Thank you very much.
Good morning, Madam Chair.
On behalf of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and of course our president Ted Hewitt, thank you for the opportunity to appear today in support of your work on the economic security of women in Canada.
We think this work is particularly important in light of increasing scrutiny on gender equity across all sectors of Canadian society, including in higher education institutions, in research teams and labs, as well as in the boardroom and other leadership positions.
As vice-president of research programs at SSHRC, I am particularly pleased to be here. I am an engineer by training with a degree from École polytechnique de Montréal—I was there in 1989—and a doctorate from Université du Québec à Montréal, while having two kids.
Prior to coming to SSHRC, I worked in universities, holding a number of leadership positions at Université de Montréal, including acting as vice-president of research, giving me both perspectives in this world. I hope that I may bring a personal perspective, in addition to providing you with all the information required for the deliberations today or as a follow-up to this meeting.
May I remind you that the social sciences and humanities comprise a wide spectrum of disciplines including psychology, sociology, education, economics, fine arts, linguistics, gender and indigenous studies, geography, business administration, and communications. They touch on almost every aspect of Canadians’ lives, thereby contributing to the Canadian economy.
SSHRC awards grants, scholarships and fellowships in three core program areas. Each of these programs brings benefits to Canada's economy in different ways.
The first program, our talent program, obviously, supports graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, to develop the next generation of researchers and leaders in all sectors. It's about 44% of our program expenditures. It's very important within our own agency. This training provides Canada’s women and men with the critical analytical and communications skills required by a new economy.
Our insight program supports individuals and teams of researchers to advance knowledge and build understanding, and accounts for about 45% of our program expenditures. New research insights, for instance, about new business models, corporate social responsibility, and the integration of people with disabilities into the labour market can help Canada’s businesses gain a competitive edge and contribute to improving the well-being of Canadians in general.
The third program, the Connection program, represents 11% of our expenditures. It supports the exchange of research knowledge within and beyond academe to maximize its impacts. Connecting research knowledge to the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors that can use it is another way that SSHRC contributes to the economy.
Through its programs, SSHRC has funded many of the researchers in Canada who are examining the very issues you are studying. I think you have met some of them during your different meetings.
For example, we have funded research projects on the gender aspects of poverty alleviation, employment standards protections for precarious job workers, child care policies, gender income inequalities, and much more. What is important is that the leadership of women in these fields of research is very strong.
Indigenous research is also a strategic priority for SSHRC. Now up to 10% of our budget is invested in that area and indigenous and non-indigenous women researchers are central to our efforts. Women are leaders in that area of research. In the spirit of reconciliation, it is always important for SSHRC to consider this perspective in our thinking.
With regard to women's participation in our programs more generally, we are obviously in a very positive situation. About 50% of our applicants are women, and the success rates of women and men are equivalent. In our scholarship and fellowship programs we are seeing women applicants and awardees at a rate of over 60%. Last year, women made up 50% of our adjudication members also. However, we continue to track the situation and monitor the leadership opportunities for women within our programs.
While it is true that women are pursuing post-secondary education in increasing numbers, the participation of women is greater than that of men in the social sciences and humanities at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. However, men still occupy more senior academic positions. We are looking forward to new data from StatsCan's recently reinstated survey for university and college faculty to see if this trend is lessening with time.
We also administer, on behalf of the three granting councils, five major programs, including the Canada Research Chairs Program and the Canada Excellence Research Chairs Program.
We know we have some progress to make in these cases. Recent evaluations concluded that efforts toward achieving equality by universities have not been sufficient, so we took action. We have just launched an equity, diversity, and inclusiveness action plan, and we will be happy to answer your questions regarding that plan.
Thank you.