Status of Women Canada
Women's History Month, Discovering Women in Science and Technology
bullet OCTOBER 1997 bullet
History
Women’s History Month (WHM) was created in 1992 to encourage greater awareness among Canadians of the historical contributions of women to our society, and to recognize the achievements of women as a vital part of our Canadian heritage. The goal of WHM is to write women back into Canadian history and to develop a better understanding of the diverse roles women play in contemporary society. The focus for WHM 1997 is "Discovering Women in Science and Technology".

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Discovering Canadian women in science and technology means expanding our understanding of women’s role in society as well as our understanding of science and technology itself.

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Women have long contributed to our society through their participation in science and technology, from scientists, mathematicians, physicians, computer programmers, astronauts, technicians, inventors to teachers, nurses, midwives, farmers, research assistants, designers, and factory workers.

Throughout history, and in every region of the country, women have been regular contributors to and users of science and technology in their traditional roles as mothers and caregivers in order to nourish and heal their families and communities. For example, in the seventeenth-century it is believed that Native women, familiar with local plants and animals, were responsible for providing a wealth of medicinal information to European scientists. Women in rural Ontario laid the cornerstone of the dairy industry in Canada through their development of cheesemaking technology in the latter part of the nineteenth-century. And, when Adelaide Hoodless’ youngest child died as a result of drinking contaminated milk, she dedicated herself to eradicating what was then a common cause of infant mortality in nineteenth-century rural Ontario by teaching girls and women the science of child care and home management.

As the following selection illustrates, women’s past and present achievements in science and technology are impressive:

    bullet Harriet Brooks, born 1876 in Ontario, Canada’s first woman nuclear physicist, made a number of discoveries about radiation and for a short time conducted research in Paris for Dr. Marie Curie;

    bullet Maude Abbott, physician and scientist, born 1869 in Quebec, became a world authority on congenital heart ailments;

    bullet Irma LeVasseur, in 1903 won authorization to be admitted to the Quebec College of Physicians and Surgeons through a private member’s bill in the legislature making her the first French-Canadian woman licensed to practice medicine in Quebec;

    bullet Elsie Gregory MacGill of B.C. in 1927 became the first woman to graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree specializing in electrical engineering. During World War II she oversaw Canadian production of the Hawker Hurricane, the plane made famous in the Battle of Britain;

    bullet Ursula Franklin, scientist and peace advocate, pioneered the development of archaeometry, which applies the modern technique of materials analysis to archaeology. She is the recipient of many awards including the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Person’s Case in 1991;

    bullet Rachel Zimmerman of London, Ontario in 1990 at age 13, developed a printer for Blissymbolics, an international pictograph language which permits persons who are deaf, persons with cerebral palsy, stroke survivors and others to communicate by computer;

    bullet Dorothy Jones, from Calgary, in 1994-95 became the first Black woman to be National president for the Canadian Operational Research Society. Operational Research is a management system which applies scientific methods to problem solving and decision making;

    bullet In 1997, Nadine Caron became the first aboriginal woman to graduate from medical school at the University of British Columbia, and the top student in her graduating class.

    bullet In 1997, Julie Payette from Quebec, the only female astronaut on the Canadian Team, continues to research human-computer interfaces, natural language processing and automatic speech recognition (studying how computers can understand voice commands).

In the last decade, women have made many advancements in the area of science and technology, particularly in the area of medicine. In 1994, Statistics Canada figures showed that women made up 32% of all doctors and dentists, up from 18% in 1982.

Women do however remain in the minority of students and professionals engaged in the field of natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics. In 1994, just 19% of professionals in these positions were women, a slight increase from 15% in 1982. Careers in science and technology are even less accessible to women facing multiple barriers including women with disabilities, immigrant women and women of colour, and First Nations women.

The low participation rates do not reflect a lack of ability or interest; rather, women face obstacles in education, discrimination in career advancement, social pressures that make it difficult to juggle the role of worker with the role of mother and caregiver, and stereotyping which discourages women from entering these ‘non-traditional’ careers.

Governments, corporations, educators, women’s and other equality-seeking organizations are gathering information that will enable the development of strategies to overcome these barriers. Many programs to encourage women and girls into science and technology-related careers have been initiated in recent years.

The National Research Council’s Women in Engineering and Science (WES) program, set up in 1991, encourages more women to pursue careers in mathematics, science and engineering; while Status of Women Canada continues to promote and fund women’s groups and other voluntary organizations working on women’s equality issues in the fields of science, technology, mathematics, and engineering.

Current trends are encouraging - recent studies show that teenage girls in Canadian high schools are now matching their male peers in science knowledge and achievement. And this trend continues into university where a growing number of young women are pursuing studies in science and technology. Statistics Canada data show an eight per cent increase - up to 34 per cent - in the enrolment of women in natural sciences and engineering at the undergraduate level between 1982 and 1992.

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For women to achieve economic, social and political equality in the 21st century it is essential that they have access to education, training and employment in science and technology. History shows that women have long been successful and innovative contributors to our society through science and technology. It is important that we continue to discover, recognize and celebrate women’s perspectives and creative achievements as integral parts of our national identity.

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Sources:
Ainley, Marianne Gosztonyi (ed). Despite the Odds: Essays on Canadian Women and Science. Montreal: Véhicule Press, 1990.
Armour, Moira and Pat Staton. Canadian Women in History: A Chronology. Toronto: Green Dragon Press, 1992.
Menzies, Heather. Technology in the Craft of Ontario Cheesemaking: Women in Oxford Country Circa 1860. Ontario History, Volume LXXXVII, Number 31, (September 1995): 293-304.
Merritt, Susan E. Her Story: Women From Canada’s Past. St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing Limited, 1993.
Merritt, Susan E. Her Story II: Women From Canada’s Past. St. Catharines: Vanwell Publishing Limited, 1995.
O’Rourke, Jennifer and Linda Schachter. The Janus Project: Promises and Prospects of the New Learning Technologies for Adult Learning Opportunities for Women. Final Draft of discussion paper prepared for The Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunties for Women, Toronto, March 1997.
Prentice, Alison, et. al. Canadian Women: A History. Toronto: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich. 1988.
Sadlier, Rosemary. Leading the Way: Black Women in Canada. Toronto: Umbrella Press, 1994.
Statistics Canada. Women in Canada: A Statistical Report. Third Edition, 1995.

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Suggested Films from the National Film Board of Canada

Asking Different Questions: Women and Science
1996, 51 min 00 sec
Title Code : 9196 053
Abstract: In Canada and around the world a new scientific revolution is taking place, propelled by a new breed of feminist scientists. Challenging the traditional practices of science, these women offer a new approach to the study of nature and our place in it. This film documents how the increasing participation of women is transforming the fabric of science and technology. It also examines the ways in which science has been applied, often to the detriment of women and the environment.
Directors: Gwynne Basen, Erna Buffie
Producers: Signe Johansson, Margaret Pettigrew, Ginny Stikeman, Merit Jensen-Carr
Careers to Discover
Se donner des «elles»
1993, 25 min 28 sec
Title Code : 9193 018
Abstract: Dropping out of math and science - it’s still an all-too-common pattern for teenage girls and the results can be disastrous. Without training in these areas, 85% of the most prestigious and lucrative careers - those in science and the applied sciences - become inaccessible. Featuring advice and inspiration from five women scientists, this video encourages girls at the secondary level to continue their studies in math and science and provides the facts they need to make an informed choice about the future.
Director: Ginette Pellerin
Producers: Josée Beaudet, Chantal Bowen, Ginny Stikeman, Jacques Vallée

Wanted: Doctor on Horseback
1996, 48 min 13 sec
Title Code : 9196 067
Abstract: When Dr. Mary Percy left civilized England in 1929 for the wilds of northern Alberta, the clock seemed to turn back a century. Battle River Prairie had no roads, no electricity, no telegraph. She became the first and only doctor in Canada’s last homesteading area. Percy had planned to stay only a year, until romance, in the form of Frank Jackson, came striding through her examining room. Sixty-five years later, Dr. Mary Percy Jackson is still there. Articulate, witty and outspoken at 90 years of age, the doctor is a gifted storyteller, recalling harrowing experiences as a practitioner of frontier medicine.
Director: Claire Helman
Producers: Sally Bochner, Don Haig, Claire Helman
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For more information, contact:
the National Film Board of Canada
Sales and information: 1-800-267-7710
To borrow or rent: check out your public library
NFB’s internet site - www.nfb.ca

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Quiz
1. What Canadian ‘first’ did Helen Battle achieve? bullet The first woman to graduate with a degree in geology.
bullet The first woman ornithologist to do extensive field work.
bullet The first woman member of the Canadian Aeronautical and Space Institute.
bullet The first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in marine zoology.
2. Acadian Marie-Henriette Lejeune Ross was admired for work in which of the two following professions? bullet Midwifery
bullet Botany
bullet Naturopathy
bullet Healer
3. In 1994, there were 876 undergraduate diplomas and certificates awarded in engineering and applied science. What percentage of these were women? bullet 9%
bullet 18%
bullet 26%
bullet 34%
4. Who was the first woman geologist in the Canadian government and the first woman elected to the Royal Society of Canada? bullet Roberta Bondar
bullet Olivia Poole
bullet Nellie McClung
bullet Alice Wilson
5. What did Canadian Ruth Addams invent in the 1850s? bullet railway car ‘carheater’
bullet dishwasher
bullet cook stove
bullet washing machine
Answers
  1. Helen Battle was the first woman to obtain a Ph.D. in marine zoology from the University of Toronto in 1928. Dr. Battle had a successful career at the University of Western Ontario and her work in the area of experimental biology was honoured by scientific communities in Canada and throughout the world. As well, Dr. Battle was committed to improving the place of women in universities and encouraged women to undertake careers in science.

  2. Marie-Henriette Lejeune Ross distinguished herself as an exceptional healer when she provided care to victims of a smallpox epidemic in the early 1800s in Cape Breton. In her role as both healer and midwife she served her community tirelessly, reportedly traveling to her patients on foot, on horseback and on snowshoes. Stories about "Granny Ross" have become part of Nova Scotia folk history.

  3. In 1994, women accounted for 232 of the 876 undergraduate diplomas and certificates in Engineering and applied science. This is an eight percent increase from 1990.

  4. In 1909, Alice Wilson joined the Canadian Geological Society of Canada and in 1938 she was elected to the Royal Society of Canada. In 1991, the Royal Society of Canada established the Alice Wilson Award in her honour, recognizing women of outstanding academic achievements.

  5. Ruth Addams invented a cook stove in the 1850s, making her the first woman to receive a patent in Canada.

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For more information, please contact: Status of Women Canada,
700-360 Albert Street,
Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 1C3
phone - 613-995-7835
fax - 613-943-2386
TDD -613-996-1322
email - vilas@swc-cfc.gc.ca

To purchase Women’s History Month posters (1992-1997), call Green Dragon Press at 1-800-305-2057

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Last updated: august 19 1997