The Equity, Diversity and Inclusion unit at the Faculty of Information will be hosting the following panel discussion:
Overcoming Barriers and Landing a STEM Position: Examining Employment Prospects For Women in the Context of Canadian Multiculturalism
This virtual discussion will look at the barriers that immigrant women face when entering the labor market, specifically in the science, technology, and mathematics (STEM) sector, as well as tools and strategies for engaging immigrant women in research projects and using community-based storytelling in knowledge mobilization.
When: Wednesday, March 22, 2023 from 12PM to 1:30PM
Where: Zoom
Register here.
About the panelists:
Nadia Caidi:
Nadia Caidi is a Professor at the Faculty of Information at UofT. Her research is situated in human information behavior and information policy, particularly in the context of global migration. She examines the dynamics around engagement and effective use of resources that cater to the ways of knowing of specific communities, whether it be migrants and refugees, aboriginal communities in remote and isolated regions, or language communities in a minority context. Her contributions aim to inform and promote a critical LIS lens and a public interest approach to the information fields. Her book (co-edited with Keren Dali), “Humanizing LIS Education and Practice: Diversity by Design” was published by Routledge in 2021. Dr. Caidi was the 2011 President of the Canadian Association for Information Science, and the 2016 President of the Association for Information Science & Technology. In 2019, she received the ALISE/Pratt-Severn Faculty Innovation Award.
Saadia Muzaffar:
Saadia Muzaffar is a tech entrepreneur, author, and passionate advocate of responsible innovation, decent work for everyone, and prosperity of immigrant talent in STEM. She is the founder of TechGirls Canada, the hub for Canadian women in science, technology, engineering, and math – and co-founder of Tech Reset Canada, a group of business people, technologists, and other residents advocating for innovation that is focused on the public good.
Vathsala Illesinghe:
Vathsala Illesinghe, MD, is a Policy Studies Ph.D. Candidate at the Toronto Metropolitan University. She is an experienced violence against women researcher in South Asia, who is currently working on unravelling the complex intersections of gender, violence, and South Asian women’s experiences of international migration to Canada. She is a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation alumnus and serves on the expert panel of the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability (CFOJA).
Walaa Sabih:
I arrived in Canada in the summer of 2013 from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates where I had enjoyed many years working successfully as a Community Medicine Specialist, specifically in cancer control and prevention.
I yearned to work with people in Canada, to help them obtain healing and a healthy lifestyle. Realizing that it would be a challenge to pursue licensing as a physician in Canada, and after trying several options and much research, luckily, I stumbled upon The Institute of Holistic Nutrition which has opened the horizons of health and healing for myself and my clients. I graduated as a Certified Holistic Nutritionist and kept going. As cancer is my passion, I completed studying to become a Certified Holistic Cancer Practitioner and am now completing studies to become a Metabolic Balance Coach.
