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Gender Summit 11 – North America 2017: Making gender equality and inclusion the norm in research and innovation
General news
August 24, 2017
A Gender Summit like no other
The evidence is clear. Equity, diversity and inclusion strengthen the scientific community and the quality, social relevance and impact of research. Challenges remain in engaging the full talent pool and embedding equity and diversity considerations in research and innovation. Gender Summit 11 – North America, to be hosted in Montréal this November, is a multi-stakeholder platform—involving business and industry representatives, academia, government, NGOs, scientists, policy makers, gender scholars and others—for undertaking serious discussions and planning actions relating to maximizing equity, diversity and inclusion in research and innovation.
Embracing the benefits of gender equity and diversity is critical not only for research quality, but also for ensuring our diverse societies have the knowledge needed to be productive and innovative.
An Anniversary Year: Celebrating a diverse Nation
From November 6 to 8, 2017, the year of Canada’s 150th anniversary and Montréal’s 375th anniversary, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Fonds de recherche du Québec will host the 11th International Gender Summit (GS11). The overarching theme of the Summit is “Embracing pluralism and thriving through diversity – shaping science and innovation.”
Canada is a country recognized globally for its commitment to pluralism. We are a society built on diversity. Canadians can thrive with an infrastructure that supports pluralism, and our cultural practices aim to ensure that the core values of diversity and pluralism are implemented in everyday life.
Why equity and diversity?
In Canada and around the world there are pressing concerns about how to actively engage diverse equity-seeking communities in the research and development workforce and as part of the research enterprise as a whole. One of the goals of Gender Summit 11 is to expand the international Summits’ focus on “Quality Research and Innovation through Equality” to a broad spectrum of fields of science, namely science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), health sciences and social sciences.
Gender Summit 11 also expands beyond binary gender equity and looks closely at diversity to increase understandings of the complex and intersecting factors that impact the research community.
At this Gender Summit we will focus on areas where gender inequity is stark and where change will have substantial impacts. Thematically, the Summit will address topics such as science culture, global safety, gender and non-traditional roles in industry, leadership on boards, gendered medicine, as well as the culture of science promotion.
How can you participate?
Register now and learn about the role of gender in Indigenous research and the process of reconciliation. Come to Montréal and keep up to date with the latest developments in embedding sex and gender-based analysis plus in research, and concerning intersectionality-informed research policy. Learn from researchers, organizations and industry about advances on the front line of how LGBTQ2 perspectives strengthen research, and on addressing gender stereotypes in industry.
The Gender Summit will be held from November 6 to 8, 2017.
Consult the GS11 program
More information about the Gender Summit
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