Database to debut at York conference

The Gender and Work Database (GWD) is an integrated research tool currently being developed by the School of Social Sciences, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies. 

Combining a unique technical infrastructure with emerging social science research, the GWD will enable researchers to conduct new analysis in work and society, and will promote evidence-based policy and decision making. As a Web accessible database, the GWD will offer expanded opportunities for public access and dissemination of Canadian data and research.

The database is under the direction of Leah F. Vosko, Canada Research Chair in feminist political economy, School of Social Sciences (Political Science), and the Atkinson School of Liberal & Professional Studies.

Right: Leah Vosko 

The official launch of the GWD will take place on Sept. 30 at 7 pm in the Founders Assembly Hall at Founders’s College. The debut of the database will mark the official start of the Gender and Work: Knowledge Production in Practice Conference taking place at York University, Oct. 1 & 2.

“At the Sept 30 launch, we will demonstrate the GWD and welcome participants and representatives from our funding bodies and stakeholders as well as the GWD development team of researchers from across Canada,” said Vosko. “We are expecting that over 100 academics, labour and government representatives will attend the launch. This event will provide a unique opportunity for cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional exchange, creating one of the first opportunities for these individuals to interact on issues of gender and work.”

The conference will highlight current research in the field of gender and work through multi- and inter-disciplinary scholarship. The conference will focus on numerous issues including:

• gendered trends in paid and unpaid work within a globalized economy;
  
• the role of restructuring and privatization in shaping gendered work patterns;
  
• immigration, gender and labour market policies and outcomes;
  
• shifts in health care work, a highly gendered domain of employment;
  
• union organization and mobilization in the new economy; and
  
• the nature and scope of the emerging phenomenon of precarious employment in Canada.

Institutions and agencies represented at the conference include:

• Brock University
  
• Canadian Foundation for Innovation
  
• Canadian Auto Workers
  
• Canadian Labour Congress
  
• Canadian Union of Public Employees
  
• Carleton University
  
• McMaster University
  
• National Network on Environments and Women’s Health
  
• Ontario Innovation Trust
  
• Ryerson University
  
• Simon Fraser University
  
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
  
• St. Mary’s University
  
• Statistics Canada
  
• University of Guelph
  
• Université de Montréal
  
• University of Queensland
  
• University of Toronto
  
• University of Windsor
  
• York University:
  
  
  
  • Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies
    
  • Faculty of Arts
    
  • Faculty of Graduate Studies
    
  • Osgoode Hall Law School
    
  • School of Women’s Studies
    
  • York University Libraries

For more information on GWD and the Gender and Work: Knowledge Production in Practice Conference, click here.