alumni Archives | Research & Innovation

Gender Equality in Low-Carbon Economies

ls1207 — Tue, 15 Mar 2022 19:58:50 +0000

Written by Elaine Coburn, Director of the Centre for Feminist Research, 91��ɫ

Bipasha Baruah

(91��ɫ PhD 2005) is Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Global Women’s Issues. She is also a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. Professor Baruah specializes in interdisciplinary research at the intersections of gender, economy, environment, and development; gender and work; and social, political, and economic inequality. Her current research aims to understand how to ensure that a global low-carbon economy will be more gender-equitable and socially just than its fossil-fuel-based predecessor. She has published one book, Women and Property in Urban India, (University of British Columbia Press 2010) and more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, working papers, policy briefs and professional reports, in journals like World Development, Feminist Economics, Development in Practice, Water Policy, and Labor Studies. Her work can be found .

In her presentation at the Centre for Feminist Research at 91��ɫ, “Gender Equality In Low Carbon Economies: Continuities, Contradiction, Disruptions”, 91��ɫ alumni and Canada Research Chair Bipasha Baruah observes that, “Globally, women represent only 22 per cent of the oil and gas industry and 32 per cent of the renewable energy workforce. Women are particularly underrepresented in the energy sector in jobs that require science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) training (28 per cent) compared to non-STEM technical jobs (35 per cent) and administrative positions (45 per cent).” For Baruah, this underrepresentation is not only a problem but an opportunity, as nations around the world are confronted with the urgent need to re-orient the energy sector for environmental sustainability. In developed, emerging and developing economies, the energy sector can be transformed to support more sustainable energy -- and better jobs and more equity for women.

This is true in the developed nations, like Canada, where skill shortages in the renewable energy sector are a challenge but, Professor Baruah emphasizes, also an opportunity, “to train, recruit and promote women, Indigenous peoples, new immigrants, workers with disabilities, and other groups that have historically been marginalized in the energy sector.” This requires support for women to obtain degrees and diplomas in the better-paid science and technology fields, for instance, but also more flexibility for women who take maternity and parental leave to return to work and mandatory quotas for women in upper management and administrative positions.

Developing nations face their own challenges in the energy transition, but some offer useful models for ways forward for the rest of the world. In a chapter with Rabia Ferroukhi and Celia García-Baños López published in 2021, “Global Trends in Women’s Employment in Renewable Energy,” Professor Baruah and her colleagues point to Zambia’s gender-transformative approach as one helpful example. “Zambia’s National Energy Policy identifies measures to mainstream gender considerations in all energy access programs” they observe, “and highlights the role of women not only as beneficiaries but as also active energy providers and entrepreneurs within the sector.” They conclude that “This is a good example of a[n]…approach that views women not simply as primary end users and beneficiaries, but as actors in the design and delivery of energy solutions.”

If the energy transition to sustainable industries is necessary and urgent, Professor Baruah’s work is a reminder that there is hope in this transition for creating a more gender-just world. This will require women’s active role as decision-makers, not just in the energy sector but in the social, political and economic structures that now reproduce inequities. They can and must be transformed to bring about both environmental sustainability and gender equity in the critical years ahead.

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Environmental studies alumni share insights with students

fmaquito — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:00:00 +0000

Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) alumni delivered encouragement and advice to students pursuing their master's of environmental studies degree at the annual Anita McBride Mentoring Luncheon in late November. The event featured a panel of four MES graduates who shared personal experiences from the program and postgraduate insights with the crowd.

The first panellist, Elsa Fancello (MES ’07), encouraged students to “move beyond [their] area of comfort,” by taking classes outside of their main focus, meeting others in the Faculty and broadening their skill sets. Fancello recalled taking three classes that were not considered part of a traditional planning curriculum – mediation and negotiation, consulting skills and environmental psychology – which she has found complement her current work as an urban planner at Urban Strategies Inc.

Right: From left, FES Professor Emeritus Peter Homenuck moderated the panel of FES alumni, Al Shpyth, Ann Joyner, Cameron MacKinnon and Elsa Fancello, who shared their post-graduation experience and insights with current MES students

Cameron MacKinnon (MES ’90) agreed, saying “the interdisciplinary holistic approach [at FES] teaches you how to think, how to see the big picture and will provide you with the skills and knowledge that can help you to succeed in the short and long term.” MacKinnon recounted some of his more than 20 years of experience in public affairs and media consulting, including his work as assistant director of communications for the premier of Ontario. Currently, he runs his own consulting business, advising a coalition of industry associations involved with developing a major industrial recycling effort.

MacKinnon called his own career path an “unconventional one” in that he never held a job in the environmental field until recently. “It was at FES where I learned how to conduct meaningful public consultations with citizens and stakeholders, which has been a staple of my approach in almost every project I’ve worked on.”

Left: Steven Pacifico (MES '07) was one of several alumni at the Anita McBride Mentoring Luncheon's post-discussion reception, answering questions and providing guidance to MES students

Dillon Consulting partner and environmental planner Ann Joyner (MES ’85) eagerly addressed students who joined her in “a discipline that has grown with the world” throughout her life. She admitted that the best advice she received in the program was from FES Professor Audrey Armour, who advised her to treat the program seriously. “The networks you make here – both in terms of the students and the professors that you meet – they become your professional networks,” said Joyner. “So take [the program] seriously, like a job.”

She concluded with reflections on the future of environmental planning. “We’ve come a long way in the profession. We didn’t have the Oak Ridges Moraine, the growth plans or protective frameworks in place. None of it existed. But there is lots of room for you to add to it all, which is what I hope to see.”

Right: From left, panellist Ann Joyner and FES founding dean Gerald Carrothers shared stories and encouragement with students at the event

Al Shpyth (MES ’91), a former vice-president at mining company Cameco, urged audience members to use passion as their guide throughout their studies and career. He was led by his own passion and the flexibility of the MES program, “When I was here, FES students couldn’t take environmental law at Osgoode Hall unless you were in the joint MES/JD program. I really wanted to take environmental law, so I found out what it would take to get this class offered − a willing faculty member to teach and enough students to take the course. I found both, and was able to take the course. Ultimately, that class has added value throughout my career,” Shpyth said. “When you leave here, follow your heart and you will do good work and have a good life. There are a variety of ways to follow your heart, just keep your passion alive.”

The Anita McBride Mentoring Luncheon is an annual event for FES students and alumni, consisting of a panel presentation and informal reception. Anita McBride is former director of the FES Office of Student & Academic Services. McBride remains instrumental in the event through her continued financial support, along with maintaining numerous connections with FES alumni and inviting them annually to share their experiences with current students.

Submitted to YFile by Alicia Brown, FES media and communications coordinator

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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Stellar grades for Schulich's MBA program

fmaquito — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 08:00:00 +0000

The Economist magazine has ranked the Schulich School of Business at 91��ɫ among the top 10 MBA programs in the world. The rankings, which were released Friday by the prestigious publication, ranked Schulich ninth overall, up from 10th place the previous year.��Schulich was the only Canadian business school to make the top 10.

Right: The Schulich School of Business

Schulich’s MBA program ranked ahead of those offered by MIT (Sloan), the London Business School, the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and INSEAD, and behind Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley and Harvard. Schulich placed first among Canadian schools, second in the world among non-US schools and eighth among North American schools. To view the complete results, click .��

The Economist survey is the only major global ranking that rates business schools on criteria deemed most important to MBA students and alumni – everything from diversity of career opportunities to earning potential and networking opportunities. According to The Economist, the magazine ranks full-time MBA programs on "their ability to provide students with the things that they themselves cite as most important" and weighs each element according to the average importance given to it by students. Student and alumni ratings make up 20 per cent of the survey and 80 per cent is based on quantitative data such as student quality, faculty quality, post-MBA salary and salary increase, and breadth of internationalism of alumni.

During its 23-year history, The Economist survey has tracked and measured the opinions of approximately 250,000 MBA students and alumni on categories they consider to be most important, including:

the ability of a school to open new career opportunities;
personal development and educational experience;
salary increase; and,
the potential to network, as measured by the internationalism of the school’s alumni and the breadth of its alumni network.

These are some of the key highlights regarding Schulich in this year’s The Economist ranking:

Schulich ranked second in the world in the category of faculty quality, which looked at factors such as the student/faculty ratio and faculty rating by students (99 per cent of Schulich faculty have a PhD).
Schulich ranked fourth in the world in the category of recruiter diversity (the number of industries represented by recruiters who hire Schulich graduates) – a reflection of the broad range of industry and functional specializations offered at the school (18 in total).
Schulich was ranked fifth in the world in the category of salary increase – a measurement that captures the percentage by which salaries increased pre-MBA to post-MBA. Within three months of graduation, Schulich graduates reported an average 127 per cent increase over their pre-MBA salary.
Schulich was ranked eighth in the world in the broad category of personal development and educational experience, which encompasses faculty quality, student quality, student diversity and educational experience. In the specific category of educational experience, Schulich ranked second in the world. This category included a student assessment of the program and the range of electives offered, the school facilities and the number of overseas exchange opportunities.
Schulich ranked fourth in the world in the category of internationalism of alumni – a key consideration for MBA graduates interested in seeking global opportunities after graduation. (Schulich has more than 84 alumni chapters in 61 countries and more than 22,000 alumni working in over 90 countries.)

"We're once again extremely proud to be ranked among the very best business schools by one of the world's most respected business publications," said Schulich Dean Dezsö Horváth (left) on Friday following the release of the survey results. "Today's result comes on the heels of another top 10 global MBA ranking for Schulich several weeks ago, when the Aspen Institute rated Schulich’s MBA program number two in the world in a survey that identified which schools are doing the best job of preparing future business leaders for the environmental, social and ethical complexities of modern-day business.

“We believe The Economist and Aspen Institute rankings are largely the result of the quality of our students and faculty, our diverse, innovative and forward-looking curriculum, and our strong international orientation," said Horváth.

Republished courtesy of YFile– 91��ɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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