A Timeline of Firsts for Women in Statistics in Canada

Statistical sciences have seen enormous opportunity and growth over recent past decades. The evolution of statistical tools are not the only change. The numbers graduating with undergraduate degrees in mathematics and statistics has more than doubled in Canada since 2009, and the profession of Assistant Professors now celebrates a nearly even female-male gender split when pooled across all departments and Canadian universities. The latter is a big change from 1970/1971, the first year with data, when women accounted for barely 10% of Assistant Professors. Substantial change over time gives rise to questions about what has happened over the past decades. The poster overlaying timelines of major accolades by women in statistics in Canada with a brief history of the professional soceities and federal legislative changes.

We are grateful for the support and feedback of individuals who provided feedback, names, and events: 

David Bellhouse, Judy-Anne Chapman, Charmaine Dean, Christian Genest, Nadia Ghazzali, Peter MacDonald, Shirley Mills, Bouchra Nasri, Nancy Reid, Mary Thompson, Rowan Thompson

In addition, representatives from a variety of groups and committees provided additional information and feedback:

Fields, NSERC, Statistical Society of Canada Women in Statistics Committee, Statistical Society of Canada's Committee on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, University of Manitoba

Sponsors who provided funding and/or in kind support:
CANSSI, CANSSI Ontario,  Carleton University, Statistical Society of Canada

Notes on choice of Women: Even though using a binary definition of gender is out of date, more general diversity was an initial direction of interest, but the journalistic complexity was considerable.

The project is largely is inspired by the following works: 

Billard, L. And Kafadar, K. (2015) “Women in Statistics: Scientific Contributions Versus Rewards“ in ‘Advancing Women in Science: An International Perspective’, W. Pearson, Jr., et al. (eds.), DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-08629-3_7

Reid, N. (2014) “The whole women thing”, in ‘Past, Present, and Future of Statistical Science’ X. Lin et al (eds.) DOI 10.1201/b16720

Stinnett, S (1990) "Women in Statistics: Sesquicentennial Activities” The American Statistician, Vol 44, No 2, pp 74-80 

Thomson, M (2014) “Reflections on Women in Statistics in Canada”, in ‘Past, Present, and Future of Statistical Science’ X. Lin et al (eds.) DOI 10.1201/b16720

Bellhouse, D. R., & Genest, C. (1999). A history of the statistical society of Canada: The formative years. Statistical Science (14).

datasets:

Statistics Canada. Table 37-10-0077-01 Number and median age of full-time teaching staff at Canadian universities, by highest earned degree, staff functions, rank, gender doi:10.25318/3710007701-eng

Statistics Canada. Table 37-10-0235-01 Postsecondary graduates, by detailed field of study, institution, and program and student characteristics, doi:10.25318/3710023501-eng

Français: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15733725