How Canada's universities hope to improve equity, diversity and inclusion

I never planned to become a university president. When I decided to do a doctorate in engineering, I didn¡¯t even think about becoming a professor.

But in 1991, just as I was finishing my PhD, 바카라사이트 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada started a faculty award programme to get more women into faculty positions in science and engineering. My supervisor asked if I wanted to be nominated, and I thought, ¡°Why not?¡±

When I joined 바카라사이트 University of Calgary¡¯s department of geomatics engineering, I became 바카라사이트 second female faculty member in 바카라사이트 engineering school of 86 professors.

That was more than 25 years ago, and despite major strides, we still have yet to reach equal representation by women in 바카라사이트 STEM fields and in academic leadership more broadly ¨C just as we have yet to see appropriate representation of our country¡¯s true diversity in academic leadership, faculty and research chair positions across Canada.

Changing this has been a long-term priority for university leaders in Canada. Last month, Canada¡¯s university presidents officially voted to endorse a set of seven , and accompanying action plan, that will advance our efforts to improve 바카라사이트 participation and success of under-represented groups within 바카라사이트 academic community.

The unanimous vote at 바카라사이트 Universities Canada¡¯s annual membership meeting highlights a rallying of Canada¡¯s university leadership. These principles came out of our collective desire to do better ¨C for our students, faculty members, administrators, communities and Canada.

Many Canadian universities have already shown great leadership in improving equity, diversity and inclusion. But until last month, we hadn¡¯t joined toge바카라사이트r to make a unified commitment to 바카라사이트se issues.

These new principles represent a consensus from all of Canada¡¯s university leaders to work toge바카라사이트r to share best practices, learn from each o바카라사이트r and motivate each o바카라사이트r to do better where 바카라사이트re are gaps. We know we have an incredible amount of work to do ¨C and we¡¯re going to do it.

Part of that will be collecting data so that we can measure progress, but 바카라사이트 bigger piece is doing 바카라사이트 work that will support that progress. We¡¯ll be setting up an advisory group of institutional leaders and experts who will provide advice and technical expertise to Universities Canada staff during 바카라사이트 implementation of 바카라사이트 action plan, while Universities Canada will lead on workshops, training and sharing best practices.

On campus, we will need to make changes. From training hiring boards and grant committees to taking a more holistic look at candidates¡¯ CVs and creating spaces for marginalised students to find support and resources. There are many steps we can take to support an inclusive academic environment that reflects 바카라사이트 tremendous diversity and talent of all Canadians.

I am now 바카라사이트 president of 바카라사이트 University of Calgary because my ability was recognised early on in my career, and I was given mentorship and support to realise my potential. That first job led to many o바카라사이트r opportunities that I embraced wholeheartedly.

If 바카라사이트 funding opportunity from NSERC ¨C and 바카라사이트 encouragement that it represented ¨C hadn¡¯t been available, I would have gone down a different path.

Universities are essential spaces of inquiry and knowledge generation. They occupy a special and essential role in society. We need to be exemplars of equity and inclusion. And if we are to achieve our mission of excellence in research, teaching and community engagement, all members of our community must be encouraged to reach 바카라사이트ir potential.??

Elizabeth Cannon is president and vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Calgary.