Goal 5: Gender Equality
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Research
Research into Indigenous midwifery aims to improve maternal health
To reduce infant and maternal mortality rates, many Indigenous pregnant women in Canada’s remote or rural areas must make a difficult choice to leave their communities and give birth in hospitals in a process known as obstetric evacuation. A new research project aims to explore the cost, health outcomes and experiences of Indigenous mothers and midwives impacted by obstetric evacuation. The study will also examine community-based Indigenous midwifery and the role it plays in improving health outcomes and ensuring cultural continuity.
COVID-19 isolation hurting women more than men
A study by researchers at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute has found that, during the months of isolation caused by COVID-19 restrictions, women are suffering more than men, with poorer sleep and more anxiety, depression and trauma. They are also exhibiting more empathy than men.
Teaching, learning and student experience
Financial Feminism Investment Lab seeks to democratize access to capital for women
The University of Calgary and The51 partnered with the aim to democratize access to women-led capital for women-led businesses by establishing the Financial Feminism Investing Lab. The lab provides early stage investors with the capability and confidence to activate their capital to meaningfully drive innovation and advance the Canadian economy, while improving gender equity.
Gender and Sexuality Studies program
University of Calgary’s Gender and Sexuality Studies (GSXS) program focuses on issues of gender and sexuality, as well as race, class, disability, citizenship/documentation, age, and environmental issues. This program takes an intersectional, global approach, and issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion are featured in all of our classes. GSXS instructors are committed to collaborative and participatory classrooms, decolonial learning, and a human rights agenda.
Women at UCalgary
Women's Resource Centre
This centre aims to achieve gender equality at the university to support an inclusive campus environment for all students, faculty and staff members. Its mission is to provide a safe and supportive place to advance gender equality and build community through sharing, learning and teaching.
Campus and community impact
Local
Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence is situated in the Faculty of Social Work, at UCalgary. This initiative is working to advance gender equality and equity, as well as healthy masculinities and address issues like racism and homophobia. At the same time, it aims to empower others to create social conditions that will stop violence before it starts.
National
During the global pandemic, the United Nations has asked for urgent action to combat the worldwide surge in domestic violence. UCalgary researcher Lana Wells has been invited to help craft a federal National Action Plan to End Gender-Based Violence. Wells is a leader in gender-based violence-prevention research and will bring a perspective that calls for policy as well as institutional cultural change.
International
UCalgary professors contributed to a Pan-Arctic Report on Gender Equality in the Arctic that was released on May 21, 2021, writing sections on Canada’s domestic and international legal obligations concerning women’s equality, including rights related to environmental protection and Indigenous rights.