Maximizing Opportunities: Increasing Women's Participation in Science and Engineering — A Summit

Speaking Points

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, PC, MP
Minister of State (Science and Technology)

Ottawa, Ontario
November 16, 2010

Check Against Delivery

Thank you, Dr. Fortier, and thank you to the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for inviting me to join you this evening.

It is a great pleasure for me to be here to close what I hope has been a fruitful dialogue on the vitally important topic of increasing women's participation in science and engineering.

As my colleague Minister Ambrose pointed out this morning, our government regards science, engineering and research as absolutely critical to Canada's future — economically, socially and environmentally — and to the quality of life in this country over the long term.

This is why in 2007, as part of our government's first mandate, the Prime Minister launched the science and technology strategy, Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage. And we have made good progress toward its goals over the past three years.

In the global economy, knowledge, research and innovation are at the heart of economic growth and success.

This is why our government is investing at historic levels in science, technology and innovation. We want to create jobs for Canadians. We also want to strengthen the economy and improve the quality of life of Canadians.

Our government has increased support for science and technology. In fact, in 2010–11, federal expenditures on science and technology are expected to reach a historic high of $11.7 billion.

And clearly, we are making a difference: Canada is number one in the G7 in terms of research performed by the higher education sector as a percentage of gross domestic product. We believe that prosperity and growth depend on supporting science and innovation.

As Minister of State for science and technology, I also want to put in a plug for pure, curiosity-driven research. This is also a priority we must stick with. The nature of pure research is that you never know where it will take you, what will come of it, and how it will ultimately benefit society and humankind. We must never lose sight of that, and we must always place a high value on pure, curiosity-driven research, even if the immediate benefits are not apparent.

Obviously, we need to strongly encourage women to participate in the science and engineering disciplines if we want to maximize our country's potential. And as we've learned today, even though we have made progress in promoting the greater representation of women in science and engineering, in scoping out talent and in ensuring that talent succeeds, we still have a ways to go. Our government is under no illusion about that.

We need to better understand the barriers and disincentives that prevent women from choosing science and engineering as careers—institutional barriers and otherwise. And we need to think through how we can reduce and ultimately eliminate those barriers. Today is an important first step in that direction.

Compared to many Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries, Canada's enrolment rate in engineering is low, particularly among women. Women account for less than 20 percent of the students enrolled in engineering.

According to the Engineering and Technology Labour Market Study, the most practical strategy to increase the supply of engineers is to attract women to the discipline. A 2004 report from the OECD Global Science Forum suggests that, when it comes to science and technology, young female students are affected by stereotypes and external expectations that discourage their participation in the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Despite girls and boys having comparable marks, girls are usually not encouraged by their families, teachers and career advisors to pursue science and technology career paths.

As I said before, I hope this conference marks the beginning of a dialogue through which those in the research and university community, government and the private sector can share ideas and perspectives and work together to understand the barriers that prevent women from pursuing science and engineering careers, to find solutions to eliminate those barriers and to ensure that Canada has a robust cadre of world-leading female scientists and engineers.

Our aim should be nothing short of a Canadian science and research culture and educational environment that lead the world—a culture in which there are no impediments or disincentives to female scientists and engineers and an environment in which we have had the foresight to recognize these problems and put in place initiatives that encourage the full participation of women in science, engineering and research careers. As I said at the outset, this is the critical to the quality of life in Canada over the long term.

Thank you for inviting me to speak to you today.