A Space of their Own? A feminist exploration of gendered spatial relations in Professional Women’s Organizations in Alberta's Resource Sector

Throughout the life cycle of a geoscience career gender inequalities still exist, even in the face of legislative change. One response in Alberta is the formation of professional women’s groups. Drawing on feminist geography, the objective of this research was to explore the social relations and power structures involved within the work environment that categorized where women’s groups are created, why they are created, and the strategies used in addressing gender disparities and inequality. This mixed methods study included an inventory of current groups that exist in Alberta, an online survey to reach professional STEM women within the geoscience community who have been members of one or more professional women’s groups, and in-depth semistructured interviews with three key actors from one Alberta based group. The intended outcomes are to create evidence-based solutions, which in turn will help contribute to concrete solutions to better support professional female geoscientists in Alberta.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Geography

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Arts

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Bjarnason, Alicia Dawn

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Blue, Gwendolyn

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Sullivan, Rebecca
• Miller, Byron

• Gender Inequality
• Geoscientists
• Feminist Geography
• Gendered Space
• Alberta Resource Industry

Statement dc:rights

• University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.

Language dc:language.iso

eng

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/31933

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ucalgary.scholaris.ca:1880/106662