Women Geoscientists in Canada

Advocates for increased gender balance within our fields

We are proud sponsors of Women Geoscientists in Canada; an online community that is dedicated to elevate, promote, and encourage female geoscientists to continue careers in geology, geophysics, and geochemistry.

Women geoscientists pursue professional opportunities, but their status in the workforce is typically far below parity. The number of women working in the geosciences, 5-10 years post-baccalaureate degree, seldom attain ratios greater than 1/3 despite very balanced numbers in undergraduate geoscience programs. In addition, with increasing levels of experience, it is expected that responsibilities and influence within the workspace increase; however, the percentage of women in the workforce decreases with time, resulting in an overall power structure that is predominantly male.

“The “leaky pipeline” is one of the main concerns we have about women in the industry. Why do they leave? And how can we retain them? It’s not just a gender diversity issue but also ensuring the industry has a thriving workforce as the older generations retire.” – Sarah Devriese, PhD, WGC director.

Women Geoscientists in Canada (WGC) is working to affect fundamental changes by developing programs that support early career women geoscientists through skills training and mentoring. WGC is eager to engage with employers to identify both implicit and explicit barriers in achieving gender parity, and work toward solutions to minimize and eradicate barriers, to the benefit of the employer. WGC works within the geoscience community to develop a vision that recognizes the longevity of the profession is conditional on being able to transform geoscience into a vocation that reflects the overall society that it serves.

Find out more and join WGC’s online community https://www.wgcanada.org/join-us.