Higher Ed are Ramping Up Targeted Hiring
University job postings seldom get noticed by the public. But this spring,听, the听听and even听听took umbrage at advertisements for Canada Research Chair (CRC) positions at Universit茅 Laval, the University of Toronto and others that stipulated only women, visible minorities, Indigenous people and people with disabilities should apply.
A听听posting for an engineering chair that was open only to women; a University of Waterloo听听for someone who identifies as a woman, transgender, non-binary, or two-spirit; and a听听ad for a Tier 1 CRC job for a person with a disability 鈥渋n any area of research across Western鈥檚 eleven faculties鈥� have similarly been drawing attention.
All of these institutions were following guidance and diversity targets laid out by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat, which is the government body responsible for administering the CRC program. Amid these small-scale controversies, the secretariat鈥檚 directives may be transforming diversity mandates at Canadian universities. 鈥淲hat we鈥檝e heard from many faculty and institutions is that our work to promote equity, diversity and inclusion has increased discussions and actions within institutions, and the research ecosystem more broadly,鈥� said Marie-Lynne Boudreau, the secretariat鈥檚 director.
The CRC targets are based on the 2016 census and will ramp up, by 2029, to see 50 per cent women, 22 per cent racialized minorities, 4.9 per cent Indigenous peoples and 7.5 per cent persons with disabilities holding chair appointments. As of听, women held 40.9 per cent of these prestigious research jobs, visible minorities 22.8 per cent, Indigenous peoples 3.4 per cent, and people with disabilities 5.8 per cent.
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