Gender and the Faculty Care Gap - “The Obvious Go-To Person” for Canadian University Students’ Personal Problems

Oct 15, 2026

A mixed methods study examines Canadian natural sciences and engineering faculty workplace experiences and identifies a gendered care gap. Women report greater responsibility for students’ personal and mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts and behavior, as well as sexual assault. Statistical findings show women are approached by significantly more students about serious non-academic issues and experience higher stress. Qualitative comparisons link faculty responses to gendered cultural care expectations, while also noting institutional factors that intensify women’s emotional burden and structural inequality.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

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Introduction

Literature Review

Gender and the Faculty Care Gap: “The Obvious Go-To Person” for Canadian University Students’ Personal Problems Jennifer Dengate University of Manitoba Tracey Peter University of Manitoba Annemieke Farenhorst University of Manitoba Abstract A mixed methods analysis of Canadian natural sciences and engineering faculty’s workplace experiences revealed a gendered care gap with women reporting greater responsibility for students’ personal and mental health problems, including suicidal thoughts and behaviour, and sexual assault. Statistical results demonstrated that women were approached by a significantly greater number of students to discuss serious non-academic issues and experienced more stress as a result. A comparative qualitative analysis found faculty’s responses to students’ problems were informed by gendered cultural care expectations that require women to be more supportive than men. However, female and male faculty’s care burden may also be exacerbated by institutional factors, including senior administrative positions, undergraduate class loads, and teaching courses with mental health-related content. As such, the care gap is relevant to understanding the extent to which gender inequality is embedded within the structure of universities. Keywords: science, engineering, Canada, faculty, gender, caregiving Résumé Une analyse à méthode mixte effectuée auprès du corps professoral canadien en sciences naturelles et en ingénierie signaleun écart entre les genres/les sexes quant au soutien fourni auprès de la population étudiante. En effet, les femmes rapportentune responsabilité accrue à l’égard de la santé personnelle et mentale de la population étudiante, y compris la gestion des pensées suicidaires et des cas d’agression sexuelle. Selon les statistiques, les femmes seraient approchées par un plus grand nombre d’étudiants et d’étudiantes pour discuter de sujets non universitaires, ce qui entraînerait pour elles un taux de stress accru. Une analyse comparative de nature qualitative indique que le corps professoral a tendance à gérer les cas d’étudiantset d’étudiantes selon des normes culturelles genrées, en vertu desquelles les femmes seraient plus disposées à offrir du soutien que les hommes. Toutefois, certains facteurs institutionnels contribuent à accroître cette charge émotionnelle, notamment les postes administratifs, la charge d’enseignement et l’enseignement de cours dont le contenu touche les questions de santé mentale, et peuvent exacerber l’écart entre les genres/les sexes. Afin de mieux comprendre comment et pourquoi l’inégalité entre les sexes est structurante dans le contexte universitaire, il ne faut pas négliger le rôle de l’écart quant au soutien offert à la population étudiante. Mots-clés : sciences, ingénierie, Canada, la faculté, le genre, soins Introduction Universities are argued to be gendered organizations, characterized by a division of labour and “asymmetric”reward hierarchy that disproportionately assigns women the least valued work (e.g. , service), detracting from highly valued research activity (Bird, Litt, & Wang, 2004; Misra, Lundquist, Holmes, & Agiomavritis, 2011; Park, 1996) . This research investigates an additional task for which women appear disproportionately responsible, one even less visible than service: caring for students (Acker & Feuerverger, 1996) . We focus on the division of care work within male-dominated natural sciences and engineering (NSE) units. Women remain underrepresented in American NSE and continue to experience harassment and discrimination, exclusion within their units, and report less access to equipment, for example (Fox, 2010; Settles, Canadian Journal of Higher Education | Revue canadienne d’enseignement supérieur 49:3 (2019) Cortina, Malley, & Stewart, 2006) . Similarly, women are underrepresented in Canadian NSE, are less likely than men to be full professors, and may experience promotion delays (Canadian Association of U

FAQs

What is the central finding about the faculty care gap in Canadian NSE units?

The study finds a gendered care gap: women faculty report greater responsibility for students’ personal and mental health problems, including serious issues like suicidal thoughts and sexual assault.

How do the quantitative results relate to faculty experiences?

Statistical results show women are approached by a significantly greater number of students to discuss serious non-academic issues and experience more stress as a result.

What explains how faculty respond to students’ problems?

The qualitative analysis indicates faculty responses are shaped by gendered cultural care expectations, requiring women to be more supportive than men, with institutional factors further exacerbating care burdens.

Oct 15, 2026

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