Perry Work Report for the week of March 08, 2011 - International Women's Day Special Issue

March 8, 2011

Special Issue for International Women’s Day

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The History of International Women’s Day

“Although more associated today with recognizing and acknowledging the contributions of women, International Women's Day began as an offshoot of increased labour unrest in the early 20th century.”

CBC, March 8, 2011: History of International Women's Day

 

Equality First: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women

“The Royal Commission on the Status of Women, called by Prime Minister Pearson in February 1967, held the notion of equal opportunity as its precept. Chaired by journalist Florence Bird, the panel was criticized both for exceeding traditional boundaries and also for hedging on the conservative. But the great undercurrent born of the Bird Commission was a renunciation against inequality.”

CBC Digital Archives: Equality First: The Royal Commission on the Status of Women: Great TV & radio clips from 1967 – 2001

 

Library and Archives Canada: Celebrating Women’s Achievement

A listing of exceptional Canadian women who have made outstanding contributions to Canadian society and the world. One section features women activists including journalists, social, women’s rights, and union activists.

Library and Archives Canada, Celebrating Women’s Achievement: Activism

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Retirement for Women in Canada?

“The wage gap at work follows women into retirement, resulting in high levels of poverty among senior women. In 2008, women aged 65 years and older on average received incomes that were 65% of those of men of the same age. In 2004, 7.3% of retired women lived in poverty, more than double the rate of retired men. An astounding 45.6% of single, divorced or widowed elderly women lived in poverty, according to a 2004 study.”

Canadian Labour Congress, March, 2011: International Women's Day 2011: A Call for Dignity in Retirement for Women

CTV, March 8, 2011: Canadians feel retirement dreams fading

Sun Life Financial Inc., March 2011: 2011 Sun Life Canadian Unretirement Index, (14 pages, PDF)

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Canadian Journal of Women and the Law: Rewriting Equality

“The Women’s Court of Canada follows in an admirable tradition of Canadian women refusing to take a decision of the Supreme Court of Canada as the final word. We have a long history of determined and creative women seeking redress beyond the Supreme Court of Canada.”

[from “Introducing the Women’s Court of Canada,” by Diana Majury, in Canadian Journal of Women and the Law: Volume 18, Number 1, 2006: Special Issue: Rewriting Equality

The Canadian Journal of Women and the Law is available on line to the University of Toronto community through Project Muse – Volume 17, 2005 to current issue.

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Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100

“The Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Awards, Co-presented by Scotiabank Group and KPMG, is Canada’s most recognizable award for the country's highest achieving female leaders in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.”

Women’s Executive Network, 2010: Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100

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Women’s Leadership Development

“Despite organizations’ efforts to achieve a diverse workforce, the majority do not have a clearly defined strategy or philosophy for the development of women into leadership roles, according to theWomen’s Leadership Development Survey conducted by Mercer in conjunction with Talent Management and Diversity Executive magazines”.

Mercer, March 2011: Most employers lack a strategy for developing women leaders, Mercer survey shows

Women's Leadership Development Surveys – access by country: Asia-Pacific, Canada, Europe, Global and United States.

Mercer, March, 2011: Women’s Leadership Development Survey- Europe, (5 pages, PDF)

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Female Talent Pool Underutilized

“Talent is critical to staying competitive, but despite the growing number of qualified women in the workforce, the female talent pool continues to remain underutilized.”

Deloitte, January, 13, 2011: The Gender dividend: Making the business case for investing in women (20 pages, PDF)

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Catalyst Census

 “The 2010 Catalyst Census: Financial Post 500 Women Senior Officers and Top Earners details women’s representation in senior leadership positions at the largest companies in Canada. This biennial report provides critical statistics to gauge women’s advancement into leadership and highlights the gender diversity gap.”

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International Women’s Day… by the numbers

To mark International Women’s Day last year on March 8th, 2010, the online issue of Canadian Social Trends includes two articles on women and their contributions to family and society.

The articles are: “Life satisfaction of women with disabilities”; “The Census and the evolution of gender roles in early 20th century Canada”; and  Three Fact Sheets : Women in the workforce; Women and retirement savings; Women and health and well-being; Women and education.

Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report 
[this information was in the January 3, 2011 issue of the PWR]

The 6th edition of Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report, 2010 – 2011 was released by Statistics Canada on December 16, 2010.

Here is the main page for the publication On the left are the subject areas and access to the tables in the report.

There are two Tables on women in unions:
Chart 5 Percentage of female and male workers unionized, 1976 to 2009
Chart 6 Union density by age group and sex, 2009

You can also access articles by PDF:

Economic Well-being by Cara Williams, December 2010 (34 pages, PDF)
The economic well-being chapter of Women in Canada examines several factors related to well-being of women and compares it to that for men. More specifically, it examines total income and earnings, assets, debts and net worth by family type and age. Information on pension coverage, RRSP contributions, incidence of low income and dual earners is included.

Paid Work by Vincent Ferrao, December 2010 (31 pages, PDF)
The Paid Work chapter of Women in Canada examines the labour market experiences of women and compares it to that of men. In particular, it compares the employment and unemployment trends by age for women and men. It also discusses how part-time work, multiple job holding, unionization, self-employment and the work experiences of mothers have changed over time.

Under Paid Work you can find unionization statistics: Unionization rates higher for women than men

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100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day -- Fast Company

“March 8, 2011 is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The roots of this day are political, but in some countries, it has become an official holiday, a day for honoring women, much like Mother’s Day.”

Fast Company, March 8, 2011: Celebrating 100 Years of International Women’s Day: On this 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, what do women want? Everything we deserve.

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UN International Women’s Day, March 8, 2011

The theme of the UN International Women’s Day this year is, “Access and participation of women and girls in education, training, science and technology, including for the promotion of women’s equal access to full employment and decent work.”
Background Information

UN Women:  Commission on the Status of Women, February 22 – March 4, 2011: Documentation

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ILO to mark 100th International Women’s Day: Focus on Making the recovery work for women!

“The International Labour Organization (ILO) will mark the centenary of International Women’s Day on Monday 7 March with a panel discussion which will highlight the role of gender equality in securing a sustainable and equitable recovery.”

ILO to mark 100th International Women’s Day

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International Women’s Day Is a Travesty in Russia

“The Bolsheviks may have been sons of bitches, but they had a few tough ladies in their mix and together they pushed through revolutionary measures to educate women and give them open access to the workplace.”
“March 8 has become a travesty in modern Russia. In the 20 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has quickly shed all vestiges of egalitarianism and become ensconced in a deeply patriarchal social order.” [from Slate, March 8, 2011]

Slate, March 8, 2011: “International Women’s Day Is a Travesty in Russia”, by Julia Ioffe

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Book of the Week

Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace: Developments in Theory, Research, and Practice, edited by Stale Einarsen … [et al.] 2nd ed. Boca Raton, Florida : CRC Press, 2011. 495 p.  ISBN 9781439804896

Content

Previously titled Bullying and Emotional Abuse in the Workplace: International Perspectives in Research and Practice, the first edition of this bestselling resource quickly became a benchmark and highly cited source of knowledge for this burgeoning field. Renamed to more accurately reflect the maturing of the discipline, Bullying and Harassment in the Workplace: Developments in Theory, Research, and Practice, Second Edition provides a much-needed update of the original work. Edited by leading experts and presenting contributions from pioneers in their respective subject areas, the book is an up-to-date research-based resource on key aspects of workplace bullying and its remediation.

Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.

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Questions or comments: cirhr.library@utoronto.ca

Editor: Vicki Skelton
Designer: Nick Strupat

Copyright © 2010 Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.

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