Project Description:
The Diversity Institute (DI) conducts and coordinates multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder research to address the needs of diverse Canadians, the changing nature of skills and competencies, and the policies, processes and tools that advance economic inclusion and success. Our action-oriented, evidence-based approach is advancing knowledge of the complex barriers faced by underrepresented groups, leading practices to effect change, and producing concrete results. This project, Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship Network (IIE-Net). will enhance our understanding of how to make Canada's innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem more inclusive for women and other under-represented groups. Understanding the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem is of growing importance to jurisdictions around the world. Although well-developed indices such as the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) indicate that Canadians have a strong interest in entrepreneurship and many of the pre-conditions for global leadership, we lag in global innovation rankings. In addition, while Canada is committed to gender equality and inclusion, women, indigenous and racialized people, immigrants, and persons with disabilities (and their intersections) continue to face barriers to entrepreneurship as they do in employment. Research suggests many factors: highly gendered and culturally specific stereotypes of entrepreneurs, ways in which entrepreneurship is assessed and measured, and the design of policy programs. Not only is it not a level playing field for women or other diverse groups, they may not even be playing the same game. This project’s multidisciplinary team of researchers from across Canada and around the world have joined key stakeholders to better understand the current state of entrepreneurship, the barriers that women and diverse groups face in order to develop evidence-based strategies to drive change. Informed by a critical ecological model, the project will examine the entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem at different levels. Leveraging scholarly and societal expertise developed through previous projects, the Inclusive Innovation and Entrepreneurship Net (IIE-Net) project will enhance knowledge and understanding of entrepreneurship and the innovation ecosystem in Canada, improving inclusion for women and underrepresented groups such as racialized people, Indigenous Peoples, people with disabilities, and those identifying as 2SLGBTQ+. |
RA Position Duties and Resposibilities
(Include Interaction with Research Team Members, Supervisory Arrangements):
The Research Assistant’s role will include some or all of the following common research activities: - High volume research and data entry support, including summary-writing based on publicly-available information, and managing data integrity and formatting consistency. - Attending meetings to support the project, managing and tracking project activities as appropriate. - Supporting the research team on program deliverables as-needed, including: fact-checking, managing data, project communication, and organization. - Assisting in data analysis of a variety of qualitative and/or quantitative data as required. |