Canadian universities failing at diversity study Ricochet: Interview by Erin Seatter (2016) (original) (raw)
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The Hill Times, 2021
Found at: https://www.hilltimes.com/2021/01/04/open-letter/277214 Jan 4/ 2021 Without comprehensive race-based data, equity policies within Canadian universities have limited impact in adequately addressing discrimination and racism. As Canadian universities do not collect race-based data, '63 out of the 76 universities across the country are unable to provide a breakdown of their student populations due to absence of data collection,' despite having diversity offices.
The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities
2017
of percentage point difference between % of those with doctorates working as university professors and % of those with doctorates | 55 4.1 Mean differences in professional output | 72 4.2 Mean differences in professional outcomes | 73 Tables 1.1 The interview sample by selected characteristics | 19 2.1 Visible minority faculty members in Canadian universities compared with the available Canadian workforce | 25 2.2 Representation of racialized faculty members in selected Canadian universities of different sizes | 28 2.3 Racialized faculty members in various faculties in five Canadian universities | 29 2.4 Ethnic minority staff in the United Kingdom, 2012−13 | 32 Sample Material © UBC Press 2017 x | Figures and Tables 2.5 Employment and ethnic minority status of British university academic staff, 2013−14 | 33 2.6 Racialized faculty members in US postsecondary institutions, 2011 | 39 2.7 Programs and level of distribution of racialized faculty members in US degree-granting postsecondary institutions | 41 3.1 Education and occupation of visible minorities in Canada, 2006 Census of Canada | 50 3.2 Gross and net employment income of university professors, all age groups | 57 3.3 Gross and net employment income of university professors under thirty-two years of age | 61 4.1 Racialized and nonracialized faculty members by gender and immigration status | 69 4.2 Racialized and nonracialized faculty members by field | 70 4.3 Factors affecting tenure, as seen by racialized and nonracialized faculty members | 74 4.4 Factors affecting promotion, as seen by racialized and nonracialized faculty members | 76 4.5 Factors affecting administrative and committee appointments, as seen by racialized and nonracialized faculty members | 77 4.6 Factors affecting hiring, as seen by racialized and nonracialized faculty members | 79 4.7 Teaching load and administrative duties, as seen by racialized and nonracialized faculty members | 80 8.1 Frameworks for administering equity in a sample of Canadian universities | 177 8.2 Types and number of human resources/equity/diversity offices | 180 8.3 Universities without an equity office | 182 8.4 Universities by number of staff dealing with equity | 183 8.5 Reporting structures for equity offices | 186 8.6 Equity offices in different faculties/schools | 190 8.7 Types of services in faculties with equity offices | 191 8.8 Shifts from equity frameworks in universities | 192
A Critique of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Policies in Canadian Universities
Political Science Undergraduate Review, 2019
As Canada has become increasingly multicultural, so have its universitiesbut their demographic representation (or lack thereof) creates a need for diversity, inclusion and equity policies to be evaluated. An intersectional analysis of university institutions reveals a lack of diversity among those who hold positions of power. This paper argues that while institutionalized diversity, inclusion and equity policies are well intentioned, they are also often poorly delivered. Focusing on proposed policy objectives rather than their impact can create barriers to meaningful and lasting change. After establishing a number of basic tenets to this argument, two main ideas will be explored: the importance of disrupting preexisting assumptions about diversity, inclusion and equity policies, and the implementation of methods to substantively remedy the unequal power relations these policies can reinforce.
Racialized leaders leading Canadian universities
Educational Management Administration & Leadership, 2021
As of our most recent census data, racialized people comprise 22.3% of the Canadian population (Statistics Canada, 2016). Canadian universities have espoused commitments to diversity and inclusion but there has long been a gap between the rhetoric and practice. Research has demonstrated that under-representation is a problem at all levels of academia but particularly within the senior ranks. Drawing on an original dataset representing 324 senior university leaders, this study will empirically map the demographic composition of academic leaders across Canada, including presidents, vice-presidents, assistant vice-presidents, associate vice-presidents, provosts, and vice-provosts. Our findings suggest that racialized people in leadership are under-represented compared with their presence in the university population—consistent with the pyramid of exclusion where the representation of racialized people decreases as we move up the ranks. Taking a systems perspective informed by our criti...
Race, racialization and Indigeneity in Canadian universities
Race Ethnicity and Education, 2016
This article is based on data from a four-year national study of racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian universities. Its main conclusion is that whether one examines representation in terms of numbers of racialized and Indigenous faculty members and their positioning within the system, their earned income as compared to white faculty, their daily life experiences within the university as workplace, or interactions with colleagues and students, the results are more or less the same. Racialized and Indigenous faculty and the disciplines or areas of their expertise are, on the whole, low in numbers and even lower in terms of power, prestige, and influence within the University.
2007
""The metaphor of the glass ceiling as an invisible but concrete constraint on women’s ability to rise in business and the professions has been central to the discourses of liberal white feminism for some time. But to what extent has whiteness functioned as a trap door that has as one of its effects the “disappearance” of racialized scholars, teachers, and students not only from equity discourse but from the workplace itself? ‘Returning the gaze’ and ‘unsettling relations,’ this WEI-sponsored panel will render visible the implications for equity-seeking groups of the erasing practices whereby racialized minorities, particularly women, continue to be under-represented in the Canadian academy. What strategies are necessary to ensure accessibility to the academy is blocked by neither the glass ceiling nor a colour-coded trap door? Through this panel, we (“we who are not the same. We who are many and do not want to be the same” – Adrienne Rich) seek to broadcast the need for accountability, and promote the kind of concrete, precise, and contextualized analysis that is required for effective equity advocacy, hiring, and retention – and for transformative practices – within Canada’s institutions of higher learning. PANELLISTS * Professor Carol Aylward (Associate Prof., Dalhousie Law School) “And Then There Were None: The Use of Biased Student Evaluation in the Tenure, Promotion and Retention of Racialized Academics” * Dr. Audrey Kobayashi (Prof. Geography/Women’s Studies, Queen’s University) “Making the Visible Count: Difference and Embodied Knowledge in the Academy” * Professor Joanne St. Lewis (Assistant Professor, University of Ottawa Law School) “Getting Radical: Racism, Complacency and Self-Deception in Academic Culture” * Dr. Malinda S. Smith (Associate Prof., Political Science, University of Alberta) “Telling Tales on White Li(v)es, Diversity-Talk, & the Ivory Tower” ""
Canadian Journal of Academic Librarianship, 2018
As equity issues permeate higher education and continue to have an adverse effect on diversity and representation in the professoriate, The Equity Myth is a timely reminder that there is much work to be done. This book seeks to address the idea that universities and post-secondary institutions are enlightened spaces for equity, diversity, and inclusion. Challenging this presumption, this book discusses equity through the experiences of racialized and Indigenous faculty members at many of the major universities across Canada. This work calls for action, for to deny racism in higher-education institutions is to uphold inequitable practices. Although the university as a whole is its locus of study, this book has implications for racism, equity, and representation within academic libraries in particular. The authors evaluate issues such as equity, representation, policy, and administration through the lens of critical race theory, Whiteness studies and Indigenous studies. Through their research, the authors use lived experiences to illustrate how racialized and Indigenous faculty members are represented, perceived, and have struggled to be acknowledged for the excess labour and emotional labour that is required of them. Featuring quantitative data collected from post-secondary institutions in Canada and internationally, as well as qualitative data from Canadian faculty members, this title contributes evidence and experiences to the ongoing debate that equity is not being achieved within the academy. The authors, many of whom identify as people of colour, supply a wealth of experience in conducting research in higher-education settings. This book demonstrates that racialized and Indigenous faculty members are severely underrepresented in many departments and face systemic barriers compared to their colleagues. Unconscious bias, differences in expectations, and a pervasive culture of whiteness inhibit achieving true equity in academia. While chapter 1 is an introduction to the methodological approaches and positionality of the authors, chapters 2 through 4 describe the current landscape of equity and representation in higher education. Chapter 2 seeks to compare the number and the departmental distribution of racialized and Indigenous faculty
Malinda S Smith. "Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Alberta"
2012
Are We More Diverse Now?: What the Data Tells Us 24 Years On: On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the University of Alberta’s support for employment equity, this equity audit analyzes the employment data to answer the following question: How diverse are we? The University of Alberta has had an institutional commitment to diversity for 24 years. It adopted a formal employment equity policy 18 years ago when Opening Doors – A Plan for Employment Equity at the University of Alberta was approved by the University’s Board of Governors in January 1994. A review of the data from 2001 and 2007-2011 reveals some progress, some reversals, and some areas of little change. While this equity audit analyzes the data, it cannot fully answer why efforts to diversify the workforce, particularly the professoriate, have been so slow. What the data does suggest, however, is that a system-wide analysis – and a new Presidential Taskforce on Equity and Diversity – is needed.
"Leadership Diversity Matters at Canada’s U15 Research-Intensive Universities" (2018)
Despite decades of employment equity statements, policies and programs in Canadian universities, women, racialized minorities, Indigenous peoples, and persons with disabilities continue to be underrepresented within the senior ranks of university leadership. This study conducted for the Academic Women’s Association by Professor Malinda S. Smith, and presented in four infographics by Ph.D. candidate Nancy Bray, examines the leadership diversity of Canada’s U15 research universities. It examines social, disciplinary, and professional diversity among senior and mid-level university leaders: (i) board chairs and chancellors; (ii) university presidents and their leadership teams (on average 7-8 people); (iii) the three most senior academic positions (presidents, provosts and vice presidents academic, and vice presidents research); and (iv) the deans of major faculties and schools. If the current leadership ‘pipeline’ does not change significantly then it is likely that the future will be no more diverse than the present. The study release and four infographics are available here. https://uofaawa.wordpress.com/awa-diversity-gap-campaign/the-diversity-gap-in-university-leadership-2018/