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New Brunswick has a diverse population and multiple social issues – two teams of students spent their summer taking on research projects that could help make a difference.
The EqualityNB and YouthSucceedNB research projects are a part of the Pathways to Professions (P2P) 13-week experiential learning program run by the New Brunswick Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT) in a pilot partnership with the Government of New Brunswick's Future GNB program. The two teams, new to the program this year, are a product of the isolating global challenge induced by COVID-19 back in 2020. Instead of allowing the isolation to inhibit students from real-world training, P2P adapted to the world and redefined what 'real world' experience means in a newly isolated society. Since then, the online accessibility of P2P has allowed the program to grow and include new projects such as EqualityNB and YouthSucceedNB. These two research teams highlighted individuals who face gender inequality and youth transitioning into adulthood. Over the summer of 2022, these two teams used various forms of data collection – including surveys, discussions, and interviews along with administrative-level and open-source data – to advocate for equity for frequently marginalized populations in New Brunswick. And what better idea than to gather diverse students to research the diverse social issues that challenge the people of our province?
What is EqualityNB?
EqualityNB team members were selected to work with project lead Dr. AJ Ripley under the Government of New Brunswick's Women's Equality Branch (WEB), hoping the team might propound some of the various perspectives that represent New Brunswick's vast population. Three unique images of young Canadian professionals, Martina Berko, Raf Gromadzki, and Kavitha Jagadeesan, were chosen for the task.
Nine categories provided the initial scope for the 2016 version of the 145-page Equality Profile: Population, Education and Training, Health, Income and Poverty, Family Responsibilities, Labour Force, Positions of Influence, Justice, and Violence. The profile document is a compilation of data tables and summaries: statistics provided by a wide variety of resources. All three versions of the tool released by WEB have helped provide critical evidence and research for many of the project's stakeholders to inform policy and advocate for equity through their reports and presentations.
The EqualityNB team sought to improve this process for stakeholders by regularly updating and growing the tool's data.
What is YouthSucceedNB?
Turning 19 is often a time for celebration with family and friends; however, for many of New Brunswick's youth, this birthday can inspire uncertainty. YouthSucceedNB's team members (Bhaanvi Rai, Janet Gourley, Olivia Gould, and Nina Smith) worked alongside Social Development to investigate how youth in New Brunswick can best be supported as they emerge into adulthood. With the implementation of the Child and Youth Well-Being Act, each team member explored different avenues of Child and Youth Services and combined the learned aspects to paint a picture of youth who can and need to be supported. The students had the privilege to investigate the gaps, barriers, and opportunities for growth in Youth Engagement Services; analyze how to ensure the safety of BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ youth; explore how the kinship approach can be intentionally implemented; and consider the changes that were made to services in the wake of the Act. All youth deserve to celebrate their 19th birthday, and the YouthSucceedNB team is committed to working with Social Development to support youth in having a successful transition into adulthood.
EqualityNB: Updating the Equality Profile of New Brunswick
The debut of EqualityNB originated with three separate emails sent out to three unique individuals toward the end of the 2022 Winter school term. These individuals, each of whom had come across the opportunity at a unique position in their lives, were chosen from the large pool of P2P applicants to participate in an experiential learning opportunity with the Government of New Brunswick. The small team of two data analysts and a communications coordinator began reimagining the large Equality Profile document, each contributing their skills.
Two members of the team were from the University of New Brunswick. First, Kavitha, who comes from India, was a soon-to-be Business Analysis graduate who enjoyed a successful 14-year career in IT governance before returning to school for a second time. Second, Raf, an enthusiastic collector of experience, was finishing his third year in university as an undecided major, enjoying his education freely as he had with his various careers in the 15 years since he graduated high school. Finally, Martina, who attended Mount Allison University as religious studies major with an aptitude for writing, was living away from her family on the other side of the country. Together, Kavitha, Raf, and Martina became the first P2P research team focusing on gender equality in the beautiful province of New Brunswick.
Like many good research teams, EqualityNB began its research by scouring its resources for all relevant information. Coming from such diverse backgrounds meant that the team members had substantial knowledge of several different areas, but none extensively knew much about gender equality. Before the first day of the project, each team member had received and scoured the first resource, the tool they would be responsible for reimagining: the Equality Profile. Before making any recommendations for the tool, they need to understand the intended and unintended impacts of public service work. This was explained to them through the Government of Canada's Gender-Based Analysis+ (GBA+) online training course and other similar training sessions to learn more about equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Once the team members had all thoroughly learned how to search for their hidden internal biases, their attention was directed back toward the Equality Profile and other resources such as the Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) gender results framework, the WEB site, and related social media. A week-long jurisdictional scavenger hunt across Canada revealed inconsistencies in some of the provinces and territories regarding reports on gender and racial equality. However, some provinces and territories, like Manitoba, Yukon, and Newfoundland and Labrador, offered some artfully designed and skillfully disaggregated websites and data tables to inspire improvements in the Equality Profile. Finally, the time had come for the last step in the information collection process: the team needed to hear from real people.
EqualityNB designed and released a survey to capture the perspectives of the stakeholders who currently use the Equality Profile. Two priorities were valued near-unanimously above the rest. There are prominent needs for:
1. More intersectional statistics.
2. Frequent updates to the data.
These thoughts were echoed in the meeting between the EqualityNB team and stakeholders. With these ideas at the forefront of the team's view, the time had finally come for them to debate their way to some recommendations.
Three proposals were drafted. Out of these three visions, one emerged. What was once a massive 145-page document would become a landing site with five categories: Population, Education, Economic Participation, Violence, and Health. Each of the categories would have several attached PDFs of relevant intersectional information. The functionality of this format will hopefully allow for rapid and consistent updates. The team has also identified a future goal to expand the usability and, with it, the target audience of the Equality Profile by communicating the statistics in an easy-to-use dashboard.
As New Brunswick's population has grown and diversified, the province has made an effort for all its citizens to feel safe and proudly call the province their home. The EqualityNB team was proud to contribute towards equity and encourages others to get involved in their communities; the Equality Profile can support anyone's work for equality. The work done by EqualityNB throughout the 2022 summer program was motivated by the dream of living in a province where every person has an equal opportunity to flourish.
YouthSucceedNB: Advocating for Youth Transitioning Out of Care
Emerging into adulthood marks new freedoms and extended independence. However, how many people still rely on their parents to support them past the age-based mark of adulthood – age 19? Many youths in New Brunswick, both in and out of care, do not have the privilege of sourcing support from parents. Currently, youth in care can lose the support they receive from the province at age 19, which does not allow for the continuum of care needed as they emerge into adulthood.
During the summer of 2022, the four members of YouthSucceedNB had the opportunity to work together in addressing how the Government of New Brunswick must support youth as they emerge into adulthood. The students who worked on the project this summer include Olivia Gould, Janet Gourley, Bhaanvi Rai, and Nina Smith. Bhaanvi is a pre-law student majoring in Business Administration at the University of New Brunswick, while the other three students attend St. Thomas University. Specifically, Janet and Nina are completing their second degrees in Social Work, while Olivia is completing a Bachelor of Arts. Alongside the guidance of their project lead, Wendy MacDermott, from the Government of New Brunswick's Department of Social Development, this team of students focused on how New Brunswick's youth, both in and out of care, can be supported as they transition into adulthood.
Their summer began with reviewing previous jurisdictional scans across the provinces on kinship services like Youth Engagement Services (YES) and support systems for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and acquainting themselves with the Equitable Standards for Transition to Adulthood for Youth in Care. The team administered a survey for social workers, met with employees in the Department of Social Development, and had the opportunity to present their findings to multiple stakeholders. All these aspects of the research project have determined barriers to the YES program – specifically, what is working and what needs to be changed. This survey allowed YouthSucceedNB to gather information required for the research and put together their recommendations for the Department of Social Development.
The team explored how New Brunswick's Youth Engagement Services (YES) supports youth who cannot live with their parents and how it can be improved to best support the province's youth. YouthSucceedNB facilitated discussions with community workers and current and former youth in care while reviewing youth voice data from YES feedback questionnaires to identify possible barriers to the YES program.
After researching kinship policies provincially and internationally, the team noted the best practices that could be implemented in New Brunswick, with Hawaii standing out as a successful example of a kinship-first model. They analyzed the state's programs, which influenced YouthSucceedNB's research significantly. Alongside a consultant with Social Development, the team created questions for frontline staff in NB to assess how kinship is currently used in the province.
YouthSucceedNB's research focused on ways to ensure the safety of children and youth belonging to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community who are in care. After consulting international and Canadian jurisdictional scans, they conducted an in-depth analysis of the barriers experienced by these young people and the resources available to them. They also analyzed how they could use the collaborative approach in other methods, such as the Family Group Conference, Immediate Response Conference, Child Protection Mediation, and Permanency Planning Committee.
Having completed their research, the team hopes their work will contribute to the lives of youth and children in care living in New Brunswick. YouthSucceedNB believes that youth and children in and out of care have the right to access all the resources required while growing up and deserve a place they can call home.
Conclusion
EqualityNB and YouthSucceedNB – are two teams investigating New Brunswick's populations and their diverse social issues. These two teams are the first of their kind in P2P to have the opportunity to examine the social problems around vulnerable populations. P2P has provided the teams a platform to grow as individuals and make positive changes within the provincial community. During the summer, these students networked with government officials, learned more about sensitive issues, debated equitable living standards, and produced work that could make a change. Having completed the first iteration of these research projects, EqualityNB and YouthSucceedNB encourage future cohorts of students to apply for these positions in the coming years and experience what it is like to undertake research designed to produce meaningful change.
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