Education and Equity

Oct 7

Our President-Elect asks universities to evolve, not transform radically

Jean-Marc Mangin, Executive Director, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

“I love you, please change.”

These words succinctly capture Stephen Toope’s message to Canadian universities in his rich, nuanced and compelling October 2014 report for Taking Action for Canada: Jobs and Skills for the 21st Century. An initiative of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, Taking Action for Canada seeks to bring together educators, governments and businesses to develop solutions and best practices for keeping the next generation of Canadian workers engaged.

Toope, a scholar of international law, is President-Elect of the Federation. He has also served as President of the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, President of the...

Jul 24

SSH News: Financial aid, health care policy, and Canada-Quebec relations

This week, student financial aid made headlines in Canada and the UK, for different reasons. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives published a report on July 17^th comparing student eligibility for financial aid and the complexity of application processes across provinces. Discussing highlights from the report, with a focus on Ontario, the Toronto Star writes that, in addition to confusing students and their parents, current financial aid systems “do little to guarantee equity among students.”

Financial aid is also causing worries in the UK, where a group of MPs...

Oct 11

SSH News: Federation updates, Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars report, OECD Adult Competencies survey results, and Canada’s first Leibniz Lecture

Christine McKenna Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

It’s been just over a week since the first Big Thinking lecture of the 2013-2014 season – Dr. Richard Hawkins’ “Whither innovation? Moving beyond the buzzword”. The event, which was presented in partnership with the University of Ottawa’s Institute for Science Society and Policy (ISSP) and hosted at HUB Ottawa, drew an enthusiastic crowd and led to some excellent discussion. A video of the lecture will be available on our website in the coming weeks.

In other Federation news:

President Antonia Maioni’s speech at the recent Power of the Arts National Forum can now be read on our...

Jan 28

Women in science: challenges and opportunities

Mélanie Béchard, Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Curious. Bold. Resilient. Lucky.

These were all adjectives used by the panelists at a recent roundtable discussion at McGill University entitled Women in Science: Challenges and Opportunities.

The esteemed panelists – whose titles, accomplishments and accolades are too numerous to mention here – included Brenda Milner, Victoria Kaspi and Rima Rozen from McGill, and Jane Stewart from Concordia.

The Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ president-elect Antonia Maioni chaired the discussion, which was hosted by the Royal Society of Canada and the Royal Society of the UK.

Interestingly, most members of the panel felt they had never personally experienced gender-related bias during their careers as leading scientists.

...

Sep 28

RSC Annual General Meeting: Celebrating 130 Years Spanning Three Centuries

Join us as we celebrate 130 years of: promoting Canadian research and scholarly accomplishment in both of Canada’s official languages; recognizing academic and artistic excellence; and advising governments, NGOs and the Canadian public, on matters of public importance. Three days of scholarly programming have been organized to interest Fellows, as well as their families and friends.

Sep 28

RSC Annual Symposium: The New Science of Child Development

The Royal Society of Canada (RSC) invites you to our Annual Symposium, The New Science of Child Development presented by the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR).
Our Symposium on early childhood development will explore in depth the multi-faceted factors that shape the health, education, and psychological well-being of our children. Dr. W. Thomas Boyce, as well as eight multidisciplinary experts will document different facets of this new knowledge, examine how it helps us understand the role of early environment in development, and discuss the extent to which it can be harnessed to guide current and new programs and policy in Canada. Please join this very important discussion on how we can improve the development and quality of life of our future generations.

This event is open to the public.

Mar 30

Aboriginal Education Matters: The Status of Aboriginal People and Scholarship in the Academy

Malinda S. Smith, University of Alberta

This entry is part of the Equity Issues Portfolio’s series on Indigenizing the academy and Indigenous education.

Malinda Smith introduces panelists at a Congress 2011 equity portfolio panel

This blog is being written as I attend my last Board and Annual General Assembly meeting as vice-president, Equity Issues, for the Canadian...

Jan 26

LGBT young people, public spaces and policing in Australia

Angela Dwyer, Queensland University of Technology
Guest Contributor

This entry is part of the CFHSS’s VP Equity Issues series on issues related to LGBTQI2-S (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning, intersex and Two-Spirited) peoples.

Some police still do victimise lesbian and gay men, as the 2006 Amnesty International report Stonewalled clearly documents. Generally, however, the police are more likely to be seen as supporting diversity rather than demonising it. In Australia, as in the United Kingdom and Canada, the...

Dec 20

Desiring and Doing Equity: The Triangle Program for LGBTIQ2S Youth

Doreen Fumia, Ryerson University
Guest Contributor This entry is part of the CFHSS’s VP Equity Issues series on issues related to LGBTQI2-S (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, questioning, intersex and Two-Spirited) peoples.

I would like to add to the Equity Matters discussions about queer equity in public education with some thoughts that have surfaced from an ethnographic study I recently conducted. The study is based on the Toronto District School Board’s (TDSB) Triangle Program, Canada’s only publicly funded secondary school classroom for LGBTIQ2S youth...

Dec 8

Conversion Therapy Fantasies and Religious Opposition to LGBTQ-inclusive Education

Catherine Taylor, University of Winnipeg
Guest Contributor