INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY: TOWARDS GENDER EQUITY
In honour of International Women's Day, we proudly highlight Faculty of Education graduate students whose research contributes to advancing gender equity and is making a meaningful impact in the lives of girls and women all around the world.
International Women's Day is the one day of the year when women can take centre stage and demand better conditions. Not just freely, but boldly.
Saba Ghezili
Saba Ghezili,
Master鈥檚 student, Educational Technology and Learning Design
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
As I understand it, International Women鈥檚 Day is a means to shine a light on women and womanhood on an international scale. Born of ardent activism, the symbol that is International Women鈥檚 Day brings to mind all the achievements of women鈥檚 relentless advocacy and our hard-earned rights. But today, I think it serves more as a reminder of what鈥檚 yet to be done. It鈥檚 the one day of the year when women can take centre stage and demand better conditions--not just freely, but boldly.
What are key issues in relation to gender equity in your field of research?
The pandemic inevitably exacerbated gender-based inequities--particularly, access to digital technologies, culminating in a 鈥渄igital equity crisis鈥�, to borrow the words of Dr. Suzanne Smythe, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education. The issue isn鈥檛 limited to the lack of digital literacy and lack of access to technologies, but also to safe and unrestricted access. In our Digital Literacy research, we observed women鈥檚 limited access to technology prevented them from receiving the care or support they required. In some cases, women鈥檚 partners restricted their access to digital devices or monitor women through their devices, resulting in women鈥檚 safety being compromised, potentially putting them at higher risk of domestic violence.
How does your masters/doctoral research illuminate these issues and ways forward to address them?
Our aim is to use a collaborative approach between our project鈥檚 tutors and educate them, as well as community service providers at other institutions, on the issues that we have been made aware of--what to take note of, which resources to recommend, and what to be on the lookout for. Our latest achievements include an online Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) Workshop, attended by nearly 40 community and outreach workers, in which TFGBV, its categories, its prevalence, and tech safety guiding principles were discussed. Attendees expressed eager interest in continuing the conversation and sought additional educational resources. It reaffirmed the significance of educating others on these gender-based inequities.
Bio
Saba Ghezili is an international Master鈥檚 student in the Faculty of Education, in the Educational Technology and Learning Design program. Her previous research includes qualitative analysis of humanitarian workers鈥� occupational stress, and she had experience working at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Her research interests include digital literacy, critical pedagogy, and global citizenship education. She is currently working on a Digital Literacy Caf茅 research project, promoting digital literacy among seniors and women.
I see International Women鈥檚 Day as a reminder to unpack the assumptions, expectations, thoughts, and beliefs we still nurture about women, how these ideologies create seen and unseen hurdles for women, and, most importantly, how us women internalize and try to live up to these detrimental ideologies.
Shaila Shams
Shaila Shams,
PhD Candidate, Languages, Cultures and Literacies
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
I always found anomalies between the symbolic and elite celebration of International women鈥檚 day and the facts and figures and observations regarding violence against and oppression of women at all levels in society, locally and globally. Today, I see international women鈥檚 day as a reminder to unpack the assumptions, expectations, thoughts, and beliefs we still nurture about women, how these ideologies create seen and unseen hurdles for women, and, most importantly, how us women internalize and try to live up to these detrimental ideologies.
What are key issues in relation to gender equity in your field of research?
My study is in the area of language and literacy education. While there are many important issues related to gender equity in this field, I would like to mention practical issues based on my observations regarding women鈥檚 agency. When I was looking for participants for my ethnographic study, I approached quite a few Bangladeshi women. However, I was told some of them could not participate as they could not get their spouse鈥檚 approval. I am not sure if this was a way for them to turn down my request or a genuine issue; this has immense implications in relation to gender equity in my or any other field of research.
How does your masters/doctoral research illuminate these issues and ways forward to address them?
While my doctoral research does not specifically focus on gender equity and is more focused on language, race, and religion, the stories of my women participants, their shifting views toward women鈥檚 rights and empowerment, their positions and transnational identity, and their ideological shifts certainly impact and shape my research. Their stories have informed me of the life of Bangladeshi Muslim women in British Columbia, Canada, and enriched my understanding of women鈥檚 positions in Bangladesh. Their experiences have given me a lens to observe and analyze more critically the life events that they so kindly have agreed to share with me.
Bio
Shaila Shams is a PhD candidate in the Languages, Cultures and Literacies programme in the Faculty of Education at 51社区黑料. Her research interests include but are not limited to second language education, identity, intersectionality, religion, globalization, and migration studies.Her doctoral research focuses on understanding the lived experiences of Bangladeshi Muslim migrants in Vancouver, British Columbia, their language learning experiences, and how their ethnolinguistic and religious minority identity intersects with their language learning and in turn, shapes their settlement trajectory.
International Women鈥檚 Day is an opportunity for us to forge connections with others who have been underestimated, devalued and/or abused for being born into socially vulnerable identities, and together, reframing those vulnerabilities as the strengths they are.
Francis Tombu
Francis Tombu
Master's Student, Counselling Psychology
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
International Women鈥檚 Day is a day to take stock of the overlooked. It is an opportunity for us to forge connections with others who have been underestimated, devalued and/or abused for being born into socially vulnerable identities, and together, reframing those vulnerabilities as the strengths they are. It鈥檚 a wonderful excuse to revel in our innate badassery.
What are key issues in relation to gender equity in your field of research?
Girls represent a significant majority of child sex abuse cases (1 in 9 for girls; 1 in 53 for boys). Child sex abuse (CSA) has been established as a significant etiological factor in the emergence of most psychiatric diagnoses 鈥� and has been found to impact the severity of psychopathological expression and the number of comorbidities. Consequently, the literature that examines long-term outcomes for CSA survivors is decidedly deficit-oriented. This means that for the 1 in 9 women who have experienced child sex abuse, treatment will tend to focus on the mitigation of symptoms rather than aim for the best possible outcome 鈥� post-traumatic growth. This oversight has led to reports of women being pathologized in clinical settings even in areas of life where they are thriving.
How does your masters/doctoral research illuminate these issues and ways forward to address them?
My research explores experiences of post-traumatic growth in woman-identifying individuals who have histories of CSA and aims to do so by highlighting how that growth emerges at the very site where survivors are most pathologized: intimate relationships. My hope is to contribute to an understanding that CSA survivors are not trapped in an ineluctable cycle of trauma management, but that with the right support and conditions, CSA survivors can live lives as intensely fulfilling and beautiful as anyone else. Given the significant number of women who are exposed to the trauma of child sex abuse, I believe that it is essential that we look to them and their stories to uncover what they are doing right and well in the face of serious adversity.
Bio
Francis Tombu is a perpetual student, shameless mother and relentless nerd. She is currently working on an MA in counselling psychology. Her thesis investigates experiences of post-traumatic growth in woman-identifying survivors of child sex abuse 鈥� particularly in the context of secure intimate relationships. She has won a CGS-M to fund this research and is presenting her findings at the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA) conference in October 2023, where she will also co-present the results of a cross-cultural counselling study designed by Dr. Krista Socholotiuk. She plans to work in family, relationship and trauma counselling upon graduation, and is still considering whether it would be full madness to take on a PhD while raising an adolescent.
International Women鈥檚 Day, for me, is a celebration of girlhood and womanhood as a pride.
Anu Upadhaya
Anu Upadhaya,
PhD Student, Languages, Cultures, and Literacies
What does International Women鈥檚 Day mean to you?
In many South Asian societies, including the patriarchal society of Nepal, giving birth to a female child is perceived as a curse; so, International Women鈥檚 Day, for me, is a celebration of girlhood and womanhood as a pride. It means not only highlighting and celebrating the changes and development in the history and politics of the West, but also being sensitive and critical towards the issues of girls/women that are still persistent in the patriarchal societies/families in the global South, even after migrating to the West. Their identities, interests, abilities, and thoughts are still suppressed and their identities confined to harmful stereotypes of girls/ women, which need to be decolonized.
What are the key issues in relation to gender equity in your field of research?
In my field of English language education and gender, much of the research has focused on the pedagogical aspects. Although there is increasing attention on sociocultural and sociopolitical issues, there is very little attention paid to issues of gender and patriarchy in language education. And even when past studies have discussed issues facing girls/women in education, researchers have employed a single or linear identity perspective of girls/women. There is little research focused on acknowledging the multiple identities and issues facing girls/women, and there is even less research focusing on South Asian female immigrants鈥� language and gender issues in industrialized countries that welcome a large number of immigrants and refugees.
How does your research illuminate these issues and ways forward to address them?
For my PhD research, I plan to conduct a narrative study with Nepali immigrant women in BC. I intend to look at the intersectionality of language, identity, race, and ethnicity of members of the Nepali diasporic community in BC, Canada. It will examine the role of patriarchy and the English language in these immigrant women鈥檚 transitions into BC communities, how they take part in the community, and how they transform their lives in Canadian society.
Bio
Anu Upadhaya was born, raised, and educated in Nepal. She is a PhD student in the Languages, Cultures, and Literacies program in the Faculty of Education whose research aims to bring transformation in girls'/women's lives. Her primary research looks at the intersectionality of language, gender, education, and immigration. She believes all women/girls have different life experiences and challenges which should not and cannot be analyzed through a single lens. She also believes that attention should be placed on understanding intersectional identities and how they become a barrier to social, educational, and economic opportunities, restricting empowerment of women/girls. Thus, she seeks to illuminate a diversity of narratives of Nepalese women and girls to address equity among women/girls and inequality between males and females. Her research mainly highlights patriarchal issues in different sectors of women鈥�/girls鈥� lives and how such issues deprive women and girls of various opportunities including education and employment.
International Women鈥檚 day is a time to honour and celebrate the amazing social justice work of women and others with marginalized gender identities.
Alex Vanderveen
Alex Vanderveen
Master's Student, Counselling Psychology
What does International Women's Day mean to you?
For me, International Women鈥檚 day is a time to honour and celebrate the amazing social justice work of women and others with marginalized gender identities. When I celebrate this day, I think not only of those who identify as cis-gender women, but also those who identify as Two Spirit, trans and gender diverse (e.g., non-binary, gender queer). I think especially of those who experience other types of discrimination in addition to that based on gender, including racism, homophobia, classism, ableism, ageism.
What are key issues in relation to gender equity in your field of research?
My area of research explores strengths and challenges for those with gender and sexually diverse identities (e.g., 2SLGBTQIA+). Many of the challenges 2SLGBTQIA+ people face stem from systemic discrimination. 2SLGBTQIA+ persons with multiple marginalized identities may experience discrimination not only related to sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, but also race, ethnicity, disability, socioeconomic status, and age, etc. 2SLGBTQIA+ people access mental health services more frequently than their heterosexual or cisgender peers. Given the insidious nature of systemic discrimination, it can manifest within the counselling relationship as well, especially when counsellors lack the knowledge, skills and experience in providing 2SLGBTQIA+-affirmative care.
How does your masters/doctoral research illuminate these issues and ways forward to address them?
My research centres the counselling experiences of Canadians with gender and sexually diverse identities. Specifically, I am interested in helping give voice to 2SLGBTQIA+ clients鈥� experiences of affirming and non-affirming counselling. In so doing, my goal is to contribute a Canadian perspective to the growing body of research informing competent counselling practice through clients鈥� perspectives. I am especially interested in the role of guidelines in helping counsellors develop competency with this population. I view guidelines as living documents that can help provide a framework for counselling practice and social justice efforts in preventing and eliminating discrimination.
Bio
Alex Vanderveen (they/them) is a student in the Master of arts in Counselling Psychology program with SFU鈥檚 Faculty of Education. Their research focuses on gender and sexually diverse (e.g. 2SLGBTQIA+) clients鈥� experiences of affirming and non-affirming counselling. Alex is particularly interested in contributing to Canadian-driven research on affirming therapeutic approaches in the hopes that this may help guide counsellors and their associations in developing practice guidelines for this population.
鈥淧eople who identify as gender and/or sexually diverse face many mental health challenges as a result of having one or more marginalized social identities. An affirming approach asks counsellors to not only have knowledge of the challenges faced by 2SLGBTQIA+ persons, but the individual and community-based strengths and resilience related to these identities as well.
Affirmative counselling with 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals is an ethical imperative but there is currently a lack of relevant Canadian training resources and guidelines to help guide practice. One outcome of my study will be a report on 2SLGBTQIA+ counselling clients鈥� perspectives of what was affirming or not in counselling, in their own words. My hope is that these perspectives will help provide client-informed parameters for affirmative practice in Canada.鈥�