Women in Science: WinS for All

The underrepresentation of women in science is an ongoing issue in institutions of higher learning and industry alike. While the number of women in Canadian academia is increasing, there is still a large gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) disciplines. The Faculty of Science has undertaken an initiative, spearheaded by three undergraduate students, to quantify and compare gender ratios in the various science programs and faculty rankings in an effort to bring attention to the underrepresentation of women in those fields and devise strategies to reduce gender gaps. Students were tasked with analyzing undergraduate and graduate enrolment data over the last ten years across all Science programs. The data revealed that although the overall gender gap in science graduate programs have decreases, it has remained unchanged at the undergraduate level, with female students least represented in computer science, physics and economic programs. Gender gaps also persist among faculty with the greatest discrepancy at the ranking of full professor. With this data, the Women in Science (WinS) initiative, which seeks to engage students, faculty and staff, raise awareness, and address challenges facing women in science, was created. Initial successes include a new public seminar series launched by guest speaker Dr. Imogen Coe, Dean of Ryerson University, outreach to regional high school students in collaboration with our community partner Build A Dream, and a service learning credit through WinS. Collectively, these efforts encourage young women to pursue education and careers in STEM, while engaging and supporting current science students, faculty and staff. It has also allowed these student researchers to practice civic responsibility and engage in faculty-staff partnerships that empowers them in leadership roles within the scientific community. This study also contributes to future recruitment strategies in the Faculty of Science to boost representation of women and foster diversity.