Gender equity at the University of Toronto

lanthierj — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 11:52:52 +0000

lanthierj Fri, 09/30/2016 - 07:52

Cutline

“We have an incredibly rich diversity of students, and we want to ensure our faculty and staff more closely reflect our student body," Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr says (photo by Ken Jones)

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Author legacy

Noreen Ahmed-Ullah

Topic

Our Community

Faculty

Gender

Equity

Report

Provost

The University of Toronto released a report today that shows how far the university has come in hiring, retaining and promoting female faculty in the past decade – and identifies areas where women continue to be under-represented.

“A great international university is strengthened when we have the views and talents of a broad, diverse range of people committing to the generation of knowledge and the teaching of our students,” said Vice-President and Provost Cheryl Regehr.

“We have an incredibly rich diversity of students, and we want to ensure our faculty and staff more closely reflect our student body so that our students can find inspiration about the kind of opportunities that are available to them.”

Regehr said she expects the data in the Gender Equity and Pathways to Leadership report to trigger conversations across the three campuses, helping administrators improve the gender makeup of their faculty.

It’s just one of several initiatives underway at the university addressing diversity in U of T’s faculty ranks, Regehr said, adding the university plans to release updated data annually, along with race-based statistics once those become available.

“It’s about transparency,” said Sioban Nelson, vice-provost of academic programs and faculty and academic life.

“You can see different disciplines which have long struggled to attract women, as well as some divisions that traditionally have more gender disparities in the ranks between men and women. That data is now at the disposal of divisions to use when they’re doing their academic planning. We’re keen to support academic divisions so they can do that analysis, make those priorities, and have the strategies to ensure that they can attract the most diverse pool from which to hire and retain outstanding faculty.”

Other initiatives include a University Fund allocation, launched by the provost’s office in the spring, setting aside $1.5 million to help departments pay for salaries of diverse faculty from under-represented groups who are hired this year, particularly Indigenous faculty, racialized faculty, and women in STEM fields. Twenty positions were filled almost immediately, and another 10 positions were added.

The university has also joined the National Center for Faculty Diversity and Development, which provides support for junior and mid career faculty, as well as graduate students. This organization offers many resources for women and racialized faculty in fields where there may be few. An updated employment equity survey has also begun to collect data on race.

Report

Gender equity at the University of Toronto

Read more about the survey

Read more about Connections and Conversations

Look through additional data on women in U of T’s tenure stream