Looking around meeting room tables in the West, an observer would not
know that women represent half the population. Few women are on the
boards of Canadian farm and co-operative organizations.
The evidence was presented at a Saskatoon meeting Oct. 4 outlining for
a Chinese delegation the situation of Canadian women in co-ops and
agriculture.
Sociologist Michael Gertler of the University of Saskatchewan said a
1997 study of 38 Canadian co-ops showed 16.2 percent of board members
were women.
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When studied by sector, co-ops that dealt with health, housing and
child care did the best, with women being 47.7 percent of their board
members.
Retail store and financial co-ops averaged 11-12 percent. Agricultural
co-ops had the lowest level at almost three percent.
Gertler said the main reason is that women bear the major
responsibility for domestic chores, raising children and caring for
family elders.
Even when women get on boards they sometimes don’t want to rock the
boat and will not advocate women’s causes or reforms, he said.
Leadership training for women and supporting them with mentors are seen
as ways to encourage more female participation.
Gertler outlined a plan proposed 11 years ago by Sally Rutherford, then
executive director of the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.
The federation has five women on its board of 22, including two
women’s representatives. Rutherford’s plan advocated paying child- care
costs, making meeting times more flexible, actively recruiting women,
supporting joint ownership of farms and joint decision making by
spouses and adding social, health and environmental issues to farm
policy debate.
Jennifer Dyson, a Vancouver Island farmer, is the federation’s western
women’s representative. She said having women on a board broadens
discussions and views since women “just naturally have a different way”
than men. She believes women are absent from boards because of family
commitments or unsupportive spouses.
The National Farmers Union has places on its board for a woman’s
president and a youth representative. Shannon Storey, the NFU women’s
president, said this gender-based move took about 25 years to get women
representing half the NFU board. This year there has been a drop due to
off-farm jobs. Women hold four of the 17 board positions.
Marilyn McKee of Mossbank, Sask., is one of four women on the 19-member
board of Federated Co-operatives Ltd.
She said women need training to be willing to overcome personal
inhibitions and men need geneder sensitivity courses to remove
organizational barriers to women.
