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Women’s Human Right to Equity

CAUT Policy Statement

The Canadian Association of University Teachers is committed to securing equity for women in Canadian post-secondary institutions, eliminating the current socio-economic and professional disparities between women and men.

Active measures should be taken to:

1
Ensure that the rights of all women in the academic community are respected and promoted, particularly those of Indigenous women, women with disabilities, lesbian, bisexual, trans, queer or 2-spirited women and racialized women;

2
Encourage equitable participation of women in all academic disciplines through equitable hiring, tenure, compensation, regularization, and promotion practices;

3
Rectify the current imbalance between men and women in senior administrative posts;

4
Address the over-representation of women in precarious positions;

5
Encourage and value, teaching and mentorship, research and scholarly work, and service to the institution and broader community by women and about issues of concern to women;

6
Maintain an equity office, staffed by qualified personnel with the resources and authority to enforce equity policies and programs;

7
Conduct regular pay equity reviews and redress unfair anomalies;

8
Guarantee pension equity.

9
Recognize that women have disproportionate responsibility for family care, and develop family-friendly policies, including those affecting recruitment, hiring, retention; and,

10
Ensure access to affordable and convenient childcare on or near campus.

Approved by the CAUT Council, November 2006;
Approved by the CAUT Council, November 2018;
Editorial revision, February 2023.