In celebration of the International Women’s Day, Dr. Jennifer Love shares insights into her life and career and how her work is helping enhance the work environment and opportunities for women at UBC.
Q: What’s your role at UBC?
As a Senior Advisor on Women Faculty, I work closely with the deans, Human Resources, Faculty Relations, the Equity & Inclusion Office and other units around policies and practices that promote equity for women faculty, providing advice and serving as a resource to UBC’s academic leadership on matters of significance to women faculty.
I am a Professor in the Department of Chemistry.
Q: What are you hopeful for in terms of your work?
Universities thrive with diversity of ideas. A major contributor to diversity of ideas is one’s identity and personal experience. We cannot achieve excellence without diversity.
On this basis, I applied for the position of Senior Advisor on Women Faculty. I want to develop evidence-based recommendations for positive change for women faculty. I strongly believe that any improvements in working conditions and equity for women also have a positive effect on everyone.
Q: Who inspires you?
Sally Ride [external link] and Stephen Hawking [external link] particularly inspire me. They both faced significant hardships in their careers and personal lives, and yet have long-lasting influence on science and society.
Q: On International Women’s Day, what advice do you have to women and all individuals seeking to create change?
Just because something has been done in a particular way for many years does not mean that it’s the best way to do things. If you want to change something, you have to develop good arguments.
Listen to people who disagree with you and work to convince them. You won’t reach 100% of people, but you will reach a majority. It takes a long time to convince people to change; just don’t give up.
Q: How do you integrate your work – life balance?
I have realised that I need to take time for myself and my family, even with a backlog of work. If I don’t take time off, everything suffers – work, relationships, health. You have to be able to say no to continued pressure to work more. You have to prioritise. You will disappoint some people, which is difficult to do.
Q: Anything else?
Yes! I’m hosting an evening dialogue on March 14th as a way to celebrate International Women’s Day and International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould will be making opening remarks and a number of UBC and community changemakers will be sharing their efforts to bring about positive change. Hope you join us!
Get Involved
Hear insights from women and people of colour championing race and gender equality.
Lead, Succeed and Inspire: An Evening with Changemakers
Wednesday, March 14 @ 6:30PM
Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre
This event is organized in recognition of International Women’s Day and International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination.