Perhaps you’ve heard about the What About the Men? Northern Men’s Research Project. The final report, released in early January, received a lot of publicity. We did this research in partnership with our colleagues at the Yukon Literacy Coalition, Literacy Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ilitaqsiniq – the Nunavut Literacy Council, who led the project. It was funded by Employment and Skills Development Canada.
We carried out this research by supporting northern indigenous men and community-based researchers and with the help of an academic research guide. We gathered information through open-ended interviews, questionnaires and a workshop with the community-based researchers. We also identified indigenous male role models from communities across the north and talked with them about their experiences.
The research was inspired by a question from an elder who asked: “Why are the men apparently worse off than indigenous women in our present time? What supports are available to indigenous men so that they can live the lives that they aspire to?”
In our research we looked at what northern indigenous men see as “success”, how they engage in learning and work, what barriers they face doing this, and which factors support their learning, work and well being. We also looked at factors specific to northern indigenous men and how these relate to literacy and essential skills and, importantly, how the findings can be used to improve lives in the north.
We identified 24 implications for policy makers and program developers. They include broadening our understanding of work and learning, greater supports for well-being, parenting workshops for men, affirming the importance of traditional values and knowledge in workplaces, and embedding literacy and essential skills in innovative non-formal, community-based traditional skills programs.
I encourage everyone to read this report, which is available on our website , or at least the executive summary at the beginning of the document.
Men’s issues are a vital part of any discussion on family, life, learning and work in the North. We need to talk about both the successes and the barriers that men face so they can live the lives that they aspire to.
-- Kathryn Barry Paddock
