:
Thank you for having me here today on behalf of Canada Learning Code, and please note that I'll be happy to answer any questions following my statement.
As the youth programming director of Canada Learning Code, I have the great privilege of working with my team to develop and provide accessible technology education experiences for the youth of our nation, particularly young girls.
I have the lived experience of a woman in STEM, particularly the “T” in STEM, the technology side. I am able to teach digital literacy skills at the post-secondary level, and I have held positions within organizations requiring me to hire for technology-related careers. This experience has helped me to understand just how problematic the gender gap is in this nation, and it ultimately led me here, with Canada Learning Code, to address this issue in a very systemic design lens on education.
The stark reality of the gender gap in technology is made evident by taking a quick scan across the room in your average computer lab classroom, by looking at the teams who build all the mobile applications we use on a daily basis, and by considering some research.
Studies state that women represent less than 25% of technology roles within Canada, and that of those women who make it in the industry, 25% are exiting the industry due to sexism or the experience of unwelcome workplace environments—all this while women make up half of our population. This is a problem.
Women are key decision-makers in Canadian households. Women are influencers of our next generation of scientists, technologists, engineers, and mathematicians. Actually, women represent the larger proportion of educators in our classrooms.
Because technology is an ongoing and ever-growing driver of innovation within multiple industries, we have an opportunity as a nation to minimize the gender gap and to ensure that we are working towards a more prosperous and unified nation.
How can we address this issue? There is no one causal factor. It is very complex, very systemic, and therefore there is no one solution to all of this.
What we do know, however, is that the causes of the gender gap in technology have nothing to do with biological differences. In fact, while many of us doubt it, there have been numerous research studies out there to demystify this. There is zero evidence that there are aptitude differences in math between women and men.
What we should be assessing is the design of things. What I mean by this is the design of experiences that we are all exposed to from the moment we are born. These are the experiences that shape what we feel we are capable of doing and what we can do. They shape our understanding of how the world works, of what leadership looks like, and of who can play a role in developing new technology.
We must empower women and young girls to feel confident, to equip them with the skills and knowledge to go beyond being consumers of technology and become creators.
We believe at Canada Learning Code that tech education can play a significant role in this. With Canada Learning Code, we have the privilege of designing accessible, inclusive learning experiences for women and young girls, who make up two groups of Canadians that have been historically marginalized and under-represented.
We have programs for adult women. The ladies learning code program aims to provide beginner-level technology experiences for adult women along with mentorship from those in the industry.
Our youth programs are all about sparking the curiosity and interest of girls at an early age, and then providing support along the way as they bloom towards adulthood.
Our programs for teachers are for educators of all sorts, which are meant to equip educators with all of the resources, the skills, the confidence, and the training to enable them to introduce digital literacy within the classroom at the primary school level.
As we work towards having equity, diversity, and inclusion by being better represented within the workforce, at Canada Learning Code we really hope to continue to grow that pipeline within the workforce and education with young women and girls.
I'd be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you so much for your work, and to your whole team for the impact you're having. It's really helpful for us.
I'm going to read two recommendations from one year ago, October 18, from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. It did a focus on Canada's success, or lack thereof, in adhering to its United Nations commitments around eliminating discrimination against women. This happens only once every five years, so it's a really good touchpoint for us.
They've made two recommendations directed at Canada that I think will resonate, so I'd like to get your perspective on whether your group would be happy to see these recommendations reflected in our final report.
There are two of them. The first one is in 37(b):
The Committee recommends that the State party...
(b) Strengthen its strategies to address discriminatory stereotypes and structural barriers that may deter girls from progressing beyond secondary education and enrolling in traditionally male-dominated fields of study, such as mathematics, information technology, and science;
The second recommendation is in 39(b):
The Committee recommends that the State party...
(b) Adopt effective measures, including skills training and incentives for women to work in non-traditional professions, and temporary special measures to achieve substantive equality of women and men in the labour market and eliminate occupational segregation, both horizontal and vertical, in the public and private sectors, and adopt quotas to enhance the representation of women in managerial positions in companies;
It has the non-traditional as well as the secondary to graduation.
Do you have any reflections on whether, if Canada took those measures, it might help advance representation of young women, especially moving into STEM fields and coding?
I'd like to begin by acknowledging that we're gathered on the territory of the Algonquin people, and that we are in a time of truth and reconciliation with the first peoples of Canada. By so doing, we are also acknowledging the overrepresentation of our indigenous peoples in all systems of oppression.
I have submitted a fairly lengthy brief to the committee, which has not been translated, but the clerk will eventually circulate it to you. It's very fact-based. I really didn't think today was the day to stay super focused on facts, because the facts are irrefutable. The poorest people in this country, the highest rates of unemployment, from an intersectional perspective, belong to women with disabilities and deaf women, without question.
I do have a few facts I can highlight, but I thought it would be more important, again, to invite you to read and review the report when you have it, because the statistics are fairly solid and compelling. In fact, the Government of Canada has, by three UN bodies—the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and under CEDAW—essentially been told that it has been failing women and girls with disabilities and it is time for action.
[Translation]
As mentioned in the call for briefs from the Standing Committee on the Status of Women, we will focus on the realities of disabled women who are poor, income-related statistics, as I noted in the report, their employment readiness, and working conditions in order to examine the impact on their well-being.
[English]
About 1.5 million women in Canada are unemployed. Of those, 629,000.... Actually, I'm going to stop with the statistics. I said I wasn't going to do it, and I won't, because it's too difficult to do.
There were a few that I thought were important to mention. When we're talking about the situation of women with disabilities, we're talking about women with disabilities having an average revenue of $4,000 less than non-disabled women. Again, in a juxtaposition of women and poverty, women with disabilities have an important difference in income.
I have another statistic that is important when we're talking about intersectionality.
[Translation]
Let us recall that, in 2007, the federal report on disability estimated the rate of disability in aboriginal communities at over 30%. That was reaffirmed in the report by Amanda Burlock, which indicated a higher prevalence of disability among first nations women as compared to men, and also among women who are not first nations.
I would add that racialized and disabled aboriginal women are overrepresented among poor women.
[English]
In terms of the focus of my presentation, it's to actually speak about women with disabilities who are invisible to this committee, to data and statistics. The reason I do that is this is where we need to go in terms of better understanding those women who are invisible. I'm speaking specifically of homeless women. I'm speaking about women with traumatic brain injuries, many of whom have experienced traumatic brain injuries through violence. The data is beginning to show, as some committee members who've heard me present before on the issue of violence know, that the number of women who become disabled through violence is much higher than is currently understood.
I remind the committee of women who are trafficked. Again, when we are talking about the data, you can assume that between 25% and 35% of women who are trafficked, whether it's for labour or sex, are women with disabilities.
I remind the committee of trans women with disabilities, racialized women with disabilities, and those intersections, and how important it will be for you to think of not just black women, indigenous women, or women in prisons but to always think from an intersectional perspective, and to understand that when that intersection includes disabilities, they are the most marginalized.
In terms of recommendations, with the limited time we have, I bring forward a quote from Sebastian Buckup of the International Labour Organization. He states:
This is useful to indicate that people with disabilities are less productive not because they are “disabled” but because they live and work in environments that are “disabling”. This is of crucial importance to the message the analysis wants to transmit: it makes economic sense to create an environment that is supportive for people with disabilities.
Of course, our federal government is coming forward with new federal accessibility legislation that will touch on some areas of our lives in that regard. I understand, too, that the federal government and all of you, and your most important work, need to be working with your provincial and territorial counterparts on this issue, because these things, programs and services, are delivered through provincial and territorial labour market agreements. It's important to see this as an opportunity to really begin focusing on the populations in your discussions in terms of who is most affected.
It's about 10 years ago to this month—it's a little longer than that now—that our first presentation was made by my president and me. That was in 2007. In that presentation, we mentioned several things that I find still have a great deal of resonance today: separating income programs for disability-related supports and services; creating a stable environment in which persons can move between paid employment and income support with ease; increasing the sick leave benefits for unemployment insurance; extending the definition of employment support and accommodation to the domestic sphere; forums for information exchange and support groups which provide a valuable resource for women with disabilities trying to enter the labour market, and societal attitudes.
DAWN Canada is currently piloting the first employment program for young women with disabilities in Montreal with our partners from the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work. We're only about six months into this program, and again, it's the only one of the four pilots that is focused on women and girls exclusively.
Early evidence bears out what is very clear, which is that it is really important to understand the intersection of disability and gender has a huge impact on employment. The unemployment rate for some women in this country, in the maritime region for example, is up to 75%.
I could belabour the point of poverty, but again, the point's been made. When we're talking about indigenous women with disabilities, we are absolutely talking about the very worst off.
Coming back to those forgotten women, episodic and chronic illness...and some of the data that I had was one of the other things. There are two pieces. One is from Michael Prince and Yvonne Peters, who did a study with the Council of Canadians with Disabilities on poverty:
[Translation]
More than four in ten disabled women in low-income households or 43.7% do not receive at least one of the support services required for their daily activities, such as meal preparation, household tasks, errands, finances, personal care, mobility inside the home, and so forth. The same is true for less than one disabled women in three or 30.7% of women with income above the LICO.
As I said, I provided you with a comprehensive, precise report including detailed statistics.
[English]
The bottom line, ladies and gentlemen, is that the poorest and the highest unemployment rates belong to women with disabilities and deaf women in this country.
I could sit here and provide resources. I could provide statistics, but what we really need is leadership from this committee. We've had some important leadership from the federal government, including from Status of Women Canada and the minister. Placing women with disabilities as one of the most important groups to address, from both a social and an economic perspective, must be something that you support.
Thank you.
As you mentioned, I am the chief economist for Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. Elise, in addition to being the director of government affairs at 3M Canada, is also a member of our national board and the chair of our women in manufacturing working group.
We are here today to talk about the need to improve female representation in the manufacturing workforce. Elise and I will be sharing our time.
Manufacturing is vital to the Canadian economy. It employs 1.7 million people, accounts for about 70% of our exports, and directly contributes 11% of our national GDP. When spinoff effects are included, close to 30% of all employment and all economic activity across the country relies on domestic manufacturing.
However, manufacturers face a number of challenges preventing them from realizing their full potential. Among them is that our members are struggling to find workers, especially in the skilled trades and in STEM fields: science, technology, engineering, and math. Addressing this issue is one of the top priorities of our Industrie 2030 national strategy to double manufacturing output and exports by the year 2030.
Attracting more women to manufacturing is the best way to solve this problem. Women hold 48% of all jobs across Canada, but only 28% of jobs in manufacturing. The situation is not improving. Female representation in the manufacturing workforce has been unchanged for about 30 years. This is not a situation that is unique to Canada; it's similar in advanced manufacturing countries all around the world. The gender imbalance in Canada is even greater in production-related jobs. Women hold less than 5% of jobs in the skilled trades, and less than one quarter of all jobs in STEM fields. These are exactly the occupations where manufacturers tell us their labour and skills shortages are most acute.
Through Elise's leadership, CME is undertaking a major initiative to address this problem. We released our first report about two weeks ago here in Ottawa. I am the author of that report, and Elise is leading the effort on implementation and next steps. We have brought copies of our summary report, if anybody is interested in picking one up at the end of the meeting. There is a longer version available online as well.
With the time that I have, I want to provide you with a brief overview of our key findings and then pass the floor to Elise to talk about the path forward.
At the outset, I want to say that our goal with this report was not just to increase labour supply for manufacturers, but also to open the door to new and exciting opportunities for women. Manufacturing has a lot to offer. Compared to the national average, manufacturing jobs tend to be more secure, are more likely to be full time, and pay better. Across Canada, average weekly earnings for women are about 76¢ on the dollar compared to those of men. In the skilled trades it's 82¢, and in STEM fields it's more than 86¢.
The report I have brought here today is focused on what women have to say. We conducted a survey in August and September asking women with first-hand experience in Canadian manufacturing a series of questions about their current work environment, the challenges and obstacles they face, and, most importantly, what they think needs to be done to attract more women to the sector. Our report and action plan were developed directly out of these survey findings.
The first and most important of these findings was that women in manufacturing like their jobs: 80% would consider remaining in the sector if they could start their careers all over again. The vast majority would support their daughters' pursuing a manufacturing career, and 91% thought that more women would be interested in manufacturing work if they saw what it actually looked like.
At the same time, women identified a number of specific obstacles that are contributing to the existing gender gap. There are three problem areas specific to the manufacturing workplace itself.
The first of these is sexism and a male-centric workplace culture. Many women, we found, are uncomfortable with the male-dominated work environment in manufacturing, and many feel they have to work harder than men to prove themselves. In fact, the gender gap in manufacturing may be, at least in part, a chicken-and-egg problem: women avoid careers in manufacturing because there are not enough women with careers in manufacturing.
The second is opportunities for promotion and advancement. We found that a significant number of women leave manufacturing jobs because they see few opportunities for career advancement. They also see women under-represented in executive leadership and feel that men have greater access to promotion opportunities.
Third is work-life balance. Women in manufacturing told us that they struggle to balance their work and family commitments. Many say that they have quit manufacturing jobs for this reason. Those with families fear that unavoidable commitments will hinder their career advancement.
Finally, there are two other issues that women told us need to be addressed. The first is that manufacturing continues to have a reputation problem. People cling to an outdated view of manufacturing work as being dark, dirty, and dangerous. Survey respondents told us that this perception causes women to overlook manufacturing opportunities. Second, women told us that the school system does not do enough to encourage young girls to pursue an education in STEM fields and the skilled trades. They believe that attracting more girls to these programs is critical to closing the gender gap in manufacturing.
With that overview, I'd like to turn the floor over to Elise.
I want to talk a little bit about the women in manufacturing working group. We launched that at CME last March, because we had the first female chair of CME, for an organization that is almost 150 years old. The goal was to attract more women in manufacturing. One of the first things we decided to do was to have a survey to be able to have actual data from the Canadian market. Out of that we identified five areas where we believe action is needed to attract and engage women in manufacturing.
The first is that more high-profile female role models are needed to inspire and encourage young women to pursue a career in manufacturing. Women need to see other women succeed. Nearly 37% of survey respondents said that one of the most effective ways to attract more women in manufacturing is to have more visible role models. Women under 35 were considerably more likely to say that female role models would help attract more girls in manufacturing.
Second, young women need more exposure to modern manufacturing facilities to gain a more accurate perspective on career opportunities for them. Misconceptions about manufacturing need to be addressed. Nearly 61% of women surveyed believe other women would be more likely to consider a job in manufacturing if they had a better idea of what it is like. We need to address this outdated view that manufacturing would be repetitive, dull, and dreary.
Third, efforts to encourage young girls to pursue an education in STEM fields and skilled trades need to be improved. The biggest roadblock preventing the gender gap in manufacturing from narrowing is that there are simply not enough women out there with the right qualifications to work in production-related jobs. Only about one in 20 certified tradespeople are women. As well, many companies are actively trying to recruit more women to manufacturing, but these efforts will have little impact unless we first increase the number of women available.
Fourth, businesses need to make their workplace culture more inclusive. Women enjoy working in manufacturing, but they point to challenges in two specific areas. The first is the gender gap itself, that Mike referred to as the chicken-and-egg problem. The survey is clear that the existing gender imbalance discourages women from considering a career in manufacturing. As well, 30% of women say that a male-centric workplace culture is what they like least about working in manufacturing, and 30% think women avoid manufacturing because of the current gender imbalance.
Businesses also need to find creative ways to improve work-life balance for their employees. Many women struggle with finding an appropriate balance between work and their personal life. Shift work, which is very common in many production-related jobs, discourages some women from even applying for manufacturing jobs.
In the coming months, CME will actively engage with business, government, and other stakeholders to look at developing solutions. For example, we can work together to promote careers in manufacturing to girls and women by providing higher visibility of women in manufacturing role models through events and online campaigns of sharing profiles. This can also include a series of videos and planned visits showing careers in manufacturing and modern manufacturing facilities, to expose them to the opportunity and dispel the myth of manufacturing being dirty and dangerous. We can also share our success stories around promoting the accomplishment of women in manufacturing.
Finally, we can support organizations that help bring young girls into STEM, organizations like FIRST Robotics and Let's Talk Science. For example, for close to a decade 3M Canada has been working with Let's Talk Science, a charitable organization that supports learning and skills development from kindergarten to grade 12 students across the country, to help youth and girls to get engaged with STEM and connect with career role models. Also, 3M is a founding partner of Canada 2067, a national initiative to rethink the future of STEM education in the country.
Our hope is that in a few years the participation of women in manufacturing will not be a challenge, but rather a strength inspiring the competitiveness and growth of Canadian manufacturing internationally.
Thank you.
[Translation]
Hello everyone.
[English]
I'm very happy to return to this committee. We were here at the beginning, so it's great to have watched your study through the last several months and to have the opportunity to appear again at the closing end of it.
[Translation]
This study is timely because promoting the economic security of women is essential to promoting gender equality and ensuring a better future for women.
As you know, although we have made real strides, there is still more work ahead. The barriers to economic equality that Canadian women face include systemic discrimination in the form of bias. There is also colonialism, which affects aboriginal women in particular, and traditional social norms that make women primarily responsible for providing care.
[English]
This study will be helpful as we work collectively to achieve equality for all women, particularly for those most vulnerable, including indigenous women, visible minorities, people with disabilities, youth, and rural women. Achieving equality for all groups of women requires a collaborative effort across the federal government, but also with provincial and territorial governments.
The private sector and civil society also, of course, play a significant role. For this reason, Status of Women has recently launched a new call for proposals for projects that address institutional barriers that limit women's economic security. The call for proposals, entitled “Support for Women's Economic Security”, will fund projects that address the economic security of women across Canada under two separate themes.
The first theme is building partnerships to address systemic barriers. It invites organizations to work together to address the institutional barriers that hold women back and limit their economic security. These barriers include the accessibility of child care, the wage gap, and pay inequity. The second theme is increasing private sector leadership and investments in women. It requires organizations to form partnerships with the private sector to implement solutions that advance women's economic security. Through these partnerships, the private sector can play a leading role in helping to advance gender equality in Canada.
Status of Women Canada has also issued a call for proposals, entitled “Addressing the Economic Security and Prosperity of Indigenous Women”, for projects to support the economic security and prosperity of indigenous women in Canada. This call invites organizations to foster collaboration between indigenous women, indigenous organizations, their communities, and the private sector to support the economic security and prosperity of indigenous women across Canada. These collaborations will build on the strengths of indigenous women, identify opportunities for their economic success, and address issues that limit these opportunities.
These targeted investments through the women's program complement the broader suite of Government of Canada initiatives to address the barriers to women's economic equality. Those of you on the committee who know Status of Women will know that we're really a very teeny agency. We have to work with all federal governments to push the bar on this issue. Since Status of Women Canada last appeared before this committee, we've continued to advance work with our federal partners. Progress is being made on pay equity in the federal jurisdiction. We've been working with Treasury Board Secretariat and the labour program. We've heard from a wide range of stakeholders. Going forward, we'll be incorporating these perspectives into legislation that is due to be tabled in 2018.
Pay equity is only part of the challenge to addressing the gender wage gap. Work is continuing to progress on the early learning and child care framework as well as dedicated funding for on-reserve child care. We're also supporting our federal partners in their efforts to increase women's participation and success in key economic fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as well as in the skilled trades. Additionally, Status of Women Canada is supporting the development of a progressive trade agenda that promotes gender equality and the engagement of women and diverse populations.
We're also continuing to engage our provincial and territorial counterparts through the forum of FPT ministers responsible for the Status of Women to identify collaborative actions that can be taken to address the gender wage gap, including through data collection. Achieving economic equity for women requires the participation of a wide range of actors working toward sustainable solutions that meet the lifelong economic security needs of women in Canada.
Going forward, to address women's economic security and their equal participation in the economy, it will be imperative to continue to encourage and engage leadership across government; to create and support interdepartmental and interjurisdictional networks to facilitate, among other things, the collection and sharing of disaggregated data; and to encourage collaborative partnerships between government and indigenous leadership and communities, non-governmental organizations, institutions, and the private sector.