Summary across disciplines
According to statistics from the CAUT, which are the most recent comparable figures, sociology (at 49 per cent) employed a far higher proportion of women than economics, history, philosophy and political science in Canada in 2010-11. In these disciplines, women comprised between one in three and one in four staff (25 per cent in economics in 2016-17; and 28 per cent in political science in 2010). 31.2 per cent in philosophy in 2011; and 37.2 per cent in history.
Higher in the ranks, women remained poorly represented in professor positions, regardless of the data source or year, in economics (16 per cent in 2010-11 / 13.6 per cent in 2016-17), philosophy (20 per cent or 21.6 per cent in 2011), and political science (19 per cent in 2010-11). Women at professor level accounted for 24 per cent of appointments in history and 38 per cent in sociology (both in 2010-11).
In lower ranking positions, economics and philosophy saw a decline in the proportions of women in entry-level positions, partly attributed to reduced hiring after the financial crisis in 2008. Even so, women remained overrepresented in more precarious positions, where reported, in economics and political science. These data were not available for the other disciplines.
Single figure of women’s representation across disciplines
The Canadian Association of University Teachers /Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d’université (CAUT) is the national voice of the university body. It was established in 1951. Its annual Almanac publishes data and analysis on the tertiary education sector: the source of its data is the government agency Statistics Canada, University and Colleges Academic Staff Survey. The most recent figures available for gender in the academic workforce are for 2017-18 and they show that women represented 46.7 per cent of teachers in the humanities and 45.6 per cent of teachers in the social and behavioural sciences and law. The last available workforce data on gender at a disciplinary level was published in 2013-14 for the 2010-11 academic year. These figures have been used for comparison.
Figure 1: Appointments of women in five disciplines in Canada, 2010-11
Source: Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), Almanac of Post-Secondary Education in Canada, 2013–14.
Economics
In a 2017 survey, the Canadian Women Economists Network found that women held approximately 25 per cent of permanent positions in economics departments (CWEN, 2017). While women made up 40 per cent of graduating PhDs, this did not translate into hiring of women in economics faculty. Women made up only 13.6 per cent of professors in 2016-17. Women were also overrepresented in more precarious Instructor and Sessional Lecturer positions, comprising 36.8 per cent of staff in these positions in 2014-15. The proportion of women in tenure or tenue track positions varied greatly between universities. CAUT figures for the discipline of economics in 2010-11 show that women were 21.1 percent of all appointments. The figures included lecturers (31.8 per cent) and assistant (43.4 per cent), associate (32.6 per cent), and full professors (16.2 per cent).
History
CAUT first published data for gender distribution in 2004, for the period 2000-2001 and these figures reveal that the numbers of women in academic appointments in history has grown, though inconsistently, over time, including at professorial level. By 2000-01 women were around 28 per cent of total academic appointments in history, but only 12 per cent of professors. For 2010-11 CAUT reported that of fulltime academic staff in university history departments across Canada, 37.2 percent were women. These figures included lecturers (38.9 per cent) and assistant (42.9 per cent), associate (43 per cent), and full professors (23.6 per cent).
Philosophy
Over the two decades preceding a report by the Canadian Philosophical Association (CPA) in 2013, significant improvements were seen in the gender balance of tenure and tenure-track academic staff in philosophy at all ranks (Doucet & Beaulac, 2013). According to CPA data, in 2011, women comprised 31.2 per cent of staff in the discipline. Despite almost doubling in the decade prior due in part due to the retirement of mostly male professors, in 2011 women still held just 21.6 per cent of full professorship positions. CAUT figures for 2010-11 were similar and showed that in the subject area of ‘Philosophy, Logic and Ethics’, women were 28.6 percent of appointments, and in ‘Philosophy and Religious Studies, Other’ (which was only 69 people) they were 26.1 per cent of appointments. The figures for ‘Philosophy, Logic and Ethics’ included lecturers (31.3 per cent) and assistant (35.3 per cent), associate (30.7 per cent), and full professors (20 per cent).
Political Science
A 2010 survey of 15 departments conducted by the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA) found that 28 per cent of teaching staff in political science were women (Abu-Laban, Everitt, Johnston & Rayside, 2010). Women tended to remain in lower level positions representing close to 70 per cent in temporary and tenure track positions. Only one in four academic staff with tenured positions were women. CAUT figures for 2010-11 were a little higher and showed that in the subject area of ‘International Relations and Affairs’, women were 30 percent of appointments, and in ‘Political Science and Government’ they were 31.1 per cent of appointments. The figures include, respectively, lecturers (na/30.8 per cent) and assistant (28.6/39.7 per cent), associate (42.9/35.2 per cent), and full professors (16.7/19.1 per cent).
Sociology
Membership data from the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) showed that in 2018 women comprised 57 per cent of CSA members in university faculty positions (GESS researcher calculations). Women represented a greater proportion of CSA members than men in part-time, contractual or sessional lecturer positions (54.6 per cent); assistant professors (57.3 per cent) and associate professors (66.1 per cent). However, at the professor level, women made up only 44.7 per cent of members at that level. It must be noted that a higher proportion of women sociologists are members of the CSA than men, and more English- than French-language university staff are CSA members, meaning these numbers cannot be taken as representative of the workforce as a whole (Goyder, Faller & Woodhall, 2010). CAUT figures for 2010-11 showed that women were 49 percent of appointments. The figures include lecturers (59.1 per cent) and assistant (58.1 per cent), associate (50 per cent), and full professors (38.3 per cent).
References
Yasmeen Abu-Laban, Joanna Everitt, Richard Johnston and David Rayside (2010) Report and Analysis of the Questionnaire for Chairs of Departments of Political Science,Canadian Political Science Association Diversity Task Force.
Canadian Association of University Teachers /Association canadienne des professeures et professeurs d’université (2004; 2008-09; 2013–14) CAUT Almanac of Post-Secondary Education in Canada.
Canadian Women Economists Network (2017) CWEN/RFÉ Report on the Status of Women in Canadian Economics, 2017. Canadian Women Economists Network.
Mathieu Doucet and Guillaume Beaulac with Shelly Jordan (2013) Report on the CPA Equity Survey: Historical Trends. Canadian Philosophical Association.
John Goyder, Alyssa Faller and Julia Woodhall (2010) Who Belongs to the CSA? Canadian Sociological Association.