Economic and Social Reports, August 2024

Released: 2024-08-28

There are four new articles available in today's release of Economic and Social Reports.

In 2022, more employed Canadians with disabilities had their workplace accommodation needs met compared with 2017

Workplaces adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic by switching to working from home and introducing new digital technologies. The article "Changes in workplace accommodations among employed Canadians with disabilities, 2017 to 2022," examined the impact these changes had on the work arrangements of Canadians with disabilities. The study found that, in 2022, among people who needed accommodations at work, about 35% had those needs go unmet, compared with 40% in 2017. For example, in 2022, about 8 in 10 employed persons with disabilities who needed to work from home were able to do so, compared with 7 in 10 in 2017.

Among employed persons with disabilities who needed workplace accommodations, the percentage of women with unmet needs decreased from 42% in 2017 to 35% in 2022. This compares with about 36% of men who had unmet needs in 2022, which was similar to the proportion in 2017.

Working from home is an important accommodation, but it may not be sufficient to achieve and sustain employment equity among persons with disabilities, as many of them work in jobs where their physical presence is required at the workplace.

Women-owned businesses are less likely than men-owned businesses to adopt emerging technologies

Women-owned businesses (12.3%) were less likely to adopt emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence compared with men-owned businesses (16.5%) in 2017 and 2019. Using innovative data linkage, the study "Technology adoption by women-owned businesses in Canada" found that roughly 31% of this gap in emerging technology use can be attributed to different characteristics between women- and men-owned businesses. Factors such as the share of women employees, the average age of employees, business age and profitability play a significant role. Interestingly, there was no significant difference found in the use of advanced technologies such as material handling, supply chain or logistics technologies, and design or information control technologies.

Embracing technology is essential for boosting the growth, productivity and competitiveness of businesses. Slower adoption of technology was associated with low global productivity growth in the 2000s, making it crucial to understand differences in the use of technology across various types of businesses.

Most master's degree graduates worked in jobs closely related to their field in 2021

While the earnings of postsecondary graduates are well documented, little is known about the specific jobs these graduates typically have. The article "Most prevalent jobs of young master's degree graduates by detailed field of study" found that, in 2021, 25- to 34-year-old master's degree graduates in certain fields were highly concentrated in one specific occupation. Topping the list among women with a master's degree were speech-language pathology/pathologist graduates (96.3% worked as audiologists and speech-language pathologists), audiology/audiologist graduates (95.2% worked as audiologists and speech-language pathologists) and physical therapy/therapist graduates (94.0% worked as physiotherapists). Among men with a master's degree, the academic programs most strongly associated with a specific job included physical therapy/therapist (95.8% worked as physiotherapists), structural engineering (87.3% worked as civil engineers) and occupational therapy/therapist (83.9% worked as occupational therapists).

For the most part, however, graduates from most master's degree programs were dispersed across a wide variety of jobs. In many instances, the jobs were related to the program to some degree. For example, the most prevalent jobs held by men with a master's degree in business administration and management, general, included professional occupations in business management consulting (9.0%), financial and investment analysts (4.5%), corporate sales managers (3.6%) and information systems specialists (3.6%). Similarly, women with a master's degree in business administration and management, general, also worked in a variety of related occupations: professional occupations in business management consulting (9.3%), professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations (5.6%), financial auditors and accountants (4.6%) and banking, credit and other investment managers (4.2%).

These findings inform students, parents, guidance counsellors and policy analysts on the type of work that graduates are likely to be doing in their career, given their field of study choice. They also highlight the importance for most graduates to develop a wide range of skills that could potentially be used throughout their careers.

Differences in levels of confidence in public institutions

In Canada, levels of confidence in public institutions such as policing can vary across generations and racialized groups. The article "Differences in confidence in public institutions across generations of Canadians" provides insights on generational differences in confidence in the police, the justice system and courts, the federal Parliament and the Canadian media. Read more about this article in the Daily release "Confidence in public institutions differs across generations."

Products

The August 2024 issue of Economic and Social Reports, Vol. 4, no. 08 (36280001), is now available. This issue contains the articles "Most prevalent jobs of young master's degree graduates by detailed field of study," "Differences in confidence in public institutions across generations of Canadians," "Technology adoption by women-owned businesses in Canada," and "Changes in workplace accommodations among employed Canadians with disabilities, 2017 to 2022."

Contact information

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