Over the month of February, University of Guelph Bachelor of Commerce students will be running workshops that will spark conversation around gender equity, equality and stereotypes on campus and beyond.
Led by students from assistant professor Kathleen Rodenburg’s leadership class, the workshops aim to support the UN’s HeForShe gender solidarity campaign. The students will be visiting various groups of students on campus, including engineering, business and the Gryphons Football team, to discuss how they can help break gender stereotypes and improve gender equality.
The goal of HeForShe is to achieve equality by encouraging all genders to partake as agents of change and take action against negative stereotypes and behaviours. Grounded in the idea that gender inequality is an issue that affects all people – socially, economically and politically – it seeks to actively involve men and boys in a movement that was originally conceived as “a struggle for women, by women.”
"When facilitating this workshop, I noticed that not only was the audience excited to learn, but they were eager to participate," said Alex Kremer, a fourth-year marketing management BComm student and one of the student facilitators. "Tackling these issues together truly brings out the best in people."
As supporters of the HeForShe campaign, the College of Business and Economics will also be hosting the second annual HeForShe at UofG event, in partnership with the Guelph Gryphons Football team and the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. The event is a chance to celebrate the strength and resilience of the female U of G community and hear from one of Canada’s most powerful female business leaders.
This year’s keynote speaker is Lisa Lisson, President of FedEx Canada, who has become a renowned public speaker in North America for her revealing discussion about becoming the first woman and first Canadian president in FedEx Express Canada history.
The event also features the presentation of the 2019 Resilience Scholarship award winners, which recognizes female students who have demonstrated resilience to life’s challenges and leadership in the community. Two awards are available, which are awarded to one female student in the Bachelor of Commerce program and one female student from the Bachelor of Engineering program.
The event is open to the public, but tickets are limited. For more information about the HeForShe at UofG event, please visit the event page online [1].
Last year, the College of Business and Economics and the Guelph Gryphons Football team welcomed Amanda Lang to U of G for the first annual HeForShe at UofG event [2], which included class-visits, a public talk and the presentation of the Amanda Lang Resilience Scholarship.
