How Far Have We Come? Representation of women among full-time university faculty

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Release date: March 5, 2020
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Infographic: How Far Have We Come? Representation of women among full-time university faculty
Description: How Far Have We Come? Representation of women among full-time university faculty

How Far Have We Come? Representation of women among full-time university faculty

Over the last 50 years, the share of women among full-time university faculty at Canadian universities has increased considerably.

This line graph depicts the increased proportion of women compared to men among full-time university faculty at Canadian universities from 1970 to 2018. The data line is shown in 10 year increments and includes 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2018 with percentage points shown for 1970 and 2018 only. 

This table displays the results of the line graph depicting percentage points by Gender for 1970 and 2018.


Over the last 50 years, the share of women among full-time university faculty at Canadian universities has increased considerably
Table summary
This table displays the results of Over the last 50 years. The information is grouped by Gender (appearing as row headers), 1970 and 2018 (appearing as column headers).
Gender 1970 2018
Men 87.2% 59.4%
Women 12.8% 40.6%

By 2018, women’s representation in all ranks had increased.

This table displays the results of the bar graph of the proportion of women in percentage points by Rank for 1970 and 2018.


Proportion of women
Table summary
This table displays the results of Proportion of women. The information is grouped by Rank (appearing as row headers), 1970 and 2018 (appearing as column headers).
Rank 1970 2018
Full professor 3.4% 28.8%
Associate professor 8.1% 43.6%
Assistant professor 13.8% 49.6%
Rank below assistant professor 29.7% 54.9%

In 1970, only 4.1% of deans were women. By 2018, this share had grown to 37.5%.

The share of women among full-time university faculty varies by subject area. 

This table displays the percentage of women among university faculty by subject area grouping for 1970 and 2018.


The share of women among full-time university faculty varies by subject area
Table summary
This table displays the results of The share of women among full-time university faculty varies by subject area. The information is grouped by Subject Area (appearing as row headers), 1970 and 2018 (appearing as column headers).
Subject Area 1970 2018
Social and behavioural sciences and law 11.5% 46.6%
Agriculture, natural resources and conservation 2.4% 31.0%
Physical and life sciences 5.5% 27.8%
Architecture, engineering and related technologies 0.6% 17.4%

Note: The data includes only full-time academic teaching staff at Canadian universities.
Source: Full-time University and College Academic Staff System (FT-UCASS).

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Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2020

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