In this 8-minute video, Dr. Sonia Anand, Associate Chair of Equity and Diversity at the McMaster University Department of Medicine, explains equity, diversity, and inclusion in academic leadership
"Equity means fairness and justice and focuses on outcomes that are most appropriate for a given group, recognizing different challenges, needs, and histories. It is distinct from diversity, which can simply mean variety [...] It is also not equality, or ‘same treatment,’ which doesn’t take differing needs or disparate outcomes into account. Systemic equity involves a robust system and a dynamic process consciously designed to create, support and sustain social justice" (From Race Forward's Race Reporting Guide)
"Equity may be considered both an approach and a process that recognizes the existence of systemic social inequalities and introduces actions to proactively reduce, if not remove, institutional structural and cultural barriers to equal opportunity and inclusion" (McMaster Equity and Inclusion Office)
"There are many kinds of diversity, based on race, gender, sexual orientation, class, age, country of origin, education, religion, geography, physical, or cognitive abilities. Valuing diversity means recognizing differences between people, acknowledging that these differences are a valued asset, and striving for diverse representation as a critical step towards equity." (From Race Forward's Race Reporting Guide)
"Diversity is a state or condition that reflects the broad ‘mix’ and layers, of differences in any community. In the university setting, compositional diversity refers to the numeric and proportional representation of different peoples, across many intersecting dimensions of sociocultural group identities" (McMaster Equity and Inclusion Office)
"Being included within a group or structure. More than simply diversity and quantitative representation, inclusion involves authentic and empowered participation, with a true sense of belonging and full access to opportunities."(From Race Forward's Race Reporting Guide)
"Inclusion is a sense of belonging and dignity, as well as the experience of meaningful engagement, empowerment, and equality of opportunity in any community. A climate of inclusion is made possible through the intentional and ongoing development of community awareness, knowledge, and skills, and the application of these competencies to enhance personal and interpersonal capabilities, as well as institutional culture and climate" (McMaster Equity and Inclusion Office)
"Attitudes that unconsciously affect our decisions and actions. People often think of bias as intentional, i.e. someone wanted to say something racist [...] people are often unaware of their bias, and the concept of implicit bias helps describe a lot of contemporary racist acts that may not be overt or intentional. Implicit bias is just as harmful, so it is important to talk about race explicitly and to take steps to address it. Institutions are composed of individuals whose biases are replicated, and then produce systemic inequities. It is possible to interrupt implicit bias by adding steps to decision-making processes that thoughtfully consider and address racial impacts." (from Race Forward's Race Reporting Guide)