Fatherhood Involvement Research Alliance

Researchers:

  • Kerry Daly (University of Guelph)
  • David Este (University of Calgary); Scott Duggan (OISE); Edward Kruk (University of British Columbia); Jessica Ball (University of Victoria); Annie Devault (University of Quebec); Ted MacNeill (Sick Kids); John Beaton (University of Guelph); Anna Dienhart (University of Guelph); Michael Pratt (Wilfred Laurier); Andrea Doucet (Carleton University); Donna Lero (University of Guelph);  Zenaida Ravanera (University of Western Ontario)

Description of Project:

The Father Involvement Research Alliance (FIRA) was formed as the outcome of a process of national partnership building with researchers, practitioners, policy makers and fathers. FIRA was conceived as a broad-based Canadian alliance of individuals, organizations and institutions dedicated to the development and sharing of knowledge focusing on father involvement and was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council as a Community-University Research Alliance (CURA).

FIRA worked to develop partnerships, research projects and other undertakings in order to further society's knowledge and understanding of father involvement in today's families.

FIRA sought to:

  • be responsive to the needs and concerns of fathers, communities and institutions
  • build upon existing and emerging strengths of fathers while affirming mothers' contributions to healthy child development
  • be inclusive and transparent in its consultations and operations
  • acknowledge the diversity of background and experience of fathers in Canadian society

Through its various partnerships and activities, FIRA worked to:

  • generate research agendas on father involvement
  • develop, initiate and carry out new research
  • design strategies aimed at sharing new knowledge with practitioners, academics, policy makers and the general public
  • promote evidence-based strategies for policy development, practice and systemic change
  • link to and engage a broad range of interested individuals, organizations and institutions
  • elicit the concerns/issues of Canadian fathers from the standpoint of fathers, mothers and children themselves