Student AffairsPursuing a career that aligns with SDG 5: Gender Equality enables you to advance the rights and opportunities of women and girls worldwide. This goal focuses on eliminating gender-based discrimination and ensuring equal participation in all areas of life. Make a difference in achieving equality.
The Goal: Quality Education
This goal aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. It focuses on ending all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, eliminating harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation, ensuring equal participation in leadership and decision-making, and providing access to sexual and reproductive health rights. It also emphasizes the importance of recognizing and valuing unpaid care and domestic work.
The Work
Achieving SDG 5 involves eliminating all forms of discrimination and violence against women and girls, ensuring equal opportunities in leadership and decision-making, and promoting economic empowerment. It requires legal reforms, public awareness campaigns, and support services for survivors of violence. Investing in education and healthcare for women and girls, and promoting gender-responsive policies and programs are essential. Partnerships between governments, civil society, and the private sector are key to advancing gender equality.
The Skills
Below is a list of key skills that are in demand for careers related to SDG 5. While it is not necessary to master all of these skills, familiarity with some of them can enhance your readiness and competitiveness in the job market.
- Gender Studies
- Advocacy
- Communication Skills
- Empathy
- Conflict Resolution
- Policy Understanding
- Community Engagement
- Leadership
- Negotiation
- Networking
Engagement with Queen's and Kingston
You can contribute to SDG 5 by advocating for gender equality in your community and workplace, challenging discriminatory behaviors, and supporting education and career opportunities for women and girls. Volunteering with organizations that assist survivors of gender-based violence and promoting equal representation in leadership roles are powerful ways to make a difference. Raising awareness and educating others about gender equality issues are also essential steps toward creating a more equitable society.
Clubs at Queen's
- Get REAL Queen’s
- Girl Up Queen's
- Her Campus Queen's University
- Queen’s Feminist Collective
- Queen’s Feminist Leadership in Politics
- Queen’s Women in Financial Markets
- Queen’s Woman in Leadership
- Queen’s Women of Colour Collective (QWOCC)
- Women in International Security Canada
- Women in Science and Engineering
- Queen's EngiQueers
Volunteering in Kingston
Past QUIP Internships
- Women in Finance Internship
Sample Undergraduate Courses
- Bachelor of Arts - Gender Studies Major
- POLS 382 Gender and Social Policy
- POLS 483 Justice and Gender
- DEVS 260 Globalization, Gender, and Development
- DEVS 102 Canada in the World
- ENSC 420 Gender and Environments
Sample Graduate Courses
- GNDS 801 Theories in Gender Studies
- GNDS 802 Methodologies in Gender Studies
- GNDS 832 Gender and Poverty
Career Possibilities
- Gender Studies Professor
- Public Policy Analyst (Gender Issues)
- Human Rights Lawyer
- Gender Policy Advisor
- Gender Equality Advocate
- Legal Advocate for Women and Girls
- Writer/Author (Gender Issues)
- Public Health Researcher (Women's Health)
- Anthropologist (Women's Studies)
- Sociologist (Gender Dynamics)
- Women's Economic Empowerment Coordinator
- Gender Diversity Consultant
- Reproductive Health Specialist
- Women's Health Nurse Practitioner
Corporations, NGOs, and Government Agencies
Corporations can advance gender equality by implementing policies that promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. This includes ensuring equal pay for equal work, providing parental leave and childcare support, and creating a safe and respectful work environment free from discrimination and harassment.
By actively promoting women in leadership positions and supporting initiatives that empower women and girls, companies can contribute to breaking down gender barriers and fostering a more equitable society. Additionally, corporations can advocate for gender equality in their supply chains and communities, driving broader societal change.
- Status of Women Canada (now part of Women and Gender Equality Canada)
- Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+)
