Goal 5: Gender Equality
research impact
For the period 2017-21
№ relevant publications: 349
№ times cited: 3,672
Key Stats
1,749 new students in 2020/21 are first-generation women
407 senior academic staff in 2020/21 are female
1,456 out of 3,491 graduates in STEM in 2021 were female
1,205 out of 1,583 graduates in Medicine in 2020 were female
2,766 out of 4,295 graduates in Arts & Humanities/Social Sciences in 2021 were female
Sample Courses
News
Stewardship
Mentorship for women in STEM
University of Alberta Women in Science and Engineering (UA-WiSE) is a student group that supports all undergraduate students underrepresented in STEM fields. Women in Science, Engineering & Research (WISER) is a group of graduate students and early-career professionals who support the retention and advancement of women and underrepresented groups in STEM.
Together, they run a mentorship program to connect students with mentors in academia and industry. This unique, eight-month program brings together mentorship trios of one undergrad student, one graduate student and one experienced professional. Mentors help develop students’ professional skills, such as professional conduct, negotiation and healthy work-life balance.
Affiliated Child Care
Access to child care is disproportionately beneficial to women due to the unbalanced share of unpaid labour taken on by mothers. The University of Alberta is affiliated with six non-profit, accredited child care centres that provide on-campus and near-campus care options for children as young as one month.
Non-Discrimination for Transgender and Gender-Diverse People
The University of Alberta has a non-discrimination policy that fosters and protects a respectful environment for work, study and living and supports dignity and equity for all members of the University of Alberta.
Outreach
WISEST Summer Research Program
Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science & Technology (WISEST) empowers women to seek out opportunities in STEM fields. WISEST’s Summer Research Program provides grade 11 female and non-binary students summer jobs in STEM fields. It also provides young men with placements in nursing, nutrition and human ecology. These are paid, six-week positions in some of the University of Alberta’s top research labs.
Choices Conference
Each year, 600 Grade 6 girls and their teachers come to the Choices Conference to explore the worlds of science and engineering. Teams of up to four girls from each school, plus their teacher or principal, spend the day at the University of Alberta, challenging their ideas about engineers and scientists and developing their creativity, sense of wonder and teamwork skills.
Young Indigenous Women’s Circle of Leadership
The Young Indigenous Women's Circle of Leadership assists young Indigenous women ages 10-16 in their journeys to reclaim their ancestral Cree language, knowledge and spirituality. It is the only Cree immersion youth program in Alberta. Small groups of participants attend a summer day camp based at the university, learn Cree language and meet Indigenous professors and peers.
🔗 Meet five young changemakers who are driving gender equality in health care
Five trainees from the University of Alberta's Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (FoMD) have been named Top 30 Under 30 by the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation (ACGC) for their work to encourage gender equality in their communities and around the world.
Research
Intersections of Gender
A Signature Area of Research and Teaching at the University of Alberta, Intersections of Gender is an academic hub focused on promoting intersectional gender research, supporting interdisciplinary research collaborations, growing inclusive mentorship and teaching and engaging communities across all sectors on gender and intersectionality.
iSMSS
The Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS) conducts timely and often pressing research focused on helping sexual and gender minority youth mediate life in family, school, healthcare and other environments. iSMSS research is intended to advance inclusive policy making as a protective basis for framing and engaging in ethical and informed educational, healthcare, other institutional and community/cultural practices.
Notable stories
🔗 U of A academics vote to accept pay raise for female professors
University of Alberta academic staff have voted in favour of a deal that gives female professors pay bumps and a lump sum to address a historic gender pay gap.