Bipasha Baruah

.Professor 

Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies
Canada Research Chair in Global Women's Issues
http://publish.uwo.ca/~bbaruah/
Office: Lawson Hall 3244
Phone: 519-661-2111 ext. 86316
bbaruah@uwo.ca

Research

I specialize in interdisciplinary research at the intersections of economy, environment, and equity. The big question that all my research in one way or another aims to answer is how can we create economic security for everyone while also preventing further environmental breakdown and improving social equity and justice? I have two major research projects at the moment. One tries to understand how to ensure that a low-carbon economy or a green economy - in Canada and globally - will be more gender equitable and socially just than its fossil-fuel based predecessor. The other project tries to understand how we might address gender equality and social justice issues if we were to shrink rather than grow our economies. The two are obviously related: the first looks at social equity within the context of technological changes such as a transition to renewable energy, green construction, manufacturing, and low-carbon transportation. The second looks at social equity issues within a framework of intentionally shrinking economies or “degrowth,” rather than technological fixes such as green energy. 

Alongside my academic career, I have extensive non-academic professional research experience with aid agencies, intergovernmental organizations, development banks, NGOs, labour associations and think-tanks in Canada, USA, India, France, the Middle East and North Africa, and the Eastern Caribbean. 

Recent Publications

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles (Current and former graduate student co-authors' names are bolded and underlined)

Baada, J., Baruah, B., Sano, Y. & I. Luginaah. 2021. Mothers in a 'Strange Land': Migrant Women Farmers' Reproductive Health in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 32(2): 910-930.

Martel, A., Reilly-King, F. and B. Baruah. 2021. Next Generation of Knowledge Partnerships for Global Development. Introduction. Canadian Journal of Development Studies DOI: 10.1080/02255189.2021.1919065

Baruah, Bipasha and S. Biskupski-Mujanovic. 2021. Navigating sticky floors and glass ceilings: Barriers and opportunities for women’s employment in natural resources industries in Canada. Natural Resources Forum DOI: 10.1111/1477-8947.12216

Baada, J., Baruah, B. and I. Luginaah. 2020. Looming crisis – changing climatic conditions in Ghana’s breadbasket: the experiences of agrarian migrants. Development in Practice DOI: 10.1080/09614524.2020.1854184

Najjar, D., Baruah, B. and A. El Garhi. 2020. Gender and Asset Ownership in the Old and New Lands of Egypt. Feminist Economics, DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2020.1743877

Apsani, R., Baruah, B. and J.M. Shaw. 2019. “Just One of Many Donors:” Canada and Local Civil Society in Afghanistan. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal 25(3): 305-324.

Baada, J., B. Baruah and I. Luginaah. 2019. ‘What we were running from is what we’re facing again’: examining the paradox of migration as a livelihood improvement strategy among migrant women farmers in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. Migration and Development 8(3): 448-471.

Najjar, D., Baruah. B. & A. El Garhi. 2019. Women, irrigation and social norms in Egypt: ‘The more things change, the more they stay the same?’ Water Policy 21 (2): 291-309.

Najjar, D., Baruah, B., Aw-Hassan, A., Bentaibi, A. & G. T. Kassie. 2018. Women, work, and wage equity in agricultural labour in Saiss, Morocco. Development in Practice 28(4): 525-540.

Siddika, A. and B. Baruah. 2017. Can Understanding Phenomenology and Human Capabilities Help Us Address Acid Violence? South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 41(1): 153-172

Grantham, G. and B. Baruah. 2017. Women’s NGOs as intermediaries in development cooperation: findings from research in Tanzania. Development in Practice 27(7): 927-939.

Baruah. B. 2017. Women on Wheels: empowering women through an innovative training and employment programme. Development in Practice 27(2): 181-195.

Baruah, B. 2017. Renewable inequity? Women’s employment in clean energy in industrialized, emerging and developing economies. Natural Resources Forum 41(1): 18-29.

Baruah, B. 2017. Renewable inequity? Women’s employment in clean energy in industrialized, emerging and developing economies. In Cohen, M.G. (ed.). Gender and Climate Change in Rich Countries: Work, Public Policy and Action. London, UK: Routledge.

Baruah, B. 2016. NGOs as Intermediaries for Slum Electrification in Urban India. In Hodson, M. & S. Marvin (eds.). Retrofitting Cities: priorities, governance and experimentations. New York: Routledge.

Baruah, B. 2016. Electrified Publics and Informal Settlements in Urban India. In McDonald, D.A. (ed.). Making Public in a Privatized World. New York and London: Zed Books.

Baruah, Bipasha. 2016. Creating and Optimizing Employment Opportunities for Women in the Clean Energy Sector in Canada. Knowledge Synthesis Report prepared for SSHRC Knowledge Synthesis Symposium, Imagining Canada’s Future, June 1, 2016, University of Calgary. http://www.ideas-idees.ca/sites/default/files/sites/default/uploads/general/2016/2016-sshrc_ksg-baruah_bipasha.pdf

Book Chapters

Baruah, B. and S. Biskupski-Mujanovic. 2021. Closing the Gender Gaps in Energy Sector Recruitment, Retention and Advancement. In Webb, J., Tingey, M. & F. Wade (eds.) Research Handbook on Energy and Society. Edinburgh, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 169-184.

Ferroukhi, R., López, C. & B. Baruah. 2021. Global Trends in Women’s Employment in Renewable Energy: Continuities, Disruptions, Contradictions. In Williams, A. & I. Luginaah (eds.) Gender Matters Globally: Geography, Health and Sustainability. London and New York: Routledge. pp. 56-78.

Najjar, D., Dhehibi, B., Baruah, B., Aw-Hassan, A. and A. Bentaibi. 2021. Climate-Induced Migration, Women, and Decision-Making Power in the Agricultural Wage Sector in Saiss, Morocco. In Eastin J. and K. Dupuy (eds.) Gender, Climate Change and Livelihoods: Vulnerabilities and Adaptations. Oxfordshire, UK: CAB International. 

Najjar. D. and B. Baruah. 2021. Gender and climate change adaptation in livestock production in Tunisia. In Eastin J. and K. Dupuy (eds.) Gender, Climate Change and Livelihoods: Vulnerabilities and Adaptations. Oxfordshire, UK: CAB International. 

Baruah, B. and S. Biskupski-Mujanovic. 2021. Gender Analysis of Policymaking in Construction and Transportation: Denial and Disruption in the Canadian Green Economy. In Magnusdottir G.L. & A. Kronsell (eds.) Gender, intersectionality and climate institutions in industrialised states. London and New York: Routledge.

Baruah, B. 2021. Women on Wheels in New Delhi, India: Can Social Innovation Promote Gender Equality? In Kim, E. & H. Miura (eds.) Social Economy in Asia: Realities and Perspectives. New York and London: Lexington Books. 

Masikini, N. and B. Baruah. 2020. Gender Equity in the “Sharing” Economy: Possibilities and Limitations. Saraswati, L.A., Shaw, B. and H. Rellihan (eds). Introduction to Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies: Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Approaches (2nd Edition). New York and London: Oxford University Press. 

Baruah, B. 2019. Sticky floors and glass ceilings: Women’s employment in the transport sector. In Crass, M. et al (eds.) Transport Connectivity: A Gender Perspective. Paris: OECD Publishing.

Najjar, D., Baruah, B. and A. El Garhi. 2018. Women and Land Ownership in Egypt: Continuities, Disruptions, Contradictions. In Emerich, Y. and L. Saint-Pierre Harvey (eds.) Access to Land and Social Issues: Precarity, Territoriality, Identity. Montreal: Éditions Thémis.

Professional Reports and Policy Briefs

Baruah, B. & A. Chaianong. 2019. Status Report on Gender Equality in the Energy Sector. Paris: International Energy Agency (IEA).

 Baruah, B. 2019. Integrating Gender Equality in Large-Scale and Grid-Connected Renewable Energy Projects. Global Affairs Canada.

 Baruah, B. 2019. Integrating Gender Equality into Small-Scale and Off-Grid Renewable Energy Projects. Global Affairs Canada.

 Baruah, B. 2019. Case Study on Social Innovation and Gender Equality: Women on Wheels. Global Affairs Canada.

Ferroukhi, R., Renner, M., Nagpal, D., García-Baños, C. and B. Baruah. 2019. Renewable Energy: A Gender Perspective. Abu Dhabi: International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Najjar, D., Baruah, B., and A. El Garhi. 2019. Making Egyptian women’s agricultural labour visible and improving their access to productive assets. Rabat, Morocco: International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA).

Najjar, D., Baruah, B., Aw-Hassan, A., Bentaibi, A. and G.T. Kassie. 2018. Gendered Inequity in Wages and Working Conditions for Landless Agricultural Labourers in Morocco. Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) Policy Brief and Working Paper. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Najjar, D. Percic, M., Baruah, B., Aw-Hasson, A., and L. Stloutkal. 2018. Women, Decent Work and Empowerment in Rural Egypt. Rome: UN Food and Agricultural Organization. https://repo.mel.cgiar.org/handle/20.500.11766/7449

Baruah, B. 2018. Barriers and Opportunities for Women’s Employment in Natural Resources Industries in Canada. Ottawa: Natural Resources Canada.

Baruah, B and S. Biskupski-Mujanovic. 2018. Identifying Promising Policies and Practices for Promoting Gender Equity in Global Green Employment. Clean Economy Working Paper Series. Ottawa: Smart Prosperity Institute. 

Baruah, B. and C. Gaudet. 2018. Creating and Optimizing Employment Opportunities for Women in the Clean Energy Sector in Canada. Clean Economy Working Paper Series. Ottawa: Smart Prosperity Institute. 

 Baruah, B. 2018. Women on Wheels in New Delhi, India: Empowering Women Through an Innovative Training and Employment Program. Growth and Economic Opportunities for Women (GrOW) Policy Brief and Working Paper. Ottawa: IDRC.

Baruah, B. 2017. Opportunities and Constraints for Women’s Employment and Entrepreneurship in Renewable Energy. GrOW Policy Brief and Working Paper. Montreal: Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University.

Non-refereed Research Articles, Op-eds and Blog Posts

Baada, J., Baruah, B. and I. Luginaah. 2021. Climate change is affecting agrarian migrant livelihoods in Ghana. This is how. The Conversation, March 15.

Najjar, D. and B. Baruah. 2020. The vital contribution of women to livelihoods resilience during COVID 19. ICARDA. October 15.

Baruah, B. 2019. Addressing the diversity challenge in energy sector recruitment. Modern Diplomacy. July 5.

Najjar, D. and B. Baruah. 2019. Do agricultural innovations help or hurt the poor? ICARDA. March 8.

Conceptual Animation Videos

Women in Renewable Energy: https://vimeo.com/194718318

Why should Canadians care about gender equity in clean energy employment: https://vimeo.com/214883162

How to promote gender equity in green jobs: https://vimeo.com/258994937