ARRIVAL LOUNGE

BRIDGING THE GENDER GAP IN CANADIAN SOUTH ASIAN RESEARCH

Ashna Jassi at the United Nations.

By LIABA NISAR

Growing up, Ashna Jassi was exposed to differences in expectations for sons and daughters – including expectations around elder care – within South Asian households.

Being attentive to these differences would prove to be more than fruitful for Jassi, a second-generation Punjabi Canadian, as it would guide her PhD research and dissertation focus at the University of Guelph.

After obtaining her BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of British Columbia, and MSc in Social and Cultural Psychology from the London School of Economics, Jassi began her PhD in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Guelph, with a focus on cultural psychology, immigration, and gender.

Despite being one of the largest immigrant groups in Canada, Jassi noticed that there was not a lot of research being done with Punjabi (and, more broadly, South Asian) communities within the Canadian academic landscape especially related to gender, family roles, and elder-care.

“Within traditional Punjabi family values, sons are typically expected to handle the majority of elder care for their own parents, while daughters are typically expected to support in elder care of their parents-in-law,” she says. “My parents have no sons, so I was very aware of what this could mean for my family. This made me curious to research this further.”

Her research revealed that contrary to popular expectations, Canadian Punjabi daughters were indeed involved in caring for their elderly parents. Both sons and daughters reported providing a variety of different supports to their parents at the same level, including physical, social, emotional, and financial supports. At the same time, sons were slightly more likely to see themselves as providing cultural transition support to their parents. Jassi argues that further supports and resources are needed for Canadian Punjabi seniors in transitioning to Canada and navigating Canadian society. In addition, further supports are needed for Canadian Punjabi caregivers. These supports will help seniors foster independence, will help both sons and daughters provide care, and will help reduce gendered expectations around elder-care.

Jassi moved to Guelph in 2015, and she has noticed the increasing diversity within the city and the University of Guelph over the years. Alongside her PhD and various campus and community organization commitments, she is also an active founding member of Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement  (CIRCLE), which she believes is a vital catalyst to further diversity, inclusion, and community engagement in Guelph.

According to her, CIRCLE’s role in engaging communities is essential to advancing South Asian and Canadian social issues further.

“CIRCLE is a ground-breaking centre that brings together Canadian and South Asian academics, community-based organizations, and wider communities to share knowledge and discuss social issues together,” she says.

Looking ahead, Jassi notices some positive trends regarding attention and discussion around Canadian South Asian topics. Movies, and television shows such as Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever, starring Mississauga’s Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, show a more diverse and varied South Asian representation. More broadly, she notes positive conversations around Canadian South Asian gender issues, as well as South Asian Canadian alliances with different historically marginalized identity groups (i.e., Black and Indigenous) in Canada.

However, she strongly believes there is a need for further growth in attention, conversations, and research on these topics.

Jassi encourages students, and others who are interested, to reach out and learn more about India, South Asia, the South Asian diaspora, and the opportunities that are available with CIRCLE.

• Liaba Nisar, a student-writer with CIRCLE, is a BA graduate in Geography and Theatre Studies from the University of Guelph. This article is an edited version of the original published at the CIRCLE website, canadaindiaresearch.ca.

• Canada India Research Centre for Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at the University of Guelph is an interdisciplinary hub for cutting-edge research on India/Indian diaspora, a gathering place for faculty, students and community partners who are interested in research related to India and Indian diaspora. For more on CIRCLE, please visit canadaindiaresearch.ca/connect.