Globally, women represent just over 40% of the agrifood workforce, with Canada’s own agricultural gender gap slowly shrinking. Some could argue the progress is not fast enough for an industry so reliant on women and girls for day-to-day functioning but maintains income and leadership discrepancies. These themes notoriously reveal themselves in gender discussions and, for 2026’s International Year of the Woman Farmer, these themes matter even more. Within this year’s conversations for Women’s Day, Advance: Women in Manufacturing hosted a discussion panel in connection with their annual awards ceremony, bringing together female business leaders in a retelling of personal career-shaping moments in a male-dominated industry.
Lean on a Team
One of the overarching themes of last week’s discussion was overcoming the idea that one person, especially if they are in a position of power, needs to do everything. Focusing early career development on understanding as much of the business or product creates a foundation of work-related respect and realistic growth potential; in the case for Kimberly Benedict (Inter Pipeline’s Heartland Polymers), these primary years allowed her to lean into her technical background as she learned the difference between leading a team and leading from within a team. Elissa Ross (academic turned CEO for technology startup, Metafold) claims such to be a common mindset shift in the movement from consultant (problem solver) to start up (solution creator).
Jillian Van Duinkerken (CEO of family-owned gluten-free baking mix company, Duinkerken Foods) warns that trying to be the answer-keeper for absolutely everything prevents the development of a system that can course-correct on its own. In her experience, her personal passion to grow her family legacy endorsed her team, who had could realise Duinkerken Foods’ potential beyond increasing sales, alone. Once you’ve realised the necessity of others with common goals, Sally Morse, co-founder of work glove manufacturing company, Spectra Supply, suggests that is one of the best ways to reaffirm communication credibility. Your success as a leader, however, is determined more by the health of the physical, managerial, and social work environment, as revealed by Erica Porter’s personal experience at Ardent Mills.
Who constitutes your team extends into your personal life. Traditional gender mechanisms are embedded into Canada’s agricultural industries, with approximately 61% and 62% of surveyed farm women citing pressures to maintain family-farm balances and domestic responsibilities, respectively, major challenges to farm participation. The severity of both on farm employment is impacted by surrounding supports, with Kimberly Benedict crediting her prior leaders for helping establish a work-home balance that worked best for her needs and Elissa Ross highlighting the importance that one’s life partner be an equal and supportive in instances when career needs to be prioritized. Similar statements can be made about male allies, who do not need to sacrifice their own careers in favour of women so long as their support extends into enhancing the visibility and resource accessibility of female-led projects.
Today and Tomorrow
Despite the overarching gender discrepancy, women are more likely to wait to fulfill all qualifications before applying for opportunities whereas men are more likely to learn on the job. This in and of itself has limited the visibility of women in manufacturing and male-dominated spaces, who perhaps feel like they don’t have the “right experience” to excel. Except female experiences are opportunities to expand the industry. Sally Morse’s firsthand inability to find properly-fitting personal protection equipment (PPE) lead Spectra Supply to develop a line of women’s work gloves and established the Alliance of Women’s Safety Apparel Manufacturers (AWSAM) to advocate for and provide awareness about proper PPE and available brands for manufacturers. There are internal opportunities for support, as well, like with Ardent Mills’ Women of Wheat (WOW) program, which empowers its company’s gender inclusivity by creating safe communication spaces and learning programs for female participation. In those programs, it is valuable to have ally participation for holistic company or industry progress.
There are numerous opportunities to uplift women in the agrifood space. So long as we are ensuring female voices are present and heard, meaningful improvements can be made to the gender gap. For women, we need to be comfortable embracing the uncomfortable; our opinions and expertise are required for societal progression, if we can overcome awkward in favour of curiosity (it’s easier said than done). Women and girls are vital to the health and productivity of global agrifood systems; the faster we recognize those contributions today, the more opportunities that can be provided in the future.
Interested in listening to the complete interview with Erica Porter, Advance: Women in Manufacturing‘s 2026 Plant Manager of the Year?
Facts Only
Women represent just over 40% of the global agrifood workforce.
Canada’s agricultural gender gap is slowly shrinking.
Advance: Women in Manufacturing hosted a discussion panel in connection with their 2026 awards ceremony.
The panel included female business leaders from manufacturing and agriculture.
Kimberly Benedict is a leader at Inter Pipeline’s Heartland Polymers.
Elissa Ross is the CEO of technology startup Metafold.
Jillian Van Duinkerken is the CEO of Duinkerken Foods, a gluten-free baking mix company.
Sally Morse is the co-founder of Spectra Supply, a work glove manufacturing company.
Erica Porter works at Ardent Mills and was named Advance: Women in Manufacturing’s 2026 Plant Manager of the Year.
Approximately 61% of surveyed farm women cite pressures to maintain family-farm balances as a major challenge.
Approximately 62% of surveyed farm women cite domestic responsibilities as a major challenge to farm participation.
Ardent Mills has a Women of Wheat (WOW) program to empower gender inclusivity.
Sally Morse’s company, Spectra Supply, developed a line of women’s work gloves and co-founded the Alliance of Women’s Safety Apparel Manufacturers (AWSAM).
Executive Summary
The discussion panel hosted by Advance: Women in Manufacturing, in conjunction with their annual awards ceremony, highlighted the persistent gender gap in agriculture and manufacturing, despite women making up over 40% of the global agrifood workforce. Female leaders shared personal experiences of navigating male-dominated industries, emphasizing the importance of teamwork, delegation, and work-life balance. Key themes included the need to overcome the tendency to wait for full qualifications before pursuing opportunities, the role of male allies in amplifying female voices, and the systemic pressures women face in balancing professional and domestic responsibilities. Initiatives like Ardent Mills’ Women of Wheat program and the Alliance of Women’s Safety Apparel Manufacturers (AWSAM) were cited as examples of progress, though challenges remain in leadership representation and resource accessibility. The conversation underscored the broader societal and economic benefits of closing the gender gap in these sectors.
The panelists—including Kimberly Benedict of Inter Pipeline, Elissa Ross of Metafold, Jillian Van Duinkerken of Duinkerken Foods, Sally Morse of Spectra Supply, and Erica Porter of Ardent Mills—offered diverse perspectives on leadership, innovation, and the cultural shifts needed to support women in manufacturing and agriculture. Their insights reflected both individual resilience and the structural barriers that persist, such as gendered expectations in family farms and the lack of properly fitted safety equipment for women. The discussion framed these issues within the context of the 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer, signaling a growing recognition of women’s contributions and the need for targeted interventions to accelerate equity.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative highlights the systemic and cultural barriers women face in male-dominated industries like agriculture and manufacturing, while also showcasing tangible progress through leadership, innovation, and advocacy. The panelists’ stories—ranging from overcoming self-imposed qualification barriers to addressing gaps in safety equipment—paint a picture of resilience and incremental change. The discussion rightly centers on structural issues, such as the disproportionate domestic burden on women in farming and the lack of visibility for female-led projects, without resorting to simplistic blame or victimhood framing. It also acknowledges the role of male allies and institutional programs in driving progress, which adds nuance to the conversation.
However, the narrative leans heavily on anecdotal evidence from successful women, which, while inspiring, may inadvertently reinforce the "lean in" paradigm—suggesting that individual effort alone can bridge systemic gaps. The emphasis on personal resilience could obscure deeper questions about power dynamics, such as why women still bear the majority of domestic labor or why leadership pipelines remain skewed. The piece also assumes a universal experience of gender disparity, without interrogating how race, class, or geography might intersect with these challenges. For example, the pressures faced by immigrant farmworkers or Indigenous women in agriculture may differ significantly from those of the panelists, who are largely positioned in leadership roles.
Rooted in feminist critiques of labor and leadership, this narrative echoes historical patterns of women’s contributions being undervalued in industries critical to societal functioning. The call for women to "embrace the uncomfortable" risks placing the onus on individuals rather than institutions, though the mention of programs like WOW and AWSAM suggests a recognition of collective action. The broader implication is that closing the gender gap isn’t just about equity—it’s about economic and operational efficiency, given women’s outsized role in the agrifood workforce.
Bridge questions: How might the experiences of women in executive roles differ from those in frontline agricultural labor? What structural changes—beyond individual resilience or allyship—are needed to address the domestic labor imbalance in farming families? If the goal is systemic change, how can narratives like this avoid reinforcing the idea that success is primarily a matter of personal grit?
Counterstrike scan: A coordinated influence campaign pushing this narrative might amplify individual success stories to deflect from systemic failures, using emotional appeals to resilience while avoiding policy critiques. It might also frame gender equity as a "women’s issue" rather than a societal one, limiting broader accountability. However, the actual content does not fully align with this pattern, as it explicitly names structural barriers and institutional solutions, even if it doesn’t delve deeply into their root causes. The focus on actionable initiatives like AWSAM and WOW suggests a constructive rather than manipulative intent.
Patterns detected: none
Sentinel — Human
The article shows mild stylometric uniformity but retains human-like idiosyncrasies, personal voices, and specific attributions, suggesting a human author with possible light editorial polishing.