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Purpose
Analysts predict that disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, will have a monumental impact on the world of work in the coming decades, exacerbating existing skills gaps faster than education systems can adapt. This paper aims to review research on the forecasted impact of technology on labour markets and skill demands over the near term. Furthermore, it outlines how social innovations and inclusion can be leveraged as strategies to mitigate the predicted impact of disruptive technologies.


Design/methodology/approach
The paper engages in an overview of relevant academic literature, policy and industry reports focussing on disruptive technologies, labour market "skills gaps" and training to identify ongoing trends and prospective solutions.


Findings
This paper identifies an array of predictions, made in studies and reports, about the impact of disruptive technologies on labour markets. It outlines that even conservative estimates can be expected to considerably exacerbate existing skills gaps. In turn, it identifies work-integrated learning and technology-enabled talent matching platforms as tools, which could be used to mitigate the effects of disruptive technologies on labour markets. It argues that there is a need for rigorous evaluation of innovative programmes being piloted across jurisdictions.


Research limitations/implications
This paper focusses on these dynamics primarily as they are playing out in Canada and similar Western countries. However, our review and conclusions are not generalizable to other regions and economies at different stages of development. Further work is needed to ascertain how disruptive technologies will affect alternative jurisdictions.


Social implications
While "future of work" debates typically focus on technology and deterministic narratives, this paper points out that social innovations in training and inclusive technologies could prove useful in helping societies cope with the labour market effects of disruptive technologies.


Originality/value
This paper provides a state-of-the-art review of the existing literature on the labour market effects of novel technologies. It contributes original insights into the future of work debates by outlining how social innovation and inclusion can be used as tools to address looming skills mismatches over the short to medium term.

Purpose
This paper aims to provide a multi-level framework for exploring women entrepreneurship in Canada. The authors examine the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH), a platform to advance women entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds.


Design/methodology/approach
The authors analyze the major elements associated with the processes and strategies in WEKH through a case study approach.


Findings
The findings presented in this paper clearly show how creating an inclusive innovation ecosystem linking micro-, meso- and macro-level factors has the potential to advance women entrepreneurship


Research limitations/implications
This case study presented here is in the early phase and results are not yet available.


Practical implications
The lessons from WEKH provides a model for other countries.


Social implications
Entrepreneurship drives economic development and gender equality is a critical sustainable development goal. WEKH activities will advance opportunities for women by creating a more inclusive innovation ecosystem.


Originality/value
WEKH is a knowledge hub in Canada that aims to help foster women entrepreneurship in Canada related to the women entrepreneurship strategy national program.

In equality, diversity and inclusion studies, there is often an underlying assumption that research will advance equality and inclusion. Yet scholars increasingly point to a gap between theory and practice to achieve change. While paradigmatic differences in how change is framed may in part account for this gap, we argue that 'action knowledges' drawn from different paradigms are both important and 'commensurable' once a change agenda is adopted. Placing these in tension, we develop an interplay requiring scholars to engage differences in both ontology and ideology to 'see' the change knowledge in other paradigms. A 'fifth knowledge' for research to combat inequality and contribute to more equitable organizations can result from engaging with the dynamic tensions identified in our analysis.

PurposeThis paper examines actors and discourses shaping new Canadian legislation designed to advance diversity in corporate governance.Design/methodology/approachThis paper performs a stakeholder and discourse analysis drawing on texts of parliamentary debates.FindingsThe paper illuminates tensions regarding definitions of diversity, its importance for boards of directors and the mechanisms favoured for implementation. Official discourses examined show that, unlike for other political issues, opposition was largely muted, and most stakeholders engaged in the process supported legislation advancing diversity. Nonetheless areas of debate and positioning by actors and suggest important differences, with outcomes linked to non-traditional power bases.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides insights into the discursive environments of organizations and processes relating to promoting diversity and equality in the political decision-making domain, a critical venue for understanding advancement of equity, often neglected in organizational studies.Practical implicationsBy understanding the complex and competing discourses surrounding diversity and inclusion at the macro level this paper provides a context for understanding organizational (meso) and individual (micro) beliefs and behaviours.Social implicationsThis study shows how advocacy shapes how policy and legislation are framed and the ways mainstream organizations, including women's groups, may advance gender equality without regard to other dimensions of diversity or intersectionality.Originality/valueThis study maps the political discourse around recent Canadian legislation designed to improve diversity on boards that must, in the Canadian context, address more than gender.

Purpose
This paper aims to extend Lewis and Simpson's (2010) work on the complexity of (in)visibility and explores what it means to women's entrepreneurship in Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.


Design/methodology/approach
This piece contributes to the special issue on COVID-19 and the impact on women entrepreneurs. Specifically, it applies an (in)visibility lens to argue that responses to COVID-19 in Canada negatively affect women entrepreneurs disproportionately and that while initiatives such as the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH) are threatened, they can also serve as an agitator during this time to advocate for an inclusive recovery approach.


Findings
Despite progress through such government funded initiatives as the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES), which is targeting more than $2bn (Cdn) in investments towards women entrepreneurs, structural inequality and the (in)visibility of women's entrepreneurship has been amplified during COVID-19. Through a particular understanding of the (in)visibility vortex notion (Lewis and Simpson, 2010), it is concluded the (in)visibility of women entrepreneurs as deeply embedded and that there is a continued need to advocate for a gender and diversity lens, to ensure inclusive recovery that benefits women and diverse entrepreneurs.


Originality/value
An (in)visibility lens brings an important addition to the literature on women's entrepreneurship, as well as illuminates the important differences within this broad category, deepening the understanding of these trends and their impact during COVID-19 pandemic. It highlights how the complexities of intersectionality are critical to understand, and their recognition can help to drive a clear evidence base, as well as advocacy. The piece call researchers and practitioners alike to consider the question under COVID-19, will these conditions create a new vortex in this domain, or can the work of organizations and researchers position gender and intersectionality in women entrepreneurship as a disrupter for the future?