Female students in higher education are going up — but so is male faculty. University President roles are 70% male occupied. Why?

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Higher Education in Canada has some sticky issues, and it’s probably not much different in the United States, or other countries.

For one, there is a white male wave in faculty composition across the country, that will continue to move through like the slowest tsunami ever seen. This is set against a consistently rising wave of women enrolling as students.

What to do… what to do?

In 2020, there were over 2 million students enrolled in Canada’s post-secondary sector.

• About 1.2 million (56%) women.
• About 950,000 (44%) men.

BUT, in full-time faculty, about 60% are men and 40% are women. Representation of minority (marginalized) identities — not so good.

In the 2000s, workplaces changed mandatory retirement at 65. It’s no longer mandatory.

In post-secondary, this has created a wave of folks over 65 staying in their faculty roles.

Between 2006 through to 2019, the total number of faculty in Canada over the age of 65, has increased almost 6-fold.

And over 70% of those are male.

Added to this, International students are rising rapidly in Canada’s post-secondary institutions. This is shifting ‘diversity’ of students enrolled in Canada’s post-secondary sector.

The diversity of faculty members in Canada’s post secondary sector is not changing rapidly.

The diversity of senior administrative members in Canada’s post-secondary is… simply…. not changing. It’s almost 90% white, and male dominated. In the President’s role for example, in Canada, 70% of those are male.

This sector has a representation issue, and quite a bit of this can be traced to governance.

Are you aware of any examples of where specific institutions are making clear, specific, progress on representation?

Is there an “equity, diversity and inclusion” office or plan that names these challenges specifically?

Lays out a baseline?

And some specific examples of what change looks like, feels like, and sounds like?

Leave a comment, or send me a direct message. This is messy.

Structural issues, like “structural racism”, “structural sexism”, and so on, require structural remedies.