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Among the many topics addressed within the rich scholarship on gender and work, a growing area of interest concerns differences in the entrepreneurial activity of women and men, as well as differences amongst women entrepreneurs themselves. Studies from a variety of countries note both a dramatic influx of women into the small business sector over the past two decades, as well as significant gender differences in the types of businesses and organizations women and men create, their motivations and business approach, and their economic success. However, while patterns of inter- and intra-gender difference in entrepreneurship are well documented in many countries, the reasons underlying them are less well understood. In an effort to contribute to our understanding of this issue, this paper explores the links between women's motivation and entrepreneurial success, using Canada as a case study. The analysis draws on The Survey of Self-Employment, a national survey of 3,840 Canadians that was conducted in 2000 by Statistics Canada and Human Resources Development Canada. Using three broad categories of motivation based on existing research -- classic, work-family, and forced- the paper examines how prevalent these motivations are amongst Canadian women, and how motivations are linked to the types of businesses women build and the economic rewards they receive. The findings suggest considerable diversity in the motivations and success of women entrepreneurs. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As workers struggle to combine work and family responsibilities, discrimination against workers on the basis of their status as caregivers - also known as family responsibilities discrimination - is on the rise. Although both women and men feel the pinch, caregiver discrimination is particularly damaging for women, as care is intricately tied to gendered norms and expectations. In this paper, we explore how work and caregiving clash through in-depth analysis of caregiver discrimination cases resolved by Canadian Human Rights Tribunals from 1985 to 2016. We identify the issues involved in disputes, the nature of discrimination experienced by women and men, and how gendered norms and expectations about work-life facilitation inform disputes and case outcomes. We find that although women are both more likely to bring claims of caregiver discrimination and obtain favorable outcomes, the experience of bias and legal interpretation of claims is highly gendered. Women bring claims involving both implicit bias on account of their caregiver status as well as claims over the practical challenge of seeking accommodations for care, while men's claims are largely restricted to accommodation-based disputes. In adjudicating cases, tribunals are more likely to see women - as compared to men - lacking credibility when making their claims, demonstrating the extent to which legal actors question the competence and legitimacy of female complainants. In contrast, men struggle in demonstrating the legal basis of work-family interference, often failing to convey how paid work seriously interferes with their family responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crises, such as natural disasters, provide a unique opportunity to examine how gender relations, and other structures of social inequality, such as race, class, and sexuality, are constructed. This paper focuses on the ways in which masculinities are constructed in the face of a catastrophic event, specifically a devastating wildfire that occurred in British Columbia (Canada) in 2003. A tri-level gender framework is used to examine how structural and cultural contexts are implicated in the ways in which firefighters constructed masculinity during this event. Field observations and in-depth interviews were undertaken with 39 people involved in the firefighting efforts. The findings indicate that (a) there was a relatively high degree of antagonism between groups of firefighters, (b) a hierarchy developed over the course of the event that was exacerbated by the media and related to masculinity issues, and (c) both social structure and culture figured prominently in these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the historical trends in attitudes toward homosexuality in Canada and the United States from 1981-2000, using data from the World Values Survey. At a historical moment when these two nations are moving in very different directions when it comes to lesbian and gay rights and the rights of same-sex couples, it is critical to consider whether, and to what extent, the populations of each country differ in their approval or disapproval of homosexuality. Attention is given to changing attitudes over time, particularly within age cohorts. While most change in social attitudes can be explained through the replacement of older, more conservative generational cohorts with younger, more liberal ones, I find that on the issue of homosexuality, there is a remarkable degree of attitude change within generational cohorts. Several possible explanations are discussed. I also analyze the gender gap in attitudes, both within and between the two nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most recent statistics in Canada indicate that Canadian internet use is highest from home, with 62% of households using the internet at least once a day on average from home (Statistics Canada 2002). However, this amount is increasing steadily. Given that many Canadians are utilizing the internet in the home, it is timely to consider what factors within the household contribute to daily usage patterns. The household has often been cited as contested terrain between women and men in relation to unpaid work and the division of labour. What effect does the domestic division of labour have on household Internet use? The purpose of this paper is to examine whether household roles and the domestic division of labour shape how women and men use the internet in Canadian homes by using a triangulation of methods; surveys, interviews and in-home ethnographies. The study takes place in a borough of a large Canadian city whose populace represents a wide range of ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, and household arrangements - reflective of Canadian diversity. A detailed survey dropped off to 350 randomly selected participants were asked questions about their use of technology, location of household technology and how they communicate with their family and friends. A sub-sample of 85 participants were interviewed in their home, and asked semi-structured follow-up questions regarding their use of technology in the home. Participants were also asked to demonstrate how they use the internet, and pictures were taken of where the internet access point was located. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociology as a discipline has reflected widely on the impact of class, gender and race to group outcomes. These forms of status stratify societies in different ways, impacting individual abilities to find employment, make friends, pursue educational opportunities and even attend cultural events. Yet, when it comes to recognizing these forms of status within the structure of individual social capital, very few studies have considered the class, gender and ethno-racial composition of contacts and looked at the way different factors contribute uniquely to their diversification. Rarer yet is the consideration of ethnic entrepreneurs and the accumulation of diverse social capital as an indicator of fluid and instrumental movement across symbolic boundaries between different status groups. This paper fills that gap by marrying the literature on ethnic boundaries with that of social capital and networks, using data from a case study of Indigenous entrepreneurs in Toronto, Canada. Class, gendered and ethno-racial diversity of ties are considered here as separate but equally important forms of status. Results show that indeed different forms of social capital do exist, evidenced by the variable impact of social background predictors and participation in voluntary associations. While conclusions are made about the value of varieties of social capital in research, this paper also discusses the ability of Indigenous entrepreneurs to maintain co-ethnic social capital while developing new forms of capital consecutively - speaking directly to the nature of boundary spanning, the flexibility of symbolic boundaries and the unique case of Indigenous entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Married people live longer than those who remain single. Four theories have arisen to explain this association over the life course: partnership benefits; cleaning-up for partnership; negative selection; and positive selection. We know very little about how much health selection and social causation produce the evident health benefits that we see in mortality, especially for women. However, we know even less about how public policy interacts with this transition in its ability to protect its citizens, especially those who are most vulnerable. The focus of this paper is to interrogate the relative importance of health selection and social causation in explaining the association between the entrance into partnership and health, with the ultimate aim to highlight the intersection between Gender, Public Policy, and Vulnerable Populations. Using data from the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the Canadian Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), this paper explicitly tests the relationship between entrance into partnership, accounting for health selection, and social causation in the intersection between discrimination, gender, and public policy. To do so, we use longitudinal quasi-experimental observational methods to model non-linear health curves as respondents approach, enter, and live in partnerships. Contrary to our hypotheses, partnership benefits were not the main attributable cause, instead showing that a mix between causal and selective forces was at play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In September 2002, 182.67 million Canadians and Americans were online (NUA 2002) with the typical Canadian family spending more than 32 hours a week on the Internet (Ipsos-Reid 2002). The personal computer has become the nerve centre of the new online home, with more families reconfiguring living spaces to accommodate Internet use, and utilizing home networking systems to share access (Pastore 2002). Some researchers argue Internet use in the home is an asocial activity (Nie & Hillygus 2002). However, British studies indicate that many conclusions regarding the Internet as asocial are oversimplified and do not account for societal and lifestyle changes (Anderson & Tracey 2002). To date, few empirical researchers examine the intricacies of the Internet in the home at a time where Internet use has significantly shifted from the workplace to the more ‘personal’ context of the home (Cumming & Kraut 2001). The sudden increase in media articles (specifically the New York Times) concerning the ‘wired household’ also indicates that the Internet in the home is having a significant impact on people’s daily lives. An empirical analysis of household Internet use contributes to positions about the Internet, communication, and gender relations within the family. Using a feminist and social constructionist framework, I argue that gender roles are significant to how people interpret and conceptualize the evolving family dynamics and relationships with increased Internet use in the home. However, much of the existing research does not examine how gender, traditional notions of family and the Internet intersect or work together in the household. The Canadian city of focus (to be named later) represents a populace with a wide range of ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, and household arrangements. Using a triangulation of methods, surveys, in-depth interviews and ethnographic shadowing, I employ a focused analysis of the Internet in the everyday diverse Canadian household to reveal the social structures (family) and processes (gender) that shape household Internet experiences, but also how the Internet shapes these as well. Twenty-five adult participants and their spouses/partners, were randomly selected through telephone and door-to-door visits, and given a survey as an overview of household Internet use. A follow up in-depth interview was conducted about household Internet use, the nature of their interpersonal contact with family members, and Internet usage of family members. As well, ten participants were visited in their homes for one weekday and one weekend. The interviews and observations provided a rich and detailed understanding of household Internet use that helped identify the contextual interactions between family members and the Internet inclusively. This paper will particularly focus on three areas: interpersonal communication - to what extent do household members use the Internet to communicate with each other, extending their frequency of contact and mutual social control? Family cohesion - to what extent do families use the Internet as separate or joint? Gender roles - what effect does the Internet have on the domestic division of labour in the home? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has established that teachers' work can only be understood in terms of occupational demands that extend well beyond the period of face-to-face contact with students in classrooms. This paper presents longitudinal data from 1992 and 1998 on Canadian teachers' activities and felt pressures, a time period of threatened and sometimes actual increases in teaching load. Comparisons are made to managers not in the educational sector with equivalent levels of education. Subsamples were taken for teachers and managers from Statistics Canada's General Social Surveys 7 and 12, in which time-use data were collected, for days during the school year on which respondents were found to have spent time on their main paid job. Although teachers are not found to devote more time to work than managers, more of their paid employment is done at home and in the evening. Work necessarily transferred into the evening conflicts with domestic responsibilities, in which both male and female teachers exceed managers. Time-pressure therefore increases more for teachers than for managers from 1992 to 1998, as teachers are given less time for marking and preparation during the school day; such increases are significantly greater for teachers in provinces legislating increases in teaching load during the period of 1992-1998. Longitudinal tempogram graphics show the extent that both male and female teachers have extended an already onorous pattern of professional work in the evening over these years (which interacts with domestic responsibilities), unlike even the female managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though women's participation in sport has been addressed in the area of sociology; this newfound phenomenon has been depicted in terms of abnormality and apology. Literature focused on the female athlete as one that has invaded the male domain of sport. She has been sexualized in the media and forced to apologize for her athletic prowess. This treatment is particularly evident in contact sport. A preliminary study was conducted to investigate the female athlete's voice in contact sport that is to understand the reality that the female athlete has created in relation to her participation in contact sport. The contact sport examined at this time was rugby. Five female rugby players were interviewed from approximately 30-90 minutes in a Southwest City in Ontario, Canada. The interviews indicated that women in contact sport perceive other female athlete's as role models and that their participation in contact sport has been overall beneficial to their self-concept. Surprisingly, the female athletes had distinctive definitions for sport and game/play and they perceived their first tackles as motivation to continue their participation in rugby. These women are challenging societal norms by creating realities that allow them to participate in contact sport, a male domain. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistics Canada's annual census of full-time faculty at all Canadian universities, between 1984 to 1999, is used to measure the effect of gender, discipline and institution on promotion from assistant to associate professor and from associate to full profession. Accelerated failure time models show that gender has some effect on rates of promotion, but that disciplinary and institutional variation is much greater. Generally departments in science, engineering, and professional schools promote their faculty more rapidly, while disciplines strongly oriented to training practitioners are slowest. There is considerable variation among institutions, but this is not strongly linked to institutional characteristics such as size and prestige. There is much wider variation in promotion from associate to full professor. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely found that new immigrants lose status. Our comparison of 50 professional couples that immigrated from China to Canada compares human capital and institutional theories. We find human capital concepts account for most career advancement in China, but fail to explain the structural barriers to achievement affecting those in controlled professions, especially women, in Canada. In Canada, employers do not recognize our respondents? credentials, forcing them to requalify to attain professional level jobs. Structural concepts handle career deterioration, and in particular women?s loss of social recognition of career paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the Canadian General Social Survey -- Cycle 14, I assess the utility of DiMaggio and Hargittai's digital inequality framework in explaining gender differences in Internet access and use in Canada. This framework is valuable in assessing the degrees of Internet access and use as well as the differential impacts of Internet use. Bivariate analysis reveals gender differences in all five dimensions of digital inequality -- technical means, social support, skills, autonomy of use, and Internet uses, specifically civic engagement. However, personal income and education mediate many of these relationships. While this multivariate analysis diminishes the strength of the relationship between gender and social support, autonomy of use and civic engagement, gender gaps in technical means and skills persist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars agree that precarious employment is growing across and within all occupations and industries, but little is known on the educational attainment of precarious workers. Some studies suggest that recent graduates, women, and the less educated are more likely to be employed in precarious work. Other research contends that involuntary precarious employment is rising among all groups and educational levels. Using the May 2018 Labour Force Survey, this study explores whether higher education protects men and women from precarious employment, and if higher education has a protective effect on men's and women's wages within precarious employment. Findings suggest that women, regardless of their educational attainment, are more likely to be precariously employed. Further, the study shows that higher education does not improve wage earnings for men and women within precarious work. For men, higher levels of education resulted in a wage penalty, whereas women earned a wage premium at lower levels of educational attainment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social participation of immigrants continues to be the subject of debates. Most studies indicate a lower level of involvement, particularly for recent immigrants. This article investigates the possible causes of this lower participation by analyzing data from the 1998 GSS, which provides precise measures of various types of volunteering and social participation. Three results stand out. First, formal volunteering and broader social participation do not display the same level of variability across groups. Second, the positive family effect usually observed does not apply to immigrants: the presence of children does not significantly increase their social engagement. Third, there is a strong gender component: whereas Canadian women are more likely to participate, immigrant women are not. Other factors (age, income, education) on the other hand do seem to apply to both groups. We suggest that these results contribute to a new explanation of immigrant social participation: Rather than being marked by a general immigration differential, immigrants seem to be excluded from very specific, gender-influenced modes of participation, specifically, those related to the family, children, and schooling. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]