McMaster University is currently taking its second employment equity census to evaluate the diversity of McMaster’s staff and faculty.
The voluntary census is open to all McMaster employees and identifies the representation of five target groups: women, visible minorities, persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples and LGBTQA2S+ employees.
The census comes three years after the first census, which was taken in 2016 and produced the first employment equity report and led to the development of McMaster’s employment equity framework.
According to the report from the 2016 census, 43.07 per cent of all McMaster staff and faculty participated. Of that 43 per cent, only 2.12 per cent across the institution self-identified as part of the LGBTQA2S+ community.
In a number of high participation-rates groups, less than two per cent per cent identified as Aboriginal, 10.18 per cent indicated they were members of visible minority groups and less than four per cent indicated that they had a disability.
61.93 per cent identified as women.
According to the report, the representation of women was above representation in the overall Canadian labour force statistics, while internal representation of Indigenous individuals and individuals with disabilities fell below them.
The visible minority representation was far below external representation.
One recommendation from the first census was that McMaster form an employment equity implementation team to promote the employment equity framework.
Since 2017, May-Marie Duwai-Sowa, the university’s employment equity specialist, has been working closely with Arig al Shaibah, the associate vice president (Equity and Inclusion), to improve McMaster’s employment equity.
According to Duwai-Sowa, over a thousand faculty members, chairs and directors have undergone training for equitable hiring and recruitment practices. The EEIT will also run Indigenous cultural competency training for many McMaster employees on March 8.
One pilot project that has been implemented by the EEIT is a self-ID survey for interviews within certain faculties, where applicants were asked to identify their background.
“If you have candidates from diverse backgrounds that meet the requirements, there should be no reason why they should not make your long or short list,” Duwai-Sowa said. “The focus is still obviously hiring excellent candidates that meet the bar of excellence and meet the requirements that are in the posting.”
Duwai-Sowa also pointed to McMaster’s efforts to reach applicants from different backgrounds. For example, McMaster is ensuring its jobs are posted on Indigenous Link, a website to help Indigenous communities find employment.
“It is really about making sure our workforce is diverse now so we are meeting the needs of our students because our student population is also diverse,” Duwai-Sowa said.
One key recommendation from the 2016 report yet to be implemented is a systems-wide review of current hiring and retention practices and policies. This is expected to begin soon and be released by the end of 2019.
Noticeably absent from both the 2016 report and the upcoming 2019 employment census is race-specific data.
Many major Canadian universities still do not collect data on the race of their faculty and students.
“We are currently working on incorporating disaggregate breakdowns of radicalized groups and Indigenous peoples for both the employee census, applicant self- ID survey and student self ID survey, which is planned to be initiated this fall,” said Duwai-Sowa.
The equity and inclusion team is hoping to release the results of this year’s employment census in the upcoming fall.
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By: Maryanne Oketch
One of the reasons I chose to enrol at McMaster University was for the diversity that the school claimed to offer. Coming from a predominantly white secondary school, I was excited to attend a new school. I was hopeful that I would make connections within my program and maybe gain a support system consisting of people that could relate to the experience of being Black in academia.
When I entered the integrated science program in 2016, I was disheartened to realize that in my year of entry, I was the only student in my program that was Black, alongside two other individuals with mixed backgrounds. Within the week, this dropped to two, as one person switched out. Within the month, it then became clear that the two of us were not just the only Black students in our year, but in the whole four-year program.
This lack of Black peers created a feeling that I had to be the best of the best, and when I couldn’t reach that goal, I would withdraw rather than reaching out. This caused damage to my grades, reputation and relationships with my peers.
It is a well-known fact that there is a disparity between the Black population and our representation in higher education. This gap can be seen more in supplementary-based programs that McMaster offers, and my experience unfortunately is not an isolated one.
Multiple students from different programs stated that the lack of Black students in their programs made them feel like there were few people who could relate to the struggles that come with being Black.
There was also another complexity that I did not consider — the fact that there are more Black women in academia than Black men. One health sciences student, upon realizing that they were the only Black man in their whole year, experienced feelings of isolation.
In addition, a justice, political philosophy and law student was the only Black man in their program, and though he is friends with Black women, he notes that it is not fully the same.
Regrettably, the issues that stem from the lack of diversity do not just have interpersonal effects, but also affect the learning experience. A student in the arts and science program said that there were times when a professor or student would ask a question that pertained to race, and the question would seem pointed at them, the only Black student in their year.
This student can also recall a moment when a professor made a comment about how some students may be used to hearing racist jokes, and then locked eyes with them, creating an uncomfortable situation.
Another former arts and science student had a class where a classmate attempted to defend slavery, and a professor who taught a class about oppression but refused to use the term “racism”. The student states that they never felt challenged by the program, and felt that they had to do the challenging rather than their instructors. This was due, they say, to the structure and instruction of the program being catered to their affluent white peers and not to them.
The catering of programs does not seem limited to just arts and science but can also be seen in McMaster Engineering Society programs. A student within the program switched out after one semester due to the lack of actual inquiry in the program, but a focus on the marks received.
When a peer in their program stated that "the disadvantaged [in Hamilton] aren't doing enough for the more privileged to help them," the professor did not immediately shut down this false and insensitive statement, but instead was complacent. In addition, the structure of the program encouraged students to repeat the same statistics because that is what is needed for a good grade, and not because the students wished to learn more about societal issues.
If multiple Black students in different years and different programs are saying the same thing, there needs to be some sort of change to support these students when they are in the program. I am not suggesting these programs change their selection process, because this lack of diversity is a systemic issue, and I do not have the knowledge to provide suitable solutions to help mitigate the effects.
Regardless, if McMaster strives for diversity and does not have the necessary structure to support the diverse students that they already have, then their efforts are just a baseless claim to obtain more money from a diverse group of students.
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By: Rya Buckley
Mia Sandhu’s paper cut outs depict images of women partially or entirely nude, amidst backgrounds of leaves or behind curtains. She began working on these figures four years ago as a way of working through her own ideas about women’s sexuality.
Sandhu is a multidisciplinary artist currently based in Toronto. Her work has been exhibited in Toronto, Kingston, Halifax and Hamilton. She is a member of The Assembly gallery here in Hamilton, has done an artist residency at the Cotton Factory and also exhibited her work at Hamilton Artists Inc.
Last November, Sandhu exhibited her collection Soft Kaur at The Assembly, which featured playful figures who are comfortable with their sexuality. The name of the exhibition, which alludes to both to the softness and fierceness of women, incorporates the half Punjabi artist’s cultural background into her work.
“It's the idea [of] a female warrior spirit and the idea of equality that exists… Singh and Kaur are these given names and it was designed to eliminate status and… [create] men and women as equal. And I liked the play on this idea of soft female spirit slash warrior spirit [and] also the sexual undertone,” Sandhu explained.
There are other motifs in Sandhu’s work that suggest a dialogue between Sandhu’s culture and her evolving ideas on sexuality. A lover of Indian fabrics, silks and tapestries, Sandhu includes these aesthetic features in her work through the exotic plants in the environment her figures reside in. With the evolution of her work, she now references more domesticated plants that humans have formed a relationship with.
The silhouettes that are seen in Soft Kaur are also the result of Sandhu’s art’s progression. Her earlier work featured brown-bodied figures because Sandhu felt it more appropriate to use brown bodies in a work related to her upbringing and culture. Over time Sandhu employed more silhouettes in order to represent any woman, regardless of race.
The silhouettes do not broadcast as a uniform but as a canvas onto which women can project their own sexuality and ideas about sexuality. Sandhu is a believer in the fact that no one should decide for a woman how she should be represented sexually in society.
“I want women to be safe and I want them to feel safe and feel free and strong and empowered… [W]e're autonomous [and] each of us should choose for ourselves how we want to be represented sexually or in any other way because we're individuals. Hopefully we're not represented with any sort of attachment to shame. We should just be proud of who we are,” Sandhu said.
Facilitating space for women to speak about their ideas on sexuality was one of Sandhu’s aims behind this body of work. She finds it interesting to observe how her audiences connect with and interpret her art. By enabling dialogue, she finds that women can begin to realize the experiences that they share.
Exhibiting at The Assembly also gave Sandhu a location to speak with others about her work and to receive feedback. One thing that she appreciates about the Hamilton art scene is the sincerity of the participants who she feels are open to talking about important issues and are creating art that is driven by content.
While there is no linear narrative to Sandhu’s work, the content is obviously evolving as Sandhu’s own views develop. One of the motifs whose symbolism has changed over the years is the cloak that Sandhu’s figures have covering and revealing their bodies.
“[The cloak] represents shame, it represents personal space and it represents a number of other things as well… But it's like they're choosing how much of themselves that they're revealing and then as the work evolves, it's like the… cloak… stops being on them directly and starts being like in their space around them and they're allowing you in, or not letting you in,” explained Sandhu.
Through her work, Sandhu is also choosing to what extent she decides to let her audiences in. She is working on a new set of drawings and will continue to explore women’s sexuality and empowerment in the future. Her artwork is her diary, the paper cut outs and pencils replacing the thousands of elusive words that would be required to speak on the complicated ideas that she depicts.
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By: Rosemarie O’Shea
For many users, the birth control pill’s side effects pose problems beyond spotting and migraines. The pill’s effects on the mental health of women are now being more widely discussed than ever. More women are opening up about their birth control experiences and how it has taken a toll on their mental wellbeing.
A quick YouTube search results in various videos titled along the lines of “Why I quit the pill”, where one video is even titled and thoroughly capitalized “THE PILL IS MAKING ME CRAZY. I QUIT”. Despite all this discussion in the social sphere, the medical research in comparison appears to be lacking.
Upon being made available to Canadians since 1960, the pill quickly became the country’s most popular form of reversible contraception. Now, more than 100 million women worldwide use the oral contraceptive pill to prevent pregnancy or control their menstruation.
Birth control pills contain varying levels of the hormones estrogen and progestin, the synthetic version of progesterone, a natural sex hormone. They prevent the release of the egg to stop ovulation from occurring, whilst also thickening the cervical mucus so that sperm cells are unable to enter the fallopian tubes. Both tactics minimize the chances of the egg meets sperm fertilization fairy tale. Provided it is taken correctly, the pill’s efficiency rate is stated to be 99 per cent effective.
Of course, almost every medication comes with its own set of side effects. The most commonly reported repercussions of the pill include intermenstrual spotting, nausea, breast tenderness and migraines. Slotted amongst these physical reactions, the ever-ominous sounding ‘mood changes’ is also listed.
These ‘mood changes’ are reflected in the most common reason for women to stop taking or change the pill they are using – its ramifications on their mental health.
In the 1970s, women protested for more information to be made available about the side effects of the pill as there were increasing reports of women suffering from heart conditions in connection to it. Eventually, the Food and Drug Administration required manufacturers to include inserts, within its packaging, listing the pill’s side effects and risks.
The FDA also required that the pill’s formula contain a significantly less amount of estrogen which has resulted in a lower risk of cardiovascular events and emergence of cancers. However, the connection between usage and increased risk of experiencing mental health issues weren’t legitimately addressed.
Recent studies have determined a link between the changes in hormone levels and the extent of anxiety and depression prevalent such as in premenstrual syndrome. Furthermore, the progesterone hormone has been shown to induce depression while its synthetic version, progestin, has been discovered to result in the decreased production of serotonin which is the hormone responsible for feelings of wellbeing.
Finding an ethical method of proving the cause and effect relationship between the pill and deteriorating mental health has stunted research in the field as the distribution of placebo pills to study subjects would result in unwanted pregnancies. Though, a study involving celibate subjects would face no ethical deliberation.
The issue remains that the advancement of medical technology concerning all categories that the pill’s side effect falls into: mental health, contraceptive technology and women’s health. Funding for such research is simply inefficient in times where it is most needed and expected by many.
Moreover, there is a consistency in the medical community’s reluctance to connect the pill with mental health issues, despite the large quantity of claims that have supported the correlation. Such reluctance possibly stems from the pill’s profit and value as a commodity.
It also seems to be the most accessible form of contraception to many and, so, slandering its brand so to speak may appear as a brash move.
With so many women experiencing heightened mental health issues in connection to their usage of the pill, this is an issue that needs addressing within the medical community. While the government are pushing more funding into mental health awareness, this problem continues to grow without being adequately addressed by research.
It’s time to shift the focus from dealing with the issues at hand after they conspire to looking at preventative measures that will protect users. The pill and its implications need to be more well researched and users must be informed. It’s time for the medical community to listen to women’s experiences, as neglecting their health and wellbeing is not an option.
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Things have been going very well for the McMaster women’s basketball team and they have no plans to slow down. Currently in first place in the Ontario University Athletics West with a 12-2 record, and the worst arguably behind them, another trip to the University Sports national finals looks on the horizon. But this time, senior guard Hilary Hanaka and the Marauders aim to leave with a medal.
“Once you get that taste on court playing against the best teams in Canada, it only makes you hungrier for more,” said Hanaka. “You know that you're there and you can compete, but I think just being on that playing field for the first time there was a lot of nerves going into it. I think we didn't play quite to our full potential.”
Although the Marauders faced teams like the McGill University Martlets, who they have seen before in exhibition play, the games against teams like the University of Calgary Dinos, who play a much grittier style than Hanaka and the Marauders were used to, caught them off guard. But Hanaka believes that having been there before, in addition to having such a tough OUA season this year and playing against highly skilled Ontario teams, will help the Mac women get to that top level to compete at Nationals.
“Knowing that we got there is a huge step in our team success,” Hanaka said. “Of course, our ultimate goal was getting to Nationals and getting a medal would have been a bonus, but I think for a young team with lots of changes, that was a huge stepping stone for us. So right now we are just making sure we have an opportunity to get back there to prove that we deserve to be there and that we can do better than we did last year.”
So far ensuring that OUA playoff spot has been going well for the Marauders. Even with the loss of key veterans like Lexie Spadafora, Jelena Mamic and Adrienne Peters, Mac does not appear to have missed a beat. One of the reasons is the addition of Christina Buttenham, a Hamilton native and transfer from the University of Iowa, where she played from 2014 to 2017.
“It's always tough to lose senior players. With their experience on and off the court, it’s obviously a huge loss for us,” said Hanaka. “But I think gaining players like Christina, who's been in high-level basketball for years, is something that is huge. She stepped right in and already fills a leadership role on the team.”
Not only does Buttenham have National Collegiate Athletic Association experience, but she also played for the Canadian Junior National team in 2014, and was named an Academic All-Big Ten selection as a junior and as a sophomore while at Iowa.
Buttenham has already been such a great addition for the team helping defensively, averaging 5.4 rebounds a game and having the fourth highest points per game average on the team, with 9.9. The help has been able to give Hanaka the opportunity to have big games like she did this past weekend against the University of Guelph Gryphons.
With a game-high of 28 points, shooting an astounding 62.5 per cent from the field and 72.7 per cent from the three-point line, Hanaka led the team to defeat the Gryphons 109-80 on the road.
🏀 FINAL: Hilary Hanaka drops 28 on the road, as @MacWbball blows past the Gryphons 109-80 to improve to 11-2 on the season.@mcmasteru returns home to Burridge Gym tomorrow! #GoMacGo pic.twitter.com/pEXrId3YnT
— McMaster Marauders (@McMasterSports) January 12, 2019
“Getting back into things after the holiday break is never easy, so just going back into these last two games I've been on myself to make sure I've been coming out with that fire,” said Hanaka. “Of course, once you start hitting those first couples of shots and my teammates are cheering for me on the bench and making great passes, it just makes it so much fun to play with them and to do well.”
Guelph was one of two wins this past weekend, the second came against the Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks, who they defeated 59-43 to earn their sixth straight win. Having already played their most personal game this season against the reigning OUA champs the Carleton University Ravens, defeating them 64-52 in November, the worst is over and focusing on staying on top is the Marauders’ top priority.
“Just knowing that our end goal is to get that national championship helps us take every game as it comes and to not overthink them,” said Hanaka. “Another focus has been trying to remembering to take no game for granted, because there has been a lot of upsets in the OUA this year and we don't want one of those to be us.”
With the Marauders’ next two games coming against the Lakehead University Thunderwolves this weekend, they will be making sure they go into every practice seriously so that they are focused come game time, regardless of who is wearing the opposite jersey. This is the mindset the Marauders plan to have until the last buzzer goes off for the season.
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By: Donna Nadeem
After completing her bachelor’s degree in McMaster University’s psychology, neuroscience and behavior program in 2014, Amina Khan founded Amanah Fitness, a culturally-sensitive online female fitness community. In just three years, it has grown to become one of the largest global Muslim fitness education programs, helping over 50,000 women across the globe.
Amanah Fitness’ online workouts feature diverse female fitness instructors and are performed with no equipment so that individuals of all fitness levels can access them. For instance, Khan’s 30 day online fitness bootcamp, which is offered at $129 for lifetime access, gives users 22 unique equipment-free workouts and personal coaching from Khan.
“As an alumna of McMaster University, I am honoured to be using my degree to promote social change on a global scale. Our goal is to use the psychology of motivation to help women of all cultural backgrounds feel their best through healthy active lifestyles,” said Khan.
During her second year at McMaster, Khan hit her heaviest weight and felt that something had to change.
“At the peak of my frustration, I decided to try losing weight one last time. This time, through fitness. After years of failed dieting attempts and feeling intimidated at the gym, I found a small ladies-only gym,” said Khan.
With the support of inspiring female fitness instructors who helped her discover a love of exercise, she was able to lose 60 pounds. With a newfound passion for health and fitness, Khan sought to share her journey to inspire other women.
To meet the growing demand for our culturally-sensitive health and fitness classes, education and workshops, she founded Amanah Fitness.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrI4_pjAvoh/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Khan started by teaching fitness classes for female students in the David Braley Athletic Centre with the McMaster Muslim Students Association and continued to expand her fitness classes to other community centres and mosques, with a focus on cultural and religious barriers to fitness.
Her goal was to provide a space for women from diverse backgrounds to learn about their health. By popular demand, she also created an online workout bootcamp program that is now used by Muslim women across the globe.
As a Muslim woman who wears a headscarf, Khan had always struggled to find a fitness community.
“As someone who struggled with weight loss before becoming a fitness instructor, I know first-hand that Muslim women and women from diverse cultural backgrounds can feel neglected by the mainstream fitness industry,” she said. “When I was struggling with my weight, I never saw anyone in the fitness industry who looked or dressed like me. As an overweight Muslim woman wearing a headscarf, I felt excluded from the fitness industry.”
According to Khan, another challenge Muslim women face is maintaining health and fitness while fasting during Ramadan.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BinURANBAMo/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Amanah Fitness believed a collaborative approach needed to be taken. In particular, Khan worked with dieticians, doctors and medical professionals in Canada to launch a comprehensive online resource called Ramadan Reset.
to provide research-based resources for fasting nutrition and fitness.
Ramadan Reset has become a globally recognized resource to help Muslim individuals live a healthy active lifestyle while fasting.
Last August, Khan was named Fitness Professional of the Year at the World Fitness Expo, making her the first Muslim woman to be awarded the title.
In the future, Khan aspires to continue to expand Amanah Fitness’ audience internationally and release a second online workout program.
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Being a woman in a male-dominated scene, specifically in music, is never the easiest course of action, but prominent Hamilton DJs are making waves within the scene.
The fight for a place in the music scene has created a supportive community of women who are working together to make their beats heard. With a focus on helping each other through collaboration and promotion, these women are making sure that their respective music scenes see an inclusive space for everyone.
DJing in general began to take off in the 1960s and 70s, finding influence particularly within the hippie and disco eras. Most of the DJs shaping the movement during this time were almost exclusively part of the LGBTQ+ scene and after the Stonewall riots in New York City, nightclubs became a popular scene and became a more inclusive space.
From the beginning, DJing has served as a space for loud self-expression, a cultural movement founded on peace, love, unity and respect. From there, the evolution of the nightclub scene took form, reflecting the needs for particular styles and communities and creating various types of music genres that we know today.
Female DJs have always been an inspirational force within the scene, with the earliest female DJ on the scene being traced back to 1912. In 1922, Sybil True was one of the first people to ever play records on the radio, borrowing records from 6a local record store and playing them on air to encourage young people to gain interest in radio broadcasting careers.
Another important woman on the scene is Annie Nightingale, who was one of the first globally famous radio DJs. Her beginnings in 1963 at BBC Radio 1 is still one of the highest-revered positions on the charts, and in history.
With the help of a few prominent Hamilton DJs, including DJ Fazooli, DJ I Heart Hamilton, DJ Donna Lovejoy and DJ Rosé, women in Hamilton will have the opportunity to mix up the scene.
The early years of DJ Fazooli (Julie Fazooli Marquis)’s career, there were several instances that made it difficult to be a female DJ. There were very few other female DJs when she first stepped onto the rave scene in Toronto in the late 1990s and the misogyny was rampant.
For that reason, Fazooli took it upon herself to learn how to spin by actively watching her heroes while they played, and “obsessively” listening to mixes trying to figure out how it was done.
“Any time I asked someone to teach me how to spin, they always assumed I wanted to date them,” said Fazooli. “My first live performance at a rave was filmed, and when I saw the footage, they had pretty much focused my whole screen time with the camera pointing up the back of my skirt. I got intimidated regularly by men who would line up in front of the turntables to stare me down and watch every movement of my hands.”
https://www.facebook.com/FazooliArt/
Despite these instances of misogyny within the scene, Fazooli continued learning and teaching herself the ways of the turntable. She continues to DJ today, playing a multitude of venues within the city including Club Absinthe, the Casbah, Sous Bas and This Ain’t Hollywood, to name a few.
“I’m the type that bites back when annoyed, so now I get treated with a ton more respect and people know I am very capable of what I do, and not mess with me,” said Fazooli. “You gotta be tough sometimes — there’s no room to be passive and sometimes people need to be reminded that women are just as talented as men when it comes to DJing.”
Last year, Fazooli and other other female DJs in Hamilton, including Donna Lovejoy, I Heart Hamilton and DJ Rosé, came together to create the Diamond DJ Collective. The collective serves as an alliance to combine their different strengths and to promote themselves within the community.
Each DJ within the collective uses different styles and genres of music together that blend well when they play together. They also come from a variety of different social backgrounds and immersed into each one.
“The tides are turning. By having conversations and being open about experiences we’ve had, it’s so empowering to voice it and be validated by other women,” said DJ I Heart Hamilton (Kristin Archer). “From there we can figure out how to make the scene more inclusive. There’s a lot to unpack but we won’t get anywhere without having some tough conversations.”
https://www.facebook.com/diamondDJcollective/
To keep up with the stamina that female DJs have been seeing over the past few years, Fazooli and fellow DJ, Donna Lovejoy, launched a series of workshops. Under the title of Women’s DJ Workshop, the pair are teaching introductory classes to women and non-binary folk in Hamilton.
Women’s DJ Workshop originally came to the pair after being approached by the Art Gallery of Hamilton to create a series of workshops, but found that logistics would be costly, making it inaccessible for individuals to join. The duo then condensed it to an introductory, one-afternoon workshop so that people could test the waters first.
“DJing is incredibly intensive in both time spent practicing and finding records, and the financial burden of buying pricey equipment and building a proper vinyl collection,” said Fazooli. “You need to have an insatiable thirst for music and playing with music to even consider it as a hobby, as it’s a big investment on both of those levels. So a proper introduction to test the waters to see if it’s a good fit is key.”
For those who felt intimidated by the technical aspects, the workshop created a friendly and educational atmosphere. By pointing out all of the similarities between all of the different brands of equipment, the workshop ensured that new DJs were able to confidently adapt to changes when they were faced with an unfamiliar set-up in a live situation.
https://www.facebook.com/WomensDJWorkshop/
The major goal of the workshop was to start a conversation and about what it would be like to become a DJ without overwhelming students. Fazooli stresses that DJing is not an easy set of skills to earn, so the workshops aim to make it as simple as possible to understand, taking away the fear of misconception or obstacle for students.
“I think when people are put in front of all of this equipment and a few crates of records they get easily overwhelmed,” said Fazooli. “So this was a chance to kind of simplify
and break it down so that people could see that once you practice and get the techniques and concepts down, the world opens right up for you and it begins to be a lot of fun.”
In future workshops, Lovejoy and Fazooli will be covering more information about troubleshooting and specific technical aspects to ensure students feel armed with knowledge of how to overcome stressful technical mishaps.
By preparing students for anything that may come their way, the pair hope to instill a sense of independence, which is a quality that is crucial in DJing, and to create a new wave of empowered individuals, capable of creating new and exciting ventures for themselves in our community.
“The music scene is still very deeply rooted in being open to everyone as it always has been, with very few exceptions,” said Fazooli. “I find it hard to fathom that any scene would exist without women and non-binary people as an intrinsic part of their foundation.”
While DJing in general is heavily male dominated, the support and encouragement from two talented women in the capacity of a student can be crucial. Being backed by a network of women can help other women gain confidence to move forward on their own and have the ability to create their own style.
The workshops will continue on a bi-monthly basis beginning in April, and Women’s DJ Workshop will be hosting a meet and greet DJ session on March 17 at Dr. Disc.
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By: Donna Nadeem
McMaster students and faculty came together on Feb. 11, the United Nations recognized day of Women in Science and Technology, to celebrate and empower women in science and technology during their International Women in Science day conference.
McMaster biochemistry and health sciences students developed the IWISCI day conference in 2017 as a small event that was focused on women in science and what kind of careers women have after a biochemistry degree. Due to the high interest, it was turned into a day-long conference that not only focused on biochemistry, but women in all branches of sciences.
“We keep trying to keep an open forum for people to talk and kind of understand the gender disparity or the gender inequities that exist in the field of science and how we can fix them and work forward to creating an equitable environment,” said Inna Ushcatz, co-chair of the IWISCI 2018 conference.
The conference will celebrate women’s contributions to research, healthcare and industry. The conference also aims to encourage gender equity, empower peers and offer advice from mentors and supporters.
“Sometimes, especially when your at such an exceptional school, like McMaster, it’s easy to feel like your in this bubble and that everything is great, people are so welcoming to… women in science but what I realized with talking to people who were actually in the work force and have their careers in academia and in science, it’s not as good as it could be, so I’m starting to realize how things could be a lot better and it’s important to have this conversation,” said Ushcatz.
We keep trying to keep an open forum for people to talk and kind of understand the gender disparity or the gender inequities that exist in the field of science and how we can fix them and work forward to creating an equitable environment
Inna Ushcatz
Co-chair of the IWISCI 2018 conference
The conference consisted of two keynote speakers, Prof. Charu Kaushic who is a professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University, and Prof. Stacey Ritz, the assistant dean of the bachelor of health sciences program and an associate professor in pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster.
The conference also featured two panels and three workshops that focus on important topics of giving women communication tools to speak with confidence both in professional and personal settings, gender inequalities in the workplace and the perspectives on women in science over the years.
The IWISCI executive team hopes to reach out to high schools in the area for future conferences. They want to provide them with workshops that they have as a portion of the conference, and take that to the schools to try and encourage high school students who are who are interested in the science field as a future career path. The executive team also plans on trying to branch out to elementary schools in later years, to encourage student as early as possible of the career they could have in the science.
“From last year we learned what people wanted to see from the conference so we are trying to facilitate that this year,” said Michelle Lohblihler, co-chair of the IWISCI 2018 conference.
The IWISCI community is focused not only on bridging the barrier between McMaster students and professors, but also extending and promoting women’s access to and participation in the field of sciences in the Hamilton community.
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By: Jenna Getty
As the city ramps up for another election in the coming year, local advocacy groups have begun working together to get more women in governance.
The Elect More Women Conference took place Oct. 21 at Hamilton’s city hall. The conference hopes to see more women in politics and ultimately work to build election teams.
“The most important thing about this conference is to drive home that women are capable, effective leaders with experience to bring to the table and government should reflect the diversity they serve,” said Daniela Giuletti, one of the coordinators of the conference.
The central aim of the conference is to provide women with the confidence to take the next steps, whatever that means for each individual. Whether that means leading a canvassing party, or putting their name forward as a candidate, Giulietti says it doesn’t matter, as long as women feel empowered and supported as they leave the conference.
This is not a question of skill, the skills are obviously there, they are just not being utilized and appreciated in government and politics.
The lack of representation of women in politics is reflected here at McMaster. Of the four positions on the board of directors in the McMaster Students Union, only one is held by a woman, and of the other nine positions on the executive board, only three are filled by women.
According to Giulietti, the lack of female representation in any level of government boils down to risk. Women risk a lot when running in politics, socially, professionally and emotionally. With this in mind, the idea supports the fact that while minorities are often underrepresented in politics, they are often heading community work and other initiatives behind the scenes. This is not a question of skill, the skills are obviously there, they are just not being utilized and appreciated in government and politics.
There are, however, opportunities for women at McMaster to get involved with Hamilton politics. Opting to participate in volunteer opportunities that offer important skill development, sitting in on Council Night at City Hall, speaking with student government, speaking with campaign offices or even getting involved with a campaign if you have customer service experience. These opportunities are available to anyone, you just need to know where to look for them.
The lack of representation of women in politics is reflected here at McMaster. Of the four positions on the board of directors in the McMaster Students Union, only one is held by a woman, and of the other nine positions on the executive board, only three are filled by women.
Guiletti argues lack of representation isn’t just the responsibility of women. To work towards fixing the issue, it must be tackled by the community, not just left to women to fix for themselves. Giulietti recommends student governments taking a look at their own campaign, and reevaluating whether or not it’s accessible to those who are usually underrepresented, as well as working to invite more women and diversity to their teams.
Karen Bird, a political science professor at McMaster, has previously stated that voters are not biased against women running for positions, and instead the issue being that women are not given the chance to run. Bird recommends that electoral parties shoulder-tap women to run.
Canada, Hamilton and McMaster has a ways to go before we have equal representation in politics, and women still have barriers to overcome.
“We have incredibly capable women in office, and thankfully so many supportive men allies. We also have men who think it’s okay to call women in sciences ‘Climate Barbie’,” Giulietti said. “So the most incredible barrier to me, is that despite all of our gains, we still have this crap to contend with.”
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Hammer City Roller Girls also do new skater-intake and host basic lessons for anybody interested in getting involved!
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