Elysia Desgrosseilliers

Notice of the Final Oral Examination for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Topic

Understanding Social Identity Threat Among Canadian Armed Forces Women: Opportunities for Institutional Change

Department of Psychology

Date & location

• Wednesday, August 5, 2026
• 10:00 A.M.
• Virtual Defence

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Danu Anthony Stinson, Department of Psychology, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Nigel Mantou Lou, Department of Psychology, UVic (Member)
• Dr. Jennifer Peach, Director, Military Personnel Research and Analysis, (Outside Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Karen Davis, Department of National Defence (Retired)

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Peter Cook, Department of History, UVic

Abstract

Women continue to be underrepresented in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) making up 16.6% of the forces despite the CAF’s ten-year goal to become a military that is 25% women by the year 2026 (Department of National Defence, 2017). I propose that one factor contributing to this underrepresentation of women is the social identity threatening environment of the CAF. Social identity threat exits when a group of people feels that their group is not welcome in a particular social environment, and the CAF environment meets the three workplace triggers of social identity threat (Van Laar et al., 2019) for women: being part of a minority (women are 16.6% of the CAF); minority group traits are devalued (stereotypical feminine traits are deemed incompatible with the military); and majority group traits are favoured (hypermasculine traits deemed the military ideal). Social identity threat has been studied among women in other male dominated workplaces such as engineering (Hall et al., 2019). It has also been associated with self-group distancing among military women, which means identity threatened women attempt to distance themselves from femininity and their identity as women. In turn, self-group distancing has been associated with poor well-being and less workplace motivation (Veldman et al., 2021). I contend that CAF women also experience social identity threat, and as a result experience heightened self-group distancing, poor well-being, less workplace motivation, as well as more burnout and greater desire to quit the CAF. In one pre-registered daily diary study (N = 552 data points nested within 106 participants), women working in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN, one element of the CAF) reported more self-group distancing behaviours on days that they also reported more social identity threat. This association was explained by daily belonging concerns, such that social identity threat predicted heightened belonging concerns, which in turn explained distancing efforts from womanhood and other women. Further, on days that RCN women reported more self-group distancing, they also reported worse well-being, more burnout, less workplace motivation, and more desired to quit the CAF. Participants also answered two open ended questions asking about any benefits to being a woman in the CAF and any strengths they bring to the CAF as a woman. I used Reflexive Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2021) to identify patterns of shared meaning in their responses and my analysis yielded an overarching theme of Shouldering the Burden of Systemic Sexism comprising three themes: (1) Nothing to See Here, (2) Women are Empowered in the Military, and (3) Resisting – Feminist Awakening. Responses in these themes expressed a range of coping behaviours elicited in response to a social identity threatening environment. There was also a fourth stand-alone theme (4) The Appeal (and Threat) of Heteronormativity, consisting of two subthemes: (4a) You Complete Me(n), and (4b) The Token Military Mom. Responses in this theme expressed how women experienced their gender in contrast to men and also experienced their role in the military as similar to a women’s role in a domestic heteronormative relationship, which may have reflected a process of social comparison that allowed them to view themselves favourably in an environment that devalues women. The CAF’s history of excluding
women and responding to exposure of adverse treatment of women perpetuates the social identity threatening environment. If the CAF wishes to increase its representation of women, the institution must acknowledge the systemic issues and take concrete steps to reduce the threat of the environment. These steps including reaching a critical mass of women by offering programs targeted to increase women’s interest and exposure to the CAF, creating full-time positions dedicated to proactively considering women’s needs when creating policies and planning operations, and avoiding isolating women in units when possible. The CAF must also become a diversity-valuing and inclusive organization by offering in-person inequality awareness and behaviour change strategies training, rewarding inclusive behaviours in performance evaluations, and including women on promotion boards.