Background
Many Canadian academics consider diversity and equity important to them personally and believe that advocacy for diversity and equity should be a norm in academia.
This document provides some concise, tangible suggestions about how to foster greater inclusion and diversity at TRU. While this document was developed in consultation with marginalized voices (e.g. black, Indigenous, people of colour, LGBTQ2S+, women, and persons with disabilities), it has been written by people largely working within, and sometimes also against, the framework of colonial academic philosophy, and bears the markers of its origins. We acknowledge that certain privileges of our social locations inform our perspectives and approaches to equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives. Therefore, we take ownership of recommendations that may further identify the writers’ as those doing the including. We welcome the contributions of marginalized voices that may have been unintentionally silenced within this document and express gratitude for opportunities to recognize blind spots and continue learning. Our intent in writing it is to supplement numerous existing resources rather than replicate them. The present document offers concise suggestions to address the underrepresentation of, and barriers experienced, by women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of racialized minority groups, and members of 2SLGBTQQIA2+ at TRU. This document is a starting point, not an end point, and we offer it in the hopes that you will find suggestions that you can adapt to your disciplinary context. Our aim is to help make TRU more equitable, more representative, more diverse, more inclusive.
Structure
We recognize that different people will be more or less familiar with the fundamental ideas underlying these proposals and may or may not have given much thought to the specific contours and commitments that are particular to the Canadian context. The first part of this document provides a very cursory overview of this background, offering brief introductions to key concepts and identifying specifically Canadian considerations that should inform equity policies. This part concludes with the particular challenges faced by underrepresented groups. By necessity, this section cannot be exhaustive and some more complete and nuanced resources are included at the end. The main body of the document addresses departmental/institutional culture, research, teaching, and service. The focus in these sections is to offer some recommendations for good faith measures whereby members of overrepresented groups can work to make the intellectual community more representative. It is not expected that all persons will choose to take on all these measures. Rather, it is hoped that these may become practices and norms that can help make our university more inclusive.
Critical friendship
The document is offered in the spirit of critical friendship. As defined by the Glossary of Education Reform, “A critical friend is typically a colleague…who is committed to helping an educator or school improve. A critical friend is someone who is encouraging and supportive, but who also provides honest and often candid feedback that may be uncomfortable or difficult to hear. In short, a critical friend is someone who agrees to speak truthfully, but constructively, about weaknesses, problems, and emotionally charged issues.” At its best, academia exemplifies the virtues of critical friendship—our goal is to bring these strong value commitments and critical practices more directly to bear on our profession.