Inclusivity
OurI-EDIAA, DEI, EDI… all acronyms towards the same goal, improving our environment and putting people first. Our program uses the acronym I-EDIAA for Indigenization – Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Anti-Racism, and Accessibility. It’s long, but it reflects our values.
This program is committed to creating an equitable, inclusive, and accessible research environment with pro-I-EDIAA programming in recruitment, research, and training.
What is I-EDIAA?
Indigenization
Equity
Diversity
Inclusion
Accessibility
Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression
Indigenization
Indigenization is a process of naturalizing Indigenous knowledge systems, this involves bringing Indigenous knowledge and approaches together with Western knowledge systems. This benefits all students, teachers, and community members involved or impacted by Indigenization (Antoine, A., Mason, R., Mason, R., Palahicky, S., Rodriguez de France, C. (2018). Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers. Victoria, BC: BC campus. Retrieved from opentextbc.ca/indigenization)
Equity
Working to ensure that all individuals, particularly equity-seeking groups, have the access and opportunity for full participation. “Equity means providing the tools and knowledge students need in a manner that is accessible to each student” (Kumar, R. & Refaei, B. (2021). Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education: Strategies for Teaching. University of Cincinnati Press.
Diversity
Curricular diversification involves questioning, disrupting, and challenging dominant western-centric knowledges, pedagogies, intellectual traditions, and ways of knowing, to includes Indigenous, international, non-western, anti-racist, decolonial, and feminist perspectives. Importantly, it aims to foster new perspectives to emerge from sustained engagement with/through/among these various perspectives.
A diversified curriculum also seeks to meet the needs of diverse learners & diverse learning-styles, by weaving accessibility into the design, delivery, assessment, and evaluation of program curricula. By including diversified approaches to assessment and teaching styles, Faculties can ensure all students are treated equitably and are reflecting the needs of our diverse student body. Diversifying the curriculum therefore requires a holistic approach that is enacted at all levels of the University and includes all faculties as well as professional services. (Draft UCARE Curriculum Diversity Plan, in press)
Inclusion
“The ways in which pedagogy, curricula and assessment are designed and delivered to engage students in learning that is meaningful, relevant and accessible to all. It embraces a view of the individual and individual difference as the source of diversity that can enrich the lives and learning of others.” (Hockings, C. (2010) Inclusive learning and teaching in higher education: a synthesis of research. Higher Education Academy.)
Accessibility
There is an ongoing and longstanding community concern about the persistent invisibility of disabled people and voices within equity, diversity, and inclusion work. We strive to elevate inclusion and improve access to everyone in our program. We are committed to building an inclusive community for all individuals, including supports and spaces that are accessible for persons with disabilities.
Anti-Racism and Anti-Oppression
“An active process of identifying and counteracting racism by changing systems, organizational structures, policies, practices, and attitudes so that power is redistributed” (Queen’s HREO Showing up for Anti-Racism Resources).
>“Anti-Oppression Theory: the framework for understanding the world and one’s own place in it, questioning and challenging one’s practices, and creating new approaches that counter oppression and lead toward reconciliation and decolonization” (Antoine, A., Mason, R., Mason, R., Palahicky, S., Rodriguez de France, C. (2018). Pulling Together: A Guide for Curriculum Developers. Victoria, BC: BCcampus. Retrieved from opentextbc.ca/indigenization )
Why does I-EDIAA Matter?
Being fair is important, having a safe environment for individuals to participate in science improves the social atmosphere and research results.
The Canadian Physics community demographics does not match the Canadian workforce. In the most recent Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP) survey in Engineering and Physics, self-identified women comprise roughly 30% of the Physics workforce, and BIPOC women account for 7%; <1% of all respondents in the survey identified as Black. Innovation demands a diverse team, and a better balance is needed in the industry.
How do we support I-EDIAA?
Recruitment Practices
We must locate diverse perspectives to join our program.
Open postings must reach those from equity deserving groups (including people of diverse gender identities, visible minorities, Indigenous people, people with disabilities, and the intersectionality of these identities). We will create inclusive descriptions, use targeted advertising, and mitigate unconscious bias within our committees.
Training
We must create a safe and comfortable environment for all.
Working with their supervisors, trainees will receive personalized mentoring with one-on-one meeting and collaborative meetings. Trainees and supervisors will have access to I-EDIAA training through our summer school to continue their personal growth.