the Recovery Economy: Towards a Caring Economy

    [fusion_builder_container admin_label=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”20″ margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” type=”legacy”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ layout=”3_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”true” spacing_right=””][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    DOWNLOAD THIS RESEARCH OVERVIEW IN ENGLISH/ EN FRANÇAIS

    English cover of report- Care Work in the Recovery Economy        French cover of report- Care Work in the Recovery Economy

    OVERVIEW:

    The care economy—the economic sectors that involve paid and unpaid care, including childcare, elder care, and health care—is one of the fastest expanding economic sectors globally. A 2015 study of 45 countries by the International Labour Organization (ILO) found that there were 206 million people in care jobs such as early childhood educators and long-term care providers. But the complex work involved in this crucial sector tends to be poorly understood, undervalued, and unprioritized. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an increased focus on care, highlighting how the lack of support for care sectors and the increasing trend of financializing access to care have placed equality and health on fragile grounds during this crisis.

    As society emerges from COVID-19 into a recovery economy, questions about the future of care also emerge. What organizational and policy changes are needed to ensure that care work and caregiving is more equal and sustainable? And what research questions on the care economy remain to be investigated? To explore these lines of inquiry, the Institute for Gender and the Economy convened a virtual research roundtable on Care Work in the Recovery Economy in January and February of 2022 with support from Women and Gender Equality Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The workshop hosted over 60 scholars and practitioners from around the world who presented their cutting-edge research, identified research agendas, and discussed policy implications for the future of care. This report highlights key policy and research insights from the roundtable, including the following:

    1. Intersectional perspectives in data collection and analysis on the care economy will allow for more nuanced and complex understandings of care.
    2. Data collection and analysis should capture the complexity of the care economy by focusing on historically neglected care activities. This may include data on the value of unpaid care, on less direct forms of care work (e.g., care advocacy), and on temporary and migrant care workers and their transitions in and out of care work.
    3. Including paid and unpaid care workers’ voices in policymaking and aligning policies with communities and care workers will result in more effective policy outcomes.
    4. The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on care workers highlights the importance of making their physical and mental wellbeing a policy and research priority, including through ensuring high-quality working conditions with labour protections.
    5. Care policy should not be seen as independent of other government policy making. Integrating care policies with immigration, economic, technology and other policies would help care workers, including temporary workers, have protection from precarity.
    6. Policymaking should take both the direct impacts on outcomes as well as “expressive” impacts that shape the culture and norms about what is acceptable into account.
    7. Measuring the value of care accurately means measuring not only economic growth and gain (e.g., GDP), but also the less visible, yet foundational, benefits of care to society, such as physical and mental well-being, capabilities, inclusion, and so on.
    8. Without stability and resilience of care systems, care responsibilities are hard to manage and can disadvantage caregivers’ careers, create gender inequity, and lead to overwork and stress.
    9. Technological “solutionism” and other short-term fixes alone will likely not lead to a sustainable and more equal care economy.
    10. For-profit models have not historically resulted in high-quality and affordable care. Non-profit and cooperative models may be better options for a higher-quality care system.
    11. Care work takes many different forms, both paid and unpaid, and is connected to all sectors. Understanding “chains” of care is important to understand who might benefit or be disadvantaged.

     Watch the research roundtable highlights

    __________________________

    This project has been funded through Women and Gender Equality Canada’s Women’s Program and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/category/research-overviews/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment_medium=”” alignment_small=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” border_color=”” border_hover_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more research overviews[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”research-briefs” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false”][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” title_link=”off” link_url=”” link_target=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”briefsummary” id=”” content_align_medium=”” content_align_small=”” content_align=”left” size=”3″ animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” animated_text_color=”” text_shadow=”no” text_shadow_vertical=”” text_shadow_horizontal=”” text_shadow_blur=”0″ text_shadow_color=”” margin_top_medium=”” margin_right_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_left_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_right_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_left_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” gradient_font=”no” gradient_start_color=”” gradient_end_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ highlight_color=”” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” link_color=”” link_hover_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Research Overview prepared by

    Laura Lam, Carmina Ravanera, and Sarah Kaplan

    Published

    May, 2022

    [/fusion_title][fusion_widget_area name=”avada-custom-sidebar-researchbriefsidebar” title_size=”” title_color=”” background_color=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • An Equity Lens on Artificial Intelligence

    An Equity Lens on Artificial Intelligence

    [fusion_builder_container admin_label=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”20″ margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” type=”legacy”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ layout=”3_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”true” spacing_right=””][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” font_size=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    DOWNLOAD THIS RESEARCH OVERVIEW IN ENGLISH/ EN FRANÇAIS

          

    OVERVIEW:

    Artificial intelligence (AI) describes machines that can simulate some forms of human intelligence, such as identifying patterns and making predictions and decisions. Today, AI is used by organizations across many sectors for a variety of purposes, from hiring employees, to assessing risk, to making investment recommendations, to recommending criminal sentencing. However, it is well-known that social relations and contexts are reflected and reproduced in technology, and AI is no exception: it has the potential to reinforce underlying biases, discrimination, and inequities. Although AI can be used to benefit marginalized groups, a concerted focus on equity in AI by businesses and governments is necessary to mitigate possible harms. Here we provide a resource for scholars and practitioners for viewing AI through the lens of equity, with the objectives of synthesizing existing research and knowledge about the connection between AI and (in)equity and suggesting considerations for public and private sector leaders to be aware of when implementing AI.

    The key Insight: AI is a double-edged sword, with potential to both mitigate and reinforce bias:

    • Because AI uses statistical prediction methods that can be audited, it has the potential to create outcomes that help groups facing marginalization in situations where human decisions may be clouded by cognitive biases.
    • Despite this potential, because inequality and inequity are often reflected in technologies, some AI can and has reinforced marginalization of certain groups, such as women, gender minorities, and racialized and low-income communities. AI-powered products and services mayuse biased data sets that reproduce this bias; amplify stereotypes and marginalization, sometimes for profit; and/or widen asymmetries of power.
    • The reinforcement of inequity and inequality has occurred because of embedded bias or significant omissions in datasets; the complexity and trade-offs involved in aligning AI with social values when profits are also at stake; a lack of transparency from those creating and implementing AI; a lack of accountability to the public or other users of AI; and limited participation by marginalized and diverse groups in the technology sector.
    • There are also varied potential impacts of AI and automation on jobs and labour. It is possible that women, racialized, and low-income groups may be more susceptible to job loss or displacement due to automation across an increasing number of blue-, white- and pink- collar jobs.

    These results suggest the following considerations for businesses and governments:

    • Technology companies and governments can focus on initiatives for equitable representation in AI development
    • Creators, researchers and implementors of AI can prioritize aligning AI with social values such as fairness, despite possible trade-offs for efficiency and profit
    • Governments can create policies for AI that prioritize accountability and transparency, and require organizations to adhere to these principles
    • Governments and companies can work towards economic security for workers who are being doubly impacted by new technologies and a global pandemic through attention on reskilling and/or upskilling programs
    • Academic researchers can deepen knowledge on AI and inequity, such as by continuing cross-disciplinary work on the social, political and environmental impacts of AI and developing new and different alternatives that prioritize mitigation of harm.

    VIDEO SUMMARY:

    __________________________

    RESEARCH OVERVIEW PREPARED BY

    Carmina Ravanera, Sarah Kaplan

    VIDEO ANIMATION

    Fuselight Creative

    “An Equity Lens on Artificial Intelligence” is co-funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Government of Canada’s Future Skills Program Grant #872-2020-0011.

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/category/research-overviews/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment_medium=”” alignment_small=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” border_color=”” border_hover_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more research overviews[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”research-briefs” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false”][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” title_link=”off” link_url=”” link_target=”_self” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”briefsummary” id=”” content_align_medium=”” content_align_small=”” content_align=”left” size=”3″ font_size=”” animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_shadow=”no” text_shadow_vertical=”” text_shadow_horizontal=”” text_shadow_blur=”0″ text_shadow_color=”” margin_top_medium=”” margin_right_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_left_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_right_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_left_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” text_color=”” animated_text_color=”” gradient_font=”no” gradient_start_color=”” gradient_end_color=”” gradient_start_position=”0″ gradient_end_position=”100″ gradient_type=”linear” radial_direction=”center center” linear_angle=”180″ highlight_color=”” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” link_color=”” link_hover_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Research Overview prepared by

    Carmina Ravanera, Sarah Kaplan

    Published

    September, 2021

    [/fusion_title][fusion_widget_area name=”avada-custom-sidebar-researchbriefsidebar” title_size=”” title_color=”” background_color=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • YWCA’s response to COVID-19 in Canada

    YWCA’s response to COVID-19 in Canada

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” overlay_color=”” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” padding_right=”” type=”legacy”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”true” min_height=”” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_sizes_top=”” border_sizes_bottom=”” border_sizes_left=”” border_sizes_right=”” first=”true”][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” font_size=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Overview

    During the COVID-19 pandemic, women in Canada have been disproportionately impacted by the higher risk of job loss, increased domestic violence, and other forms of insecurity. This case studies how YWCA responded to the pandemic’s impact on vulnerable communities and on its own resources by streamlining governance, ensuring safety, repairing capacity, and staying connected with its stakeholders.

    Course Topics:
    • Leadership
    • Change management
    • Non-profit governance
    • Crisis response
    • Stakeholder relations

    Introduction:

    “My sense of isolation is not there anymore. I know I am not alone,” says Tiffany Baker, a woman residing in YWCA Hamilton’s transitional living house in the midst of the COVID-19 quarantine.

    Like thousands of other women, girls, and gender-diverse people, Tiffany would have few opportunities to stay safe from the risks of disease and, most importantly, away from troubling living situations if YWCA discontinued operations of their pan-Canadian housing network. During the 2020 pandemic, women in Canada have been disproportionately impacted by the higher risk of job loss, increased domestic violence, and other forms of insecurity. Helping over 330,000 people with its network of affordable housing units, shelters, child care, employment and training programs, and a range of other services driven by local communities’ needs, YWCA stands out as a critical frontline service provider working towards advancing gender equity.

    In 2020, a year which was meant to be marked with the commemoration of YWCA Canada’s 150th anniversary, the organization’s work has instead been affected by a disruption that experts have called a “she-cession.” While demand from impacted women grew, YWCA has experienced increased financial instability as a result of the cancelation of its various fundraisers and closures of its social enterprises. This growing gap between demand and capacity has pushed YWCA’s management to seek ways to diligently serve its vulnerable communities with fewer resources while maintaining organizational sustainability over the long-term.

    YWCA thumbnail

    View and download the full case study (English/French)

    [/fusion_text][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” font_size=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    __________________________

    This case was written by:

    This case was written by Bashir Chalabi and Sonal Gupta. The authors prepared this case under the supervision of Professor Sarah Kaplan, with guidance from Bonnie Lam and Vanessa Serra Iarocci and research assistance from Carmina Ravanera. The authors are grateful for the participation of Maya Roy, Anjum Sultana, Derek Gent, and Laura Sundy in this project.

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” flex_grow=”0″ top_margin=”10″ bottom_margin=”10″ width=”” alignment=”center” border_size=”” sep_color=”” icon=”” icon_size=”” icon_color=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/education/case-studies/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment_medium=”” alignment_small=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” border_color=”” border_hover_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more case studies[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” flex_grow=”0″ top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ width=”” alignment=”center” border_size=”” sep_color=”” icon=”” icon_size=”” icon_color=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ post_status=”” offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”case-studies” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Debates and controversies in understanding gender, race and entrepreneurship

    Debates and controversies in understanding gender, race and entrepreneurship

    [fusion_builder_container admin_label=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”20″ margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” type=”legacy”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ layout=”3_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”true” spacing_right=””][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” font_size=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Download this research brief (in English/en Français).

    Gender, Race & Entrepreneurship report cover              

    This research overview is based on the fascinating conversations we had in our Workshop on Gender, Race and Entrepreneurship, sponsored by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Hub.

    Overview

    Entrepreneurship is a key path to job creation and economic growth in the modern economy, yet women and minorities remain underrepresented. Research to date has documented some “supply side” factors showing that women and/or minorities are less likely to enter entrepreneurship and some “demand side” factors highlighting the struggle these entrepreneurs face in getting funding and other resources.[1] [2] [3] A 2013 review by Jennings and Brush documents many of these insights.[4] We know less, however, about how the supply side and demand side interact and what kinds of interventions might improve outcomes.

    To explore these challenges, the Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management convened a 6-week workshop series in October and November 2020 sponsored by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. Organized by Camille Hebert and Sarah Kaplan, the workshop hosted over 150 scholars from around the world who heard cutting edge research from sociology, economics, management and finance researchers, including Asia Bento (Rice), Ruiqing Cao (Harvard), Alexia Delfino (Bocconi), Stefan Dimitriadis (U Toronto), Sabrina Howell (NYU Stern), Song Ma (Yale), Milan Miric (USC Marshall), Tiantian Yang (Wharton), Emmanuel Yimfor (Michigan Ross), and Jonathan Zandberg (Boston College). In the final session, senior scholars Mike Ewens (Caltech), Fiona Murray (MIT Sloan), Zulema Valdez (UC Merced) discussed the future research agenda for gender and race in entrepreneurship. The workshop and discussions underscored a number of debates and controversies in the entrepreneurship literature which are highlighted below along with a roadmap for a future research agenda in gender, race and entrepreneurship. To learn more about the event, including a video summary, click here.

    What are work and family conditions that shape entry into entrepreneurship?

    When looking at the dearth of women in the entrepreneurial space, people often suggest that it is because women don’t prefer entrepreneurship. However, research is making it increasingly clear that there are other important social and structural factors that shape these choices. A long stream of research has established that motherhood (much more so than fatherhood) leads to career and pay penalties for women, but the effects of motherhood or potential motherhood on entrepreneurship are just starting to be explored. The transition to entrepreneurship can occur during different life stages and at various career trajectories. Understanding life and workplace conditions that women and minority entrepreneurs face is important because these conditions predict the types of businesses created as well as the timing of business creation.

    • Diminishing career opportunities at work accelerates entrepreneurship for women. Individuals may consider entrepreneurship as a career option if they find that opportunities at their current jobs are not sufficient. Reduced career opportunities at work—especially associated with the penalties that women pay for motherhood such as lower pay, fewer paths to promotion, and poor access to family-friendly work policies—increases the likelihood that women will become entrepreneurs.[5]
    • Entrepreneurship may not always be an ideal career outcome for women. For women, the need for flexible time due to work-family conflict can predict entry into self-employment, as self-employment often allows for more flexible work schedules. This highlights the fact that entrepreneurship maybe not always be an ideal outcome for women who may be forced into it because more stable employment is not available. Scholars have called this type of entrepreneurship “Plan B” entrepreneurship and have shown that these constraints often lead to self-employment or small, low-growth businesses [6].
    • The start of family life for women may constrain entrepreneurship. Women who choose to exploit an entrepreneurial idea may also defer family decisions until after they have started their businesses. New research shows that better access to reproductive health care (e.g., access to abortion clinics, emergency contraception, or to fertility programs such as egg freezing) increases women’s entrepreneurship as well as their ability to raise capital and prevent bankruptcy.[7] [8] [9] This evidence suggests that if women do not have access to reproductive healthcare, this may limit their entry into high-growth entrepreneurship which is seen as highly demanding.
    • We may need new approaches to attracting women to entrepreneurship. Recent research shows that men are more likely to be attracted to jobs that demonstrate a potential for high returns to effort (a challenging environment). For women, a higher perceived share of men in a field (which is certainly the case of entrepreneurship) discourages women from entering, with only the most talented applying.[10] This may mean, in the case of entrepreneurship, that too many men are entering at lower quality while not enough women are entering.

    Obstacles in turning entrepreneurial ideas into businesses

    Even if individuals have entrepreneurial ideas, turning those ideas into businesses require being evaluated favourably key stakeholders in in entrepreneurial financing and in commercialization stages. What are the mechanisms that explain how these stakeholders may differentially evaluate entrepreneurial ideas from women and minorities?

    • Networking with venture capital firms may be more difficult for women. Entrepreneurs may experience difficulties in funding depending on their gender or minority status. Because entrepreneurial ideas carry high uncertainty, potential funders including venture capital firms (VCs) rely on personal introductions and referrals for deal sourcing. Yet, a study showed that exposure to networking opportunities benefited male entrepreneurs, but not women.[11] It appears that women may not access these networking opportunities because they felt that the VCs wouldn’t have the background to understand their business, they feared discrimination, or they held themselves to a too-high standard. Thus, designers of innovation incubators, accelerators or pitch competitions should work to reduce these networking-related frictions for women entrepreneurs.
    • Startup pitches are evaluated differently based on gender. In addition to barriers to networking with potential funders, the content of the pitches by female entrepreneurs may be interpreted differently from pitches by male entrepreneurs. Building on research showing that pitches for the identical business by men received more recommendations for funding than pitches by women[12] [13], recent research using video analysis shows that women entrepreneurs, relative to male entrepreneurs, are judged more on delivery than on informational content.[14] This puts women in a double bind because pitches mainly chosen based on delivery, rather than content, were associated with lower ex-post performance, suggesting that investors have biased beliefs about gender. While it may be tempting to tell women that they need to learn to be more persuasive, this may not be particularly helpful. Instead, motivating evaluators to focus more on the content ultimately facilitates financing of the best entrepreneurial ideas. Rather than “fixing the women,” these results point to solutions that “fix the system” (the demand side of entrepreneurship).
    • During the commercialization stage, the paucity of female product evaluators can hurt female entrepreneurs. Beta testers on online platforms are often used to evaluate products in the commercialization stage. However, because these testers are mostly men, they may not accurately assess the products targeting women, hurting the likelihood of women-targeted products developed by female entrepreneurs. As a result, products that are eventually commercialized might not reflect preferences of the entire group of consumers which impacts which products survive and grow.[15] Therefore, paying attention to the composition of early users, such as beta testers, can improve the reach and effectiveness of innovations and, conversely, biased early testing can reduce innovation impact.

    The role of institutions

    There are also important roles played by the authorities that govern, monitor and support well-functioning entrepreneurial activities. Because these institutions can confer legitimacy to entrepreneurial entities and provide capital that accelerate the creation of businesses, it is important to examine whether different minority groups benefit equally from roles played by these institutions.

    • Institutions can help to boost legitimacy of businesses founded by women. Because women’s contributions in the economy, especially in entrepreneurship, tend to be devalued, they often need to access sources that support their legitimacy. This challenge is particularly acute in settings where the power of formal institutions is weak, such as in developing countries or in any other context that puts a heavy weight on personal relationships and trust. Globally, 78% of all entrepreneurship occurs in the informal economy. In a study of entrepreneurs in Togo, where the majority of entrepreneurs operate in the informal economy, the formal registration of businesses benefited women entrepreneurs more than men entrepreneurs.[16] Similar effects for other kinds of adjudicating institutions were also identified in Zambia.[17] If entrepreneurial performance depends heavily on building relationships, women entrepreneurs may face more hurdles as they are subject to traditional gender beliefs about them. Formal registration and other legitimization mechanisms can compensate for these disadvantages.
    • Institutional resources meant to boost entrepreneurship may unintendedly reinforce racial divides. Government interventions are often intended to drive financial resources into communities which could spur entrepreneurial activity. A study that explored federal recovery programs after natural disasters, showed that capital from recovery assistance programs was only associated with increases in self-employment for whites, but not other racial groups.[18] These effects were attributed to social vulnerabilities tied to racial marginalization and hoarded opportunities tied to white privilege. These results suggest that institutions could reproduce, rather than alleviate, racial inequalities, particularly in the wake of crisis.
    • Institutions can improve entrepreneurial performance by monitoring entrepreneurial financing. Because funding is difficult to access, particularly for women and minority entrepreneurs, brokers and finders can be helpful intermediaries. Indeed, new research shows that women and minority entrepreneurs do access these sorts of resources. However, brokered offerings—because they mainly aggregate funds from retail investors—don’t perform as well because they don’t bring the same advantages of advice and networks that come with VC funding. For example, from a sample of startup offerings in the US from 2010-2019, brokers intermediated 15% of startup offerings, but 20% of these brokers were unregistered by SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission). The performance gap between registered and unregistered brokers was wider in fiduciary states (where brokers are subject to higher standards) and when unregistered brokers have a history of misconduct.[19] Thus, while these intermediaries can mitigate the challenges that underrepresented entrepreneurs face in accessing financing, without better regulations, they could actually exacerbate the entrepreneurship divide.

    The path forward and future research agenda

    The emerging research presented at this workshop series opens up exciting new lines of inquiry and suggests a new research agenda for studies of gender, race and entrepreneurship. These possibilities explore both the supply-side questions about who enters entrepreneurship and the demand-side questions about what factors are keeping women and minorities out or inhibiting their success. In our rich discussions in each of the workshop sessions, as well as in the final panel with senior scholars reflecting on the field, we developed a fruitful list of questions and opportunities.

    • Why entrepreneurship? The research shared in this workshop series highlighted that entrepreneurship is not often people’s first choice. Some entrepreneurs or self-employed people have simply been excluded from the paid workforce. Often employment is better for personal outcomes because it could come with benefits, sick leave and a steady source of income. Entrepreneurs are sometimes racial minorities who are excluded from the regular workforce or women who can’t make a corporate job work with her responsibilities at home given the gendered division of labor in unpaid care work. This research cautions us not to glorify entrepreneurship as an outcome but understand its costs and benefits, assessing not only how to get people into entrepreneurship but whether that is even the best outcome.
    • An intersectional gender lens on entrepreneurship. Neither those seeking capital nor those providing capital are representative of society in terms of gender and race. Entrepreneurship is not just an economic activity but also a cultural phenomenon that has historically been fundamentally masculinist and white and where attempts have been made to be more inclusive, they have often glorified a certain type of female entrepreneur that leverages the intersection of white, heteronormative power.[20] Thus, unsurprisingly, the discussions in this workshop made clear that we need to consider gender, race and their intersections in studying and implementing policies to support entrepreneurship. Most research on women in entrepreneurship does not consider race. There is less research on race and entrepreneurship, and what exists often neglects important gender distinctions.
    • Not all entrepreneurship is created equal. These discussions also highlighted the fact that not all entrepreneurship is the same. Research would do well to distinguish between self-employment, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) without growth aspirations, and high-tech, high-growth entrepreneurship. The reasons for entering entrepreneurship and the roadblocks to success in each of these different categories is different. Each plays a valuable role in society. We tend to glorify high-tech entrepreneurship, but SMEs are the source of more employment. For example, more than 90% of all workers in the private sector in Canada are employed in SMEs. Similarly, entrepreneurship may not operate in the same ways in different regions around the world and the role of women may differ in these diverse contexts. Researchers and policy makers would do well to distinguish between the dynamics associated with each without devaluing certain types of entrepreneurial efforts relative to others.
    • Understanding racial and ethnic minority entrepreneurs. Although we are beginning to understand the unique challenges that women entrepreneurs face, we know relatively less about precursors of entrepreneurship for racial and ethnic minorities. We know even less about how gender intersects with race and ethnicity. Empirically, this is related to small numbers of businesses created by racial and ethnic minorities in most study samples. Conceptually, we need to be conscious about using pan ethnic categories that may blur the boundaries of different ethnic groups in it. For example, within the population of people from Latin-American descent, there may be differences in initial conditions that predict the creation of businesses depending on ethnic groups (e.g., Cuban origin versus Mexican origin). The monolithic treatment of Latinx peoples may compress distinct ethnic subgroups, which masks different economic conditions and identities among these groups.[21] The same argument could be made for different groups within Asian entrepreneurs (e.g., Korean-American business-owners versus Japanese-American owners) or Black entrepreneurs who may be African-American or recent immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean or elsewhere. Therefore, to understand different entrepreneurship trajectories by race, we need conceptual toolkits to capture these differences as well as data that allows for comparison across different ethnic groups within the same pan ethnic category.
    • Family members as hidden funders and entrepreneurs. Securing entrepreneurial capital has become easier over time (for example, through the National Securities Markets Improvement Act of 1996)[22], yet we continue to witness underrepresentation of women and minority entrepreneurs. A possible answer to this question can come from understanding family and workplace conditions of women and minority entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship is often a family endeavour, and by primarily examining entrepreneurship as an individual activity, we are missing out important factors related to funding as well as founding decisions. Further, entrepreneurs frequently rely on family for securing startup funding and sustaining business. For example, having a partner with a stable job allows entrepreneurs to persist in their business. This highlights the importance of understanding family conditions especially during the early stages of entrepreneurship. Once the business is created, an entrepreneurs’ spouses may be “shadow entrepreneurs,” playing as significant role as the founder but with less recognition. For example, depending on cultural norms that entrepreneurs are exposed to, a wife’s labor can be perceived as “family labor” readily available to entrepreneur husbands, whereas men’s labor is perceived as their own.[23] Future research should examine the role of these hidden entrepreneurs as a critical part of the entrepreneurial funding landscape and workforce.
    • Industry dynamics shaping entrepreneurial dynamics. There may be systematic variations in the gender gap in entrepreneurship by sector, but we are only beginning to observe these patterns and underlying mechanisms. For example, the gender gap in entrepreneurship in digital industries is greater than other industries. This is surprising given that digitization actually lowers the costs of launching businesses (for example, everyone can access Amazon Web Services for their data infrastructure rather than building it themselves) which should erode funding frictions that would be a source of the gender gap in entrepreneurship.[24] If funding isn’t the barrier, then what other structural characteristics in the high-tech industry would predict the lower likelihood of entrepreneurship for women, compared to other industries? It is also possible that the gender gap in entrepreneurship by industries is related to gendered distribution of workers in certain industries in the first place (male-dominated versus female-dominated sectors).[25] Large-scale field experiments would help us to understand conditions that may facilitate men’s entry into jobs dominated by women and vice versa.
    • Activating networks and referrals. The research shared in this workshop series highlighted the importance of networks for entrepreneurs to achieve success. These networks, properly mobilized, can provide access to funding, advice and other resources. Yet, the studies suggest that it is not enough to expose women and underrepresented minorities to potential networks. We also are unclear if structured interventions to create networks such as accelerator programs actually help in this regard. In addition, disentangling the effect of networking in explaining business outcomes remains challenging, empirically.[26] Connecting networks to outcomes is difficult because it is a two-sided matching problem: you need to understand how and why each matches with the other. Future research would seek to understand the underlying mechanisms that explain the benefits of networking and mentorship and determine what interventions would work to activate useful networks for underrepresented groups.
    • Reducing gatekeeper biases. The role of gatekeepers, such as VCs, are critical in early stages of startups. By studying these gatekeepers over time, we can sort out the sources of bias and appropriate interventions. For example, central to statistical discrimination theory is that when beliefs turn out to be inaccurate, actors can update their beliefs. Will we see gatekeepers update their beliefs on businesses led by women and minorities? What are ways to disentangle statistical discrimination versus taste-base discrimination against women and minority entrepreneurs? To answer these questions, researchers should leverage study designs that track behaviours of gatekeepers over multiple periods.[27] In the short run, it may be necessary to provide women and minority entrepreneurs with other supports that will increase their legitimacy as a compensatory mechanism that may offset biases.[28] For example, in Togo, this was formal business registration. In the Silicon Valley, this might be affiliation with a top VC or endorsements from recognized leaders. Such signals may help women and minority entrepreneurs overcome gatekeepers’ uncertainties around their quality and potential. Research might ask whether social capital can be transferred, as we are seeing African American stars in music, movies and sports entering into entrepreneurship or into entrepreneurial financing.

    In sum, the emerging research on gender and race is shedding new light on the complex dynamics of assuring equal opportunities in the entrepreneurial space. Many of the insights direct our attention away from seeing this as a “supply side” problem in which not enough women and minorities enter entrepreneurship and towards seeing how “demand side” factors such as systemic racism, biased evaluations, and family dynamics disguise limits and impede success. We also see an emerging set of solutions—such as interventions with gatekeepers, creating legitimacy mechanisms and reconfiguring institutional supports—that should lead to greater equity in our economy.

    __________________________

    RESEARCH OVERVIEW PREPARED BY:

    Hyeun Lee and Sarah Kaplan, Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

    The preparation of this research overview was supported by the Government of Canada’s Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH).

    CITE AS:

    Lee, Hyeun. and Kaplan, S. (2021). “Debates and controversies in understanding gender, race and entrepreneurship,” Institute for Gender and the Economy, https://www.gendereconomy.org/debates-and-controversies-in-understanding-gender-race-and-entrepreneurship/.

    References

    [1] Kanze, D., Huang, L., Conley, M. A., & Higgins, E. T. 2018. We Ask Men to Win and Women Not to Lose: Closing the Gender Gap in Startup Funding. Academy of Management Journal, 61(2): 586–614.

    [2] Ewens, M., & Townsend, R. R. 2020. Are early-stage investors biased against women? Journal of Financial Economics, 135(3): 653-677.

    [3] Hebert, C. 2020. Gender stereotypes and entrepreneur financing.  Working Paper available on SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3318245

    [4] Jennings, J, & Brush, Candida G. Research on Women Entrepreneurs: Challenges to (and from) the Broader Entrepreneurship Literature. Academy of Management Annals, 7(1): 663-715.

    [5] Yang, T., Kacperczyk, A., & Naldi, L. 2020. Career Antecedents of Female Entrepreneurship. Working Paper.

    [6] Thébaud, Sarah. 2015. Business as Plan B: Institutional Foundations of Gender Inequality in Entrepreneurship across 24 Industrialized Countries. Administrative Science Quarterly, 60(4): 671-711.

    [7] Zandberg, J. (Forthcoming). Family Comes First: Reproductive Health and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship. Journal of Financial Economics.

    [8] Zandberg, J. 2020. Reproductive Rights and Women’s Access to Capital. Working Paper. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3727553.

    [9] Core, Fabrizio. (2020). Maternity Risk and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship. Working paper available on SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3539508

    [10] Delfino, Alexia. 2020. Breaking Gender Barriers: Bringing Men into the Pick-Collar Jobs of the Future. Working Paper. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1T2KKmwIaqTZ9HiuAExq2vItss75R4_7X/view?usp=sharing

    [11] Howell, S. T., & Nanda, R. 2019. Networking Frictions in Venture Capital, and the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurship. Working Paper. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3484700.

    [12] Brooks AW, Huang L, Kearney SW, Murray FE. 2014. Investors prefer entrepreneurial ventures pitched by attractive men. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(12): 4427–4431.

    [13] Op cit. Hebert, C. 2020.

    [14] Hu, A., & Ma, S. 2020. Human Interactions and Financial Investment: A Video-Based Approach. Working paper available on SSRN: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3583898.

    [15] Cao, R., Koning, R., & Nanda, R. 2020. Biased Sampling of Early Users and the Direction of Startup Innovation. Working Paper available on SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3736119.

    [16] Dimitriadis, S. 2020. Gender, formal registration, and entrepreneurial performance. Working Paper.

    [17] Ashraf, Nava, Delfino, Alexia, & Glaeser, Edward L. Rule of Law and Female Entrepreneurship, NBER working paper, available at https://www.nber.org/papers/w26366

    [18] Bento, A., & Elliot, J. 2020. The Racially Unequal Impacts of Disasters and Federal Recovery Assistance on Local Self Employment Rates. Working Paper.

    [19] Yimfor, E. 2020. Brokered Startup Financing. Working Paper available on SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3511164.

    [20] Heizmann, H., & Liu, Helena. (forthcoming) “Bloody Wonder Woman!”: Identity performances of elite women entrepreneurs on Instagram. Human Relations.

    [21] Valdez, Z. 2011. Political Participation Among Latinos in the United States: The Effect of Group Identity and Consciousness. Social Science Quarterly, 92(2): 466–482.

    [22] Ewens, M., & Farre-Mensa, J. 2020. The Deregulation of the Private Equity Markets and the Decline in IPOs. The Review of Financial Studies, 33(12): 5463–5509.

    [23] Valdez, Z. 2016. Intersectionality, the household economy, and ethnic entrepreneurship. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 39(9): 1618–1636.

    [24] Yin, P., & Miric, M. 2020. Population-level Evidence of the Gender Gap in Technology Entrepreneurship. Working Paper.

    [25] Op cit. Delfino, A. 2020.

    [26] Chatterji, A., Delecourt, S., Hasan, S., & Koning, R. 2019. When Does Advice Impact Startup Performance? Strategic Management Journal, 40(3): 331–356.

    [27] Rubineau, B., & Kang, Y. 2012. Bias in White: A Longitudinal Natural Experiment Measuring Changes in Discrimination. Management Science, 58(4): 660-677.

    [28] Castilla, E. J., & Rissing, B. A. 2019. Best in Class: The Returns on Application Endorsements in Higher Education. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(1): 230–270.

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/research-briefs/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more research briefs[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”research-briefs” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ first=”false”][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”briefsummary” id=”” content_align_medium=”” content_align_small=”” content_align=”left” size=”3″ font_size=”” animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_shadow=”no” text_shadow_vertical=”” text_shadow_horizontal=”” text_shadow_blur=”0″ text_shadow_color=”” margin_top_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” text_color=”” animated_text_color=”” highlight_color=”” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Research summary prepared by

    Hyeun Lee and Sarah Kaplan

    Published

    January, 2021

    [/fusion_title][fusion_widget_area name=”avada-custom-sidebar-researchbriefsidebar” title_size=”” title_color=”” background_color=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada

    A Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada

    [fusion_builder_container admin_label=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”20″ margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” type=”legacy”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ layout=”3_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” first=”true” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ spacing_right=””][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hue=”” saturation=”” lightness=”” alpha=”” content_alignment_medium=”” content_alignment_small=”” content_alignment=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”” id=”” margin_top=”” margin_right=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_left=”” fusion_font_family_text_font=”” fusion_font_variant_text_font=”” font_size=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_transform=”” text_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    In Canada, the COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on women, Two-Spirit and gender diverse people, particularly those who are low-income, people with disabilities, are members of the LGBTQ+ communities, belong to Indigenous, Black, or racialized communities or are newcomers, refugees, immigrants and migrants. More than half of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Canada have been experienced by women, yet at the same time women have faced disproportionate job loss, an increase in domestic violence due to lockdowns, and an intensification in unpaid work.

    YWCA Canada and The Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management have partnered to create a Feminist Economic Recovery Plan for Canada, which proposes a new path forward for Canada’s economy – one that focuses on changing the structures and barriers that have made some groups more vulnerable to the pandemic and its fallout than others. The report highlights 8 pillars for recovery with a focus on supporting the care economy, investing in social infrastructure and supporting women-owned businesses.

    DOWNLOAD THIS REPORT IN ENGLISH/ EN FRANÇAIS

     

    __________________________

    Report written by:

    Carmina Ravanera and Anjum Sultana

    Strategic Leads:

    Sarah Kaplan and Maya Roy

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/category/policy-briefs/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more policy briefs[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”policy-briefs” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” first=”false” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” sticky_display=”normal,sticky” class=”briefsummary” id=”” content_align_medium=”” content_align_small=”” content_align=”left” size=”3″ font_size=”” animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” text_shadow=”no” text_shadow_vertical=”” text_shadow_horizontal=”” text_shadow_blur=”0″ text_shadow_color=”” margin_top_medium=”” margin_bottom_medium=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_bottom_small=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” text_color=”” animated_text_color=”” highlight_color=”” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Authors
    Report written by:

    Carmina Ravanera and Anjum Sultana

    Strategic Leads:

    Sarah Kaplan and Maya Roy

    Published

    July 2020

    [/fusion_title][fusion_widget_area name=”avada-custom-sidebar-researchbriefsidebar” title_size=”” title_color=”” background_color=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • Transitioning Employers:  A survey of policies and practices for trans inclusive workplaces

    Transitioning Employers: A survey of policies and practices for trans inclusive workplaces

    [fusion_builder_container admin_label=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” margin_top=”20″ margin_bottom=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” type=”legacy”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”3_4″ layout=”3_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”false” first=”true” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″ spacing_right=””][fusion_text columns=”” column_min_width=”” column_spacing=”” rule_style=”default” rule_size=”” rule_color=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]

    Executive summary

    In 2019, Pride at Work Canada and the Institute for Gender and the Economy at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management partnered to undertake the first Canadian study dedicated to understanding workplace policies and practices for supporting transgender and gender non-conforming people—meaning individuals whose gender identity, or personal experience of gender, differs from their sex assigned at birth. We surveyed 69 organizations in Pride at Work Canada’s membership network (a 58% response rate of all members contacted at the time of the survey), which is made up of organizations who are committed to LGBTQ2+ inclusion. These organizations collectively employ more than 700,000 people across Canada.

    The aim of the study was to document the policies and practices for supporting trans and gender non-conforming people applied by Canada’s large employers. Because all respondents are partners of Pride at Work Canada, we believe the results here represent a best-case scenario as non-partners and non-respondents are likely to have fewer gender-inclusive practices.

    This groundbreaking survey dedicated to gender-inclusive workplace policies and practices in Canada shows that while a substantial portion of organizations surveyed have anti-discrimination policies and training that includes gender identity and gender expression, only a fraction of these organizations have broader inclusion policies aimed at providing equitable professional opportunities for trans and gender non-conforming people. Because trans and gender-non-conforming people experience stigma and stereotypes about how men and women ought to look, they will not have access to or even seek employment in prominent organizations unless those organizations take deliberate steps towards inclusion. This is especially true for people who have gender expressions that do not conform to norms about the physical appearance of men and women, and for those who have experienced multiple forms of discrimination, such as ableism, racism, and sexism in addition to transphobia.

    The survey found that individual accommodations for employees based upon gender identity and gender expression protections do not adequately address the effects of institutionalized stigma, which negatively influence everyday workplace interactions and present barriers to hiring for trans and gender non-conforming people. The report shows how organizations can invest in building a future where all people, including all trans and gender non-conforming individuals, have safe and affirming workplaces.

    DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT (IN ENGLISH/EN FRANÇAIS).
    Transitioning Employers Report CoverLa transition des organismes employeurs Report Cover
    DOWNLOAD THE SURVEY RESULTS FOR INCLUSIVE PRACTICES INFOGRAPHIC (IN ENGLISH/EN FRANÇAIS)

    Infographic thumbnailInfographic thumbnail

    DOWNLOAD THE SURVEY RESULTS FOR BASIC ACCOMMODATIONS INFOGRAPHIC (IN ENGLISH/EN FRANÇAIS)

    Infographic thumbnailinfographic thumbnail

    __________________________

    Report written by:

    Bretton Fosbrook, Sarah Kaplan, and Jade Pichette

    [/fusion_text][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_button link=”https://www.gendereconomy.org/category/policy-briefs/” text_transform=”” title=”” target=”_blank” link_attributes=”” alignment=”” modal=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” color=”custom” button_gradient_top_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_bottom_color=”#62bd19″ button_gradient_top_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ button_gradient_bottom_color_hover=”#00c2e2″ accent_color=”” accent_hover_color=”” type=”” bevel_color=”” size=”” stretch=”yes” icon=”” icon_position=”left” icon_divider=”no” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=””]See more policy briefs[/fusion_button][fusion_separator style_type=”none” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” sep_color=”” top_margin=”20″ bottom_margin=”20″ border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” /][fusion_recent_posts layout=”default” picture_size=”fixed” hover_type=”none” columns=”3″ number_posts=”3″ offset=”0″ pull_by=”category” cat_slug=”policy-briefs” exclude_cats=”” tag_slug=”” exclude_tags=”” thumbnail=”yes” title=”yes” meta=”no” meta_author=”no” meta_categories=”no” meta_date=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_tags=”no” content_alignment=”” excerpt=”no” excerpt_length=”35″ strip_html=”yes” scrolling=”no” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_4″ layout=”1_4″ spacing=”” center_content=”no” hover_type=”none” link=”” min_height=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”left top” background_repeat=”no-repeat” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” last=”true” first=”false” border_sizes_top=”0″ border_sizes_bottom=”0″ border_sizes_left=”0″ border_sizes_right=”0″][fusion_title title_type=”text” rotation_effect=”bounceIn” display_time=”1200″ highlight_effect=”circle” loop_animation=”off” highlight_width=”9″ highlight_top_margin=”0″ before_text=”” rotation_text=”” highlight_text=”” after_text=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”briefsummary” id=”” content_align=”left” size=”3″ font_size=”” animated_font_size=”” fusion_font_family_title_font=”” fusion_font_subset_title_font=”” fusion_font_variant_title_font=”” line_height=”” letter_spacing=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” margin_top_mobile=”” margin_bottom_mobile=”” text_color=”” animated_text_color=”” highlight_color=”” style_type=”none” sep_color=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”left” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_offset=”” margin_top_small=”” margin_bottom_small=””]

    Authors

    Bretton FosbrookSarah Kaplan, and Jade Pichette

    Published

    April 2020

    [/fusion_title][fusion_widget_area name=”avada-custom-sidebar-researchbriefsidebar” title_size=”” title_color=”” background_color=”” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” /][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]