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Can Applying a Gender Lens to Social Innovation Promote Women's Rights and Gender Equality?

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Can Applying a Gender Lens to Social Innovation Promote Women's Rights and Gender Equality? Western University Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository 7-11-2016 12:00 AM Can Applying a Gender Lens to Social Innovation Promote Women's Rights and Gender Equality? Sarah Saska-Crozier The University of Western Ontario Supervisor Dr. Bipasha Baruah The University of Western Ontario Graduate Program in Women's Studies and Feminist Research A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree in Doctor of Philosophy © Sarah Saska-Crozier 2016 Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons, and the Technology and Innovation Commons Recommended Citation Saska-Crozier, Sarah, "Can Applying a Gender Lens to Social Innovation Promote Women's Rights and Gender Equality?" (2016). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 4098. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/4098 This Dissertation/Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Western. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository by an authorized administrator of Scholarship@Western. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Abstract Social innovation is not new, but it is increasingly being called on to provide solutions to some of the world’s most pressing social and economic problems. Despite awareness about its importance, research in the field of social innovation is often vague, and there are competing definitions and understandings of the concept. There is also very little research that attempts to connect the field of social innovation with the fields of gender studies, women’s studies, feminist research, or men and masculinity studies. This dissertation applies a gender lens to the concept of social innovation. In doing so, it aims to develop the foundations for future research at the intersection of social innovation and gender equality. To conduct this research, I sought an affiliation with the MATCH International Women’s Fund, a Canadian organization that provides grants to support women’s social innovations in the Global South. This is a qualitative exploratory study in which I used peer-reviewed academic research as well as practitioner tools and knowledge from a range of sectors and disciplines. These include the results of 25 in-depth interviews with people engaged in social innovation or a related field, data from Twitter Canada, and a fellowship experience at Canada’s leading innovation hub, MaRS Discovery District. My research demonstrates the need for gender sensitivity and analysis in the field of social innovation. I argue that social innovation will not achieve its full potential if it does not understand how to respond to existing gender hierarchies all over the world. Innovation is about bringing together different perspectives; when we leave an analysis of gender out, we miss out on a lot. A gender analysis is not as simple as including more women in innovation; it is also about how innovation is interpreted and understood. Keywords social innovation, innovation, gender equality, women’s rights, women’s empowerment, gender, social entrepreneurship, social enterprise, STEM, technology, scale i Acknowledgments This dissertation was made possible by the support of a number of individuals, to whom I appreciate greatly. To my supervisor, Dr. Baruah, who has been a constant support and a fantastic mentor and role model: from agreeing to supervise me when I was still trying to formulate my thoughts on this research to encouraging me to develop my own approach to the PhD process, I could not have asked for a better person to supervise me. Thank you to Dr. McKenna for taking a chance on me from my initial application to the department and to Dr. Fielding, Alicia McIntyre, and Betty Thompson for all of your support over the years. Thank you to my colleagues and friends at The MATCH International Women’s Fund and MaRS Discovery District. Thank you to Jessica Tomlin for agreeing to collaborate on this research and for your friendship. Thank you to Mitacs for supporting me, and the research, not once, but three times. To my alma mater, Queen’s University, thank you for the award to help complete this project, even though I am at a rival school. Thank you to the members of my dissertation and examination committees and all of the participants in this research for your insight, candor, and time. Thank you to Holly Monteith and Barry Kuntz for your expertise. To my family and friends: None of this would have been possible without you. Jane, Michael, The Sadr Family, The Sabir Family, The Kuipers Family, Nicole, Kate, Jen, Laura, Selena, Brenna, Ashley, Anissa, Sheraz, Hamoon, Afshin, and Assaf: Thank you for the support and the constant check-ins. Finally, to The Tragically Hip, I am so grateful to you all for providing the soundtrack to the ups and downs of this process. ii Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi List of Appendices ............................................................................................................ vii List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... viii Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................. 1 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Rationale and Overview .......................................................................... 1 1.2 Overview of Research Methodology ...................................................................... 6 1.3 Research Objectives ................................................................................................ 9 1.4 Organization of Chapters ........................................................................................ 9 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................... 11 2 Literature Review ......................................................................................................... 11 2.1 The Rise of Social Innovation ............................................................................... 11 2.2 Understanding Social Innovation .......................................................................... 12 2.3 Examples of Social Innovation ............................................................................. 17 2.4 Limited Engagement Between Social Innovation and Gender Equality .............. 23 2.5 Innovation and Gender .......................................................................................... 30 2.6 Understanding Gender Analysis and Mutual Learning ........................................ 35 2.7 Making the Case for Social Innovation and Gender Equality .............................. 36 2.8 Neoliberalism, Social Innovation, and Gender Equality ...................................... 38 2.9 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 43 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................... 45 iii 3 Methodology ................................................................................................................ 45 3.1 Designing Collaborative Research with the MATCH International Women’s Fund 45 3.2 Support from Mitacs for Collaborative Research ................................................. 46 3.3 Research Approach ............................................................................................... 49 3.4 Interview Questions .............................................................................................. 50 3.5 Recruitment Process .............................................................................................. 51 3.6 Interview Process .................................................................................................. 53 3.7 Twitter ................................................................................................................... 55 3.8 Understanding Twitter Data .................................................................................. 56 3.9 Field Research at MaRS Discovery District ......................................................... 59 3.10 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................... 63 3.11 Terms: Classification, Clarification, and Challenges ........................................... 65 3.12 Positionality and Bias .......................................................................................... 65 3.13 Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 66 Chapter 4 ..........................................................................................................................
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