Born out of frustration with a male-dominated industry, The Red Bench is as much about community building as welding
When Mack (Mackenzi) Johnston withdrew from engineering studies at a previous university, she felt discouraged and uninspired. The obstacles she faced in the male-dominated industry seemed insurmountable at times, and the path to success murky at best. Buoyed by memories of working alongside her father in his garage as a youth, Johnston recalled how strong…
Research shows men are given second chances much more than women
Indira Samarasekera and Martha Piper have been leaders in post-secondary education every step of the way, right up to the presidencies of two of Canada’s top research universities. They explore what they’ve learned in a new book, Nerve: Lessons on Leadership From Two Women Who Went First. Samarasekera made University of Alberta history in 2005 as…
Raylene Whitford will advise the government on how to provide equitable economic recovery for women
Métis Ph.D. student and businesswoman has been appointed to the new federal Task Force on Women in the Economy. She is working alongside 17 other women from across the country to advise the government on a pathway to a national feminist economic recovery from the effects of the pandemic. The task force was announced on March…
A new report shows women are much more adept at driving change and managing results in startups, yet they struggle to find funding
A recent report on agri-tech startup funding provided some compelling numbers but it barely received attention. And when it comes to what it reveals about gender discrepancies, it deserves attention. More and more venture capital is being invested in the sector, which is great news. But these funds apparently aren’t serving all demographics equally. Some…
From entertainment to business to news media, the evidence is clear: audiences want gender diversity
What would happen if news media struggling to survive applied the productivity mantra “What gets measured gets done” to the sources they quote? Business research, Hollywood sales data and anecdotal evidence from the news industry all suggest it’s worth a try. In many western democracies – the U.S., the U.K. and Canada included – most…
Gender Gap Tracker makes big data public to motivate media to achieve gender parity among experts
An Iranian big data engineer, a Spanish computational linguist and a Canadian social activist walk into a research lab. They don’t miss the drinks they could order if they’d gone to the bar, because they’re on a mission to change the world. We hear a lot about how artificial intelligence is taking away jobs and…
When Mack (Mackenzi) Johnston withdrew from engineering studies at a previous university, she felt discouraged and uninspired. The obstacles she faced in the male-dominated industry seemed insurmountable at times, and the path to success murky at best. Buoyed by memories of working alongside her father in his garage as a youth, Johnston recalled how strong…
