Subseries consists of Dr. Ainley's requests for funding for a variety of projects throughout her career. Most of Ainley's research was funded through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) grants but she also applied for funding from other sources. These research projects include "First Nations Women and Environmental Knowledge in Northern North America - A Preliminary Investigation," "Biographical Research on Women Scientists in Canada," "Women and Scientific Work in Canada, 1890-1960," "Engendering Science: Twelve Biographies," "Women and Scientific Work in Canada. III. "Women's Work in Government and Industry, 1890-1990," "Engendering Canadian Scientists," and her research on Mabel McIntosh. Not all of these projects were accepted and funded. Subseries predominately consists of grant application forms and correspondence with granting agencies.
Subseries consists of materials concerning Dr. Ainley's book "Restless energy: a biography of William Rowan, 1891-1957." Subseries consists largely of research materials and notes on William Rowan but also includes some related correspondence, a review of the book, and a funding request and acceptance.
Subseries consists of materials relating to Dr. Ainley's publications including magazine and journal articles, book reviews, book chapters, and encyclopedia entries. Files often contain photocopies of her publications, any related correspondence, reviews of Ainley's publications, drafts and unpublished papers, and publishing and copyright agreements. The topics of these works include women in science and ornithology.
Subseries consists of Dr. Ainley's work collecting oral histories as research materials for various research projects with a predominant focus on the experiences of women scientists. Files usually include interview transcripts, consent forms, any related correspondence, photocopied research materials, and notes.
Subseries documents the research for Ainley's monograph, originally titled, "Overlooked Dimensions: Women and Scientific Work at Canadian Universities, 1884-1980." The monograph draws on research from previous research projects and was conceptualized as a culmination of Ainley's life's work. The monograph was incomplete at the time of her death and was published posthumously after being edited by Marlene Rayner-Canham and Geoff Rayner-Canham under the title "Creating Complicated Lives: Women and Science at English-Canadian Universities, 1880-1980." Originally scheduled to be published by UBC press shortly after Ainley's death in 2008, the manuscript was published by the McGill-Queen's University Press in 2012. Subseries consists of articles and excerpts from publications by Ainley and others, audio recordings of interviews and presentations, notes, drafts, and correspondence.
Subseries contains materials relating to Dr. Ainley's research on women in the fields of science and engineering. Ainley dedicated much of her career to this topic, which resulted in a number of publications. Subseries includes material relating to the submission and editing of Ainley's chapter, "Marriage and Scientific Work in Twentieth-Century Canada: the Berkeleys in Marine Biology and the Hoggs in Astronomy" in "Creative Couples in the Sciences" about the experiences of two scientific couples: Edith and Cyril Berkeley and Frank and Helen Hogg. Materials for this publication include correspondence, edited manuscripts, permissions form templates and a call and instructions for submissions. This subseries also includes research material for a review of Margaret Gillett and Ann Beer's book, "Our Own Agendas: Autobiographical Essays by Women Associated with McGill University," including notes, correspondence and short biographies of women from McGill University. Subseries also contains research on Canadian women in science including photocopied archival materials from various Canadian universities. This subseries also contains materials relating to Ainley's book, "Creating complicated lives: women and science at English-Canadian universities, 1880-1980" and Ainley's chapter, "Soaring to New Heights: Changes in the Life Course of Mabel McIntosh" in "Great Danes." Subseries consists of research relating to women in the Royal Society of Canada and on individual women scientists and engineers. Research materials consist of photocopies of published and archival research materials, correspondence, and applications for grans and ethics reviews. This subseries also contains approximately 80 overhead transparencies from presentations.
Subseries reflects Dr. Ainley's extensive research on indigenous science and traditional knowledge and how it transferred to European settlers in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Much of this research culminated in Dr. Ainley's unfinished monograph project "Re-explorations: new perspectives on gender, environment and the transfer of knowledge in 19th and 20th century Canada and Australia." Material is, predominately, arranged by individual, with files largely consisting of bibliographies, articles and notes about and by the individual on topics related to the environment and interaction with indigenous peoples. Subseries also contains research notes, interviews, and correspondence. As much of Ainley's research focused on women, see subseries on women in science and engineering research (2002.14.1.5) for related materials.
Subseries documents "Critical Turning Points: Women Engineers Within and Outside the Profession," a study funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) strategic grant. The study was broken up into four projects: "Women in Engineering: A Historical Overview," a project based on analyzing statistical and demographic data to establish a statistical profile of women in engineering; "The Explorers: Early Women Engineers," a project based on conducting oral histories and examining archival material to establish the reasons for early engineers choosing their careers; "Women's Exit from Engineering Studies, a project based on using semi-structured interviews to analyze reasons for women departing from their degree programs; and "Women's Exit from the Engineering Profession," a project based on open-ended unstructured interviews of former male and female engineers to analyze their reasons for leaving the profession. Ainley was a co-investigator on the study, along with the principal investigator, Peta Tancred, and co-investigators Susan Whitesides and Gillian Rejskind, and was involved in all the projects, except, "Women's Exit from Engineering Studies." Subseries consists of audio tapes and transcripts from interviews with female engineers, questionnaires from a project on Queen's University female engineering graduates by Alison Bowe, research notes, articles, conference proceedings, brochures and correspondence.