Addressing the leak in Canada’s academic pipeline

In 2025, McMaster University will install its ninth president and vice-chancellor, Susan Tighe. It’s been over 30 years since McMaster’s last female president departed. During that time, women have made small gains at the highest levels of academia in Canada, with 31 per cent achieving the highest role at Canadian universities (13 per cent at U15 institutions). However, that growth is limited and is slowing, with more women exiting academia before reaching these senior levels, leading to the phenomenon known as the leaky pipeline. 

Not a meritocracy 

Despite mostly unspoken assumptions to the contrary, men are not innately better suited to the highest offices on campus. There is nothing in the human genetic makeup that predisposes men to succeed and women to fail in academic careers. On the contrary, selection processes artificially raise the bar higher for women and minorities, demanding they be 2.5 times more accomplished to be seen as equal, making it even more difficult for underrepresented groups to remain in the pipeline.  

Gender bias can impact resource allocation for faculty, as well as teaching assignments, with women assigned to teach introductory courses more frequently than men. Students reflect these biases in the classroom, praising men for knowledge and expertise, and women for nurturing and attitude. As Stanford University neurobiologist Ben Barres observed: “For talented women, academia is all too often not a meritocracy.” 

Disproportionately phased out  

Systemic challenges facing women academics do not begin at the faculty level. Instead, they begin during graduate school. According to the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, Canadian women have outnumbered men in completion of undergraduate and master’s programs for decades. Theoretically, this should translate into an increase in female faculty members and onwards through the academic pipeline to the highest levels of leadership. 

But that isn’t what we see.  

Women begin to leave academia at the doctoral level and then again during the postdoc years. A recently released survey conducted by the Canadian Association of Postdoctoral Scholars (CAPS) revealed that women spent more time on administrative assignments and academic service and less time on their research programs than men. They were more than five times as likely to experience harassment because of their gender identity and significantly more likely than men to change their career goals away from the tenure track or research/scientist positions. Clearly, as stated in the report: “Something appears to happen in the transition from postdoc to early career researcher on a tenure track that causes women to get disproportionately phased out.”  

Balancing the scales 

Institutions are grappling with strategies that address systemic barriers and challenges to gender equity across campus, but the top-down approach moves slowly. We can begin simply by changing the way that we interact with women in graduate programs and postdoctoral positions.  

Build self-confidence 

For graduate students and postdocs, mentoring is a key component to their development. This is especially important for women who repeatedly received messages downplaying their abilities. Raising expectations and letting women know that you believe they can achieve the higher goals you set with them can help them change their own narrative.   

Ask women to assume leadership roles 

Everyone is busy, but women in graduate school and postdoctoral studies can be especially pressed for time, juggling research and family obligations.  

Giving women multiple opportunities to develop their leadership skills may help them see themselves in academia longer term, rather than be left behind and excluded. Invite them to take on leadership roles for projects, committees, conferences and research. If they decline, ask again when the next opportunity comes along. We shouldn’t assume women are not interested in these opportunities — sometimes a schedule doesn’t allow for any additions. 

Consider reassigning tasks 

Based on data from the CAPS survey, women are assigned more administrative tasks, fewer people to supervise, and complete more academic service. If you notice patterns in your department, consider shifting things that level the field for all. Asking women to simply take on more is not likely to improve their situation.  

Everyone wants women to succeed and knows that we need changes to allow for gender equity. But wanting and changing aren’t the same thing. If we want more gender diversity on our campuses, then we need to make everyone feel welcome, valued and respected.