Faculty of Health
Research project description
The Gender Intelligence Lab (GIL) conducts and translates academic expertise in gender studies, equity, technology, and transformative social change.
Rooted in feminist scholarship and social justice principles, the lab serves as both an incubator and amplifier of research, advocacy, and applied knowledge that interrogates how gender shapes – and is shaped by – systems of power, representation, and resistance.
Fields of research
- Digital Intimacies, Techno-Social Harms, and Gender Equity in Technology Spaces – exploring how gender shapes and is shaped by digital platforms, from dating apps to AI
- Community, Gender, and the Social Dimensions of Health – examining how social networks, belonging, and equity influence health and well-being
- Trauma, Leisure, and the Pursuit of Healing – investigating leisure as a site of recovery, resilience, and identity reconstruction after individual and collective trauma
- Women’s Health, Technology, and Justice-Centered Well-Being – advancing feminist and equity-focused approaches to digital health and wellness
- Gender, Sexuality, and Embodied Power in Leisure and Digital Life – unpacking how identity and power intersect in physical and virtual leisure spaces
- Sport, Gender, and Social Change – analyzing how sport can reproduce or disrupt inequities, and how it can serve as a platform for empowerment, inclusion, and health
Qualifications and ideal student profile
Prospective graduate student researchers must meet or exceed the minimum admission requirements for the programs connected to this opportunity. Visit the program pages using the links on this page to learn more about minimum admission requirements. In addition to minimum requirements, the research supervisor is looking for the following qualifications and student profile.
- The ideal graduate student in my program is a critical, creative, and equity-driven scholar who is passionate about exploring the intersections of gender, technology, leisure, health, and social justice. They are intellectually curious and comfortable challenging dominant narratives about well-being, power, and identity, particularly as these are shaped by digital spaces, sport, and community life.
- They thrive in interdisciplinary and applied research settings, drawing from feminist, queer, and critical race theories to address real-world inequities and imagine more inclusive futures. They value both conceptual depth and practical impact—moving fluidly between theory, qualitative or mixed-methods research, and knowledge mobilization strategies such as public scholarship, digital storytelling, and community engagement.
- The ideal student is also a reflective practitioner and collaborator: they bring lived experience, empathy, and humility to work with communities affected by techno-social harms, trauma, and health inequities. They are eager to examine how sport, leisure, and technology can both reproduce and resist structural oppression, and they embrace innovative, justice-centered approaches to research design and dissemination.
- Above all, they are self-motivated yet thrive in mentorship, eager to contribute to the Gender Intelligence Lab’s ethos of rigor, creativity, and transformative social change.
Faculty researcher and supervisor
- Diana C. Parry
Professor, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies
View faculty profile →
Gender Intelligence Lab website →
Graduate programs connected to this project
Important dates
Gender Intelligence Lab is an open and ongoing research opportunity. Expressions of interest can be submitted for any term.