SDG 5: Gender Equality

Promoting women in STEM

Queen’s University’s Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) is a student-run organization that promotes female involvement in STEM disciplines through networking and mentorship opportunities for women in the Queen’s and Kingston communities.

The annual Canadian Celebration of Women in Computing conference, organized by Queen’s Assistant Professor Wendy Powley, brings together female-identifying leaders in research, education, and industry from across the country to network, mentor and inspire the next generation of women industry leaders.

Educational equity at Queen's

The Senate Educational Equity Committee (SEEC) supports our institutional goal of achieving educational equity at Queen’s. Additionally, the Senate’s Educational Equity Policy outlines our commitment to and understanding of educational equity, as well as our implementation and accountability processes.

Policies of non-discrimination against women and transgender peoples

Queen’s has several policies that prohibit discrimination, including our Harassment and Discrimination Prevention and Response Policy and our Policy on Sexual Violence Involving Queen’s University Students. Both programs outline our anti-discrimination measures as well as the processes for addressing harassment and/or discrimination on our campus.

Women’s mentorship opportunities and educational supports

More than 10% of female students participate in at least one of our mentorship programs. The Queen’s Women’s Network (QWN) Mentorship Program offers 10-month mentorship programs for women-identifying employees looking for mentorship from senior academic staff. The Smith School of Business provides MBA mentorship and coaching opportunities for female-identifying groups, which aim to enable more women to ascend to the senior ranks of management.

Queen’s is a family-friendly university

As a child-friendly campus, we have implemented initiatives through our Queen’s University Child Friendly Campus Initiative that help parents and caregivers on campus to nurture their families while pursuing their scholarly and work responsibilities.

The School of Graduate Studies SGS habitat space offers supports for students with families, including childcare and drop-in programs, subsidies, access to family counselling and other on-campus programs.

The Queen’s Day Care Centre provides affordable on-campus childcare. The Queen’s daycare financial assistance program provides subsidized childcare and other financial assistance for students with dependents and/or families, while the Childcare Support Plan provides reimbursement for eligible expenses to faculty and staff.

Empowering women in politics

The Queen’s Female Leadership in Politics Conference is Canada’s premier undergraduate conference which seeks to empower women in politics. The two-day event brings together more than 150 students from across the country and provides participants the necessary skills and connections they need to succeed.

Tracking enrollment and representation

To better understand our progress in ensuring equitable enrollment at Queen’s, we compile an annual Division of Student Affairs Enrolment Report, which provides information about incoming first-year undergraduate and graduate students, including enrolment information for international, self-identified Indigenous, and first-generation students, as well as retention and graduation rates.

Queen’s also regularly tracks our efforts to increase the representation and engagement of students, faculty, and staff from equity-seeking groups through Inclusive Queen’s. Through outreach programs and targeted recruitment, we also encourage applications by women in subjects where they are underrepresented. Additionally, we track women’s likelihood of graduating compared to men’s, and develop plans to close any gap. Through these measurements, we are proactively building a campus that welcomes and reflects diverse identities, cultures, and perspectives.