“Advancing women’s equality in Canada has the potential to add $150 billion in incremental GDP in 2026.”
– OECD, Gender Equality in Canada: Mainstreaming, Governance and Budgeting, 2018

Biography

Leslie Nichols recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Political Science at the University of Waterloo. She has a PhD in Policy Studies with a focus on social policy from Ryerson University and teaching experience in Sociology, Labour Studies, and Women’s Studies at several universities. She has an M.A. in Labour Studies from McMaster University and a B.A. in Women and Gender Studies and History from the University of Toronto. Her research agenda focuses on the lived experiences of the working population in Canada, with a particular interest in social inclusion and economic equality for women, immigrants, refugees, and other marginalized populations; immigrant settlement policies and programs; and Employment Insurance.

Equity, diversity, and inclusivity are her guiding research themes.

Equity, diversity, and inclusivity are her guiding research themes. Her goal is to provide key data on public policies and recommendations for policy changes and new policies to create greater well-being and equality across a broad spectrum of life areas, such as work, education, health, employment, and financial security. She uses qualitative and quantitative methods and thematic coding to capture a more complex picture of how social conditions such as gender, motherhood, race, ethnicity, and poverty interact to influence the socioeconomic status of marginalized groups. Her research has been supported by over $100,000 in grants from internal sources and Tri-council funding agencies, and $51,000 in private-sector awards. She has published 10 articles in peer-reviewed journals and 7 book chapters and made more than 20 conference presentations in Canada, the U.S., and Finland. She is the editor of Working Women in Canada: An Intersectional Approach (Canadian Scholars Press, 2019). She has served as a peer manuscript reviewer for the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, the Canadian Review of Social Policy, and Alternate Routes.

Working Women in Canada: An Intersectional Approach

Canadian Scholars/Women’s Press, 2019

Leslie Nichols’ new edited textbook provides an updated analysis of Canadian women’s experiences in the labour force. It adopts an intersectional perspective to examine social conditions such as gender, age, race, and immigration status that come together to influence women’s socioeconomic well-being and success at work. Topics addressed in the book include women’s participation in unions, occupational health and safety, and unemployment; immigrant, young, and black women and women with disabilities; and women working in journalism, childcare, university teaching, firefighting, and manufacturing. Read More →