Shifting the Balance
Increasing Women’s Representation in STEM Occupations
Français • August 5, 2025
The number of jobs that require STEM-related training and skills, particularly those in natural and applied science occupations, is expected to grow at or above the national average between 2024 and 2033.1
To help meet hiring needs, sectors that mainly hire men can create workplaces that are more welcoming and engaging for women and gender-diverse individuals (women+). This will address the looming labour-force pressures while better reflecting Canada’s diverse population.2
Signal49 Research, on behalf of TGC, is leading a new initiative to identify the factors that attract women+ to, and keep them working in, professional STEM occupations. This research focuses on understanding the most important factors that influence people to choose and remain working in five industries where men are overrepresented and identifying which factors are unique to women+ workers.
We are investigating the following five industries:
- transportation and warehousing
- agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting
- mining, quarrying, and oil and gas
- construction
- utilities
Through this research project, we will:
- Identify what drives attraction and retention of all employees in STEM-related occupations in the five male-dominated industries where men are overrepresented listed above.
- Explore barriers facing STEM-trained women+ working in these industries.
- Outline actions industry leaders can take to increase women+’s representation and retention in STEM-related occupations.
Attracting, recruiting, and retaining more women+
To answer these research questions, we will:
- Provide data on the current employment landscape for these sectors, including forecast employment demand and availability of potential labour supply.
- Conduct a survey of STEM-trained individuals employed in these industries to identify differences in women+’s experience, focusing on:
- What drives people to enter these industries?
- What makes them stay?
- What challenges do people working in these industries experience, and how do those challenges affect the decision to leave?
- Hold focus groups with Canadian workers (men+ and women+) employed in these industries to delve deeper into the survey’s findings and identify potential barriers and facilitators for STEM-trained women+ working in these sectors.
Get involved
Are you a STEM-trained individual working in one of these industries who wants to learn more about this project or participate in this research?
Are you an employer in one of the industries of interest who has a program or initiative supporting STEM-trained women+ that you think should be featured in this research? If so, please contact Lindsay Coffin, Principal Research Associate, Human Capital.
- Employment and Social Development Canada, “Canadian Occupational Projection System,” Employment and Social Development Canada, last modified January 30, 2025, https://occupations.esdc.gc.ca/sppc-cops/[email protected].
- Jonathan Francis, Lauren Florko, and Tabatha Thibault, Talent Trends: Languishing and the Great Attrition, Signal49 Research, January 2022, https://www.signal49.ca/product/talent-trends-languishing-and-the-great-attrition/.