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Ito Peng

Professor

Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Sociology

  • Professor
    Faculty of Arts and Science, Department of Sociology
  • 416-946-5902 (Work)

BIO

Ito Peng is a Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy at the Department of Sociology and the School of Public Policy and Governance. She is also the Director of the Centre for Global Social Policy in the Department of Sociology. She is recognized as a leading researcher in the study of comparative welfare state, with particular expertise in the Asia Pacific region. Her current research focuses on issues of gender equality, care work, care economy, transnational care migration, and the multidimensional and interlocking dependencies between the Global North and South through the work of care and the migration of care workers. She has written extensively on family and gender policies, labour market changes, care economy, and the social and political economy of care.

Professor Peng’s interest in the international comparisons of social policy led her to bring together a team of researchers to study and compare the social and political economies of care in nine different countries. In 2020, she received a SSHRC Partnership Grant and funding from the Open Society Foundations and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundations to launch the study with collaborators in Colombia, Costa Rica, Italy, Kenya, Mongolia, Senegal, Sri Lanka and South Korea. This project involves policy analysis, collecting quantitative and qualitative data, and working with feminist economists to develop care-inclusive and gender-sensitive macroeconomic models.

In addition to her research, Professor Peng is a sought-after global social policy expert and advisor/consultant to key government and global policy bodies. She is the co-lead of Room 5 in the Rockefeller Foundation-Brookings Institute’s “17 Rooms Global Platform” Initiative that brings together diverse specialists to advance action to further the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Room 5 is focused on gender equality. Professor Peng also frequently consults with national and international agencies, including Statistics Canada, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Women and Gender Equality Canada, the Korean Ministry of Gender Equality, UN Women, the UN-DESA, the UN Research Institute for Social Development, the ILO, World Bank, and OXFAM.

Professor Peng has been the Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy since 2013. In 2022, she was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. She is also a winner of the President's Impact Award, the Carolyn Tuohy Impact on Public Policy Award, and the Jeanette Wright Mentorship Award. Prior to being the Director of the Centre for Global Social Policy, Professor Peng was the Associate Dean, Interdisciplinary & International Affairs at the Faculty of Arts and Science. She has also served as the Chair and Director of Dr. David Chu Program in Asia Pacific Studies and the Director of Centre for the Studies of Korea, both at the Asian Institute. Professor Peng is a senior fellow of Massey College and Trinity College, University of Toronto; and a distinguished fellow of Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada. Dr. Peng received her PhD from London School of Economics.

Media availability: TV, Radio, Print/Online

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

  • Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy
    University of Toronto, Department of Sociology, Toronto, Canada2016 - present
  • Director, Centre for Global Social Policy
    University of Toronto, Department of Sociology, Toronto, Canada2013 - present
  • Professor
    University of Toronto, Department of Sociology, and Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (cross appointed to Department of Political Science), Toronto, Canada2007 - present
  • Associate Dean Interdisciplinary & International Affairs
    University of Toronto, Faculty of Arts & Science, Toronto, Canada2010 - 2013
  • Director, Centre for the Studies of Korea, Asian Institute
    University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada2010 - 2014
  • Associate Director
    University of Toronto, School of Public Policy and Governance, Toronto, Canada2008 - 2010
  • Director
    University of Toronto, Dr. David Chu Program in Asia Pacific Studies, Asian Institute, Munk Centre for International Studies, Toronto, Canada2004 - 2009
  • Associate Professor
    University of Toronto, Department of Sociology, Toronto, Canada2002 - 2007
  • Associate Professor
    Kwansei Gakuin University, School of Policy Studies, Nishinomiya, Japan2000 - 2002
  • Associate Professor
    Hokusei Gakuen University, Department of Social Policy, Sapporo, Japan1999 - 2000
  • Assistant Professor
    Hokusei Gakuen University, Department of Social Policy, Sapporo, Japan1996 - 1999

DEGREES

  • Ph.D., Social Policy
    London School of Economics and Political Science, London, United Kingdom1995
  • M.A., Social Policy
    McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada1990
  • B.S.W. (with Honors)
    McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada1985
  • B.Sc.
    University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada1981

AVAILABILITY

  • Media enquiries

INSTITUTIONAL STRATEGIC INITIATIVES

  • Data Sciences Institute (DSI)