Dr. Karen D. Davis
Dr. Karen D. Davis is a senior defence scientist with Defence Research and Development Canada,
Director General Military Personnel Research and Analysis. Karen holds a Master of Arts in Sociology
from McGill University and a Ph.D. in War Studies from the Royal Military College of Canada. She has
published numerous research papers, book chapters, and journal articles related to culture, diversity,
gender, and leadership in the Canadian military, including the Canadian experience with women in the
combat arms and her recent Ph.D. dissertation, titled Negotiating Gender in the Canadian Forces, 19701999. She has provided presentations and expert testimony to numerous organizations including the
Canadian Human Rights Commission, the Canadian Senate Committee on Constitutional and Legal
Affairs, the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women, the NATO Committee for
Women in NATO Forces (now NATO Committee on Gender Perspectives), the U.S. Defense Advisory
Committee on Women in the Services, the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Human Rights
Commission, and the Royal Military College of Canada Board of Governors, as well as guest lectures to
undergraduate and graduate classes at numerous universities. Karen’s current research addresses gender
and deployment experience, impact of military operations on Arctic communities; and the contemporary
relationship between military customs and traditions and member identity, commitment, and conduct.