SSH News: Canada’s “marriage gap” and Big Thinking, Federation president’s letter to the editor, SSHRC and Mitacs partner up, and CIHR Synapse award nominations

Blog
November 29, 2013

In an op-ed in the Globe and Mail this week, columnist Margaret Wente describes “the inequality we don’t talk about” as that which has resulted from Canada’s “marriage gap” – with increased divorce rates and fewer people getting married in the first place, the changing dynamics of Canadian families are, according to Wente, more than coincidentally related to stagnating household incomes and greater class divides. So is less marriage creating more inequality in Canada? Wente suggests that “if we’re really interested in the roots of inequality, ignoring it is a big mistake.”

On December 10th in Ottawa, Céline Le Bourdais of McGill University will present “Cohabitation: an alternative or substitute for marriage?” in our final Big Thinking lecture of the year. Her discussion will address the significance of common law partnerships, their stability, and the management of couples’ shared finances, particularly with a view to how these issues are managed when separation occurs.

Registration for Le Bourdais’ lecture is open until December 5. The presentation will be in French and takes place from 7:30-8:45 a.m. in the Parliamentary Restaurant on Parliament Hill.

The Hill Times published a letter to the editor from the Federation’s president Antonia Maioni on Monday, which was written in response to their recent Policy Briefing on Innovation (subscription required). Maioni’s letter suggests the article neglected to include the contributions made by social sciences and humanities research, calling for greater emphasis on the value of interdisciplinary and cross-sector collaboration:

Reprinted with permission from The Hill Times.

The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Mitacs are partnering up for a new project aimed at connecting more Canadian companies with social sciences and humanities graduates. Announced on Tuesday, the initiative will see Mitacs consult with Canada’s social sciences and humanities researchers with a view to evolving its internship programs to better support the SSH research community and its needs. Click here to read the detailed news release.

Nominations are open for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Synapse Mentorship Awards, which recognize the efforts of those who promote health research among Canada's high school students. A list of past recipients as well as eligibility requirements and nomination procedures can be found on the CIHR website. The deadline to submit nominations is January 24, 2014.