Other Projects
Not all of C4’s work fits neatly within a single research stream. This section highlights additional projects and collaborative initiatives that explore emerging issues in healthcare, community engagement, education, and research practice. Together, these projects reflect C4’s commitment to understanding complex challenges and creating more inclusive, supportive environments for patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and researchers.
Academic conferences provide valuable opportunities for researchers and trainees to develop professional networks, establish collaborations, and engage with emerging scholarship. Promoting inclusive and supportive conference environments is an important component of ensuring equitable participation across the academic community.
To explore graduate students’ perspectives on conference safety, our team conducted a survey examining their experiences at academic meetings. While most respondents viewed conferences as generally safe and positive environments, many also reported adopting precautionary strategies to support their personal comfort and well-being.
The findings suggest opportunities to further enhance conference cultures and practices in ways that promote inclusion, safety, and belonging. By identifying factors that influence attendee experiences, this work can help inform efforts to create academic spaces where researchers at all career stages can participate fully and confidently.
- Rabi D., Kozak S., Yakubets K., Christie T., Forlini S., White A. (2024). Graduate Student Perspectives of Safety at Academic Conference. Presented at the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies Conference (CAGS 2024).