EDI Data Hub

To make meaningful change to achieve an equitable, diverse, and inclusive university, key demographic data must be collected, and efforts to identify and close the diversity gaps must be tracked. The UCalgary EDI dashboard has been created through a partnership between the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and the Office of Institutional Analysis. This partnership was established because high-quality data can help us reveal the gap between the Canadian population and the student body, faculty, staff, and university leadership. Data can also help institutions like ours avoid a one-size-fits-all approach to EDI measures as it tracks and validates when policies and procedures are making a measurable difference.

The information within our EDI dashboard represents a solid beginning. As we further refine and develop the dashboard, we will expand its data tracking abilities and dive further into the demographics within our university to help guide our EDI work.

Diversity is essential to inclusive excellence in research, teaching and learning. A diversity of voices, experiences and perspectives fuels novel ideas, critical thinking, faster problem-solving, better decision-making, higher employee engagement, and drives creativity and innovation. A diverse talent pool creates the opportunity for new insights and answers to some of the biggest challenges of our time. The University of Calgary is committed to fostering equitable pathways to achieving inclusive excellence across campus. 

As part of the OEDI’s mandate to strengthen UCalgary’s efforts to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion, we conduct equity censuses to gather a snapshot of current demographic data and experiences. The responses provide information needed to develop the necessary supports and services to ensure equitable pathways for all members of the UCalgary community to achieve their full potential. These censuses are a critical component of our reporting.

An equitable and diverse workforce enriches our work

UCalgary is committed to equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.

The research evidence is clear, diversity fuels critical thinking. It contributes to better teachers, researchers, learners and service providers. Diversity is critical to a research institution as it enables better teams and fuels ingenuity, creativity and innovation. Closing our employment gaps requires data to inform evidence-based decisions. Therefore, understanding our employee composition is urgently needed. Please help us be better. Responses to this Employee Equity Census will also provide valuable statistical information that can guide future policies, procedures and practices.

Learn more about the composition of the UCalgary community's employee and student groups. These data infographics represent the changes in demographics over the years 2016 to 2020. This data is integral to the OEDI's reporting strategy as an overall picture of how the UCalgary community reflects the general Canadian population. 

Source(s):

Selected population characteristics of postsecondary faculty and researchers by region, role and employment status (37-10-0165-01), Statistics Canada, Survey of Postsecondary Faculty and Researchers, 2019.

Statistics Canada. Table 37-10-0165-01  Selected population characteristics of postsecondary faculty and researchers by region, role, and employment status

The evidence clearly shows that increasing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in research environments enhances excellence, innovation and creativity. EDI policies and practices strengthen the research community and the quality, social relevance, outcomes, and impacts of research. UCalgary is transforming the research culture by removing systemic barriers in the academic research community.

Equity-deserving groups are communities that face significant collective challenges in participating in society. This marginalization could be created by attitudinal, historical, social and environmental barriers based on age, ethnicity, disability, economic status, gender, nationality, race, sexual orientation and transgender status, etc. Equity-deserving groups identify barriers to equal access, opportunities and resources due to disadvantage and discrimination and actively seek social justice and reparation. 

Under the Employment Equity Act, the government is required to strive to meet representation levels, based on estimated workforce availability, for the four employment equity designated groups: women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities.

Indigenous Peoples

• Statistics Canada - The achievements, experiences and labour market outcomes of First Nations, Métis and Inuit women with bachelor’s degrees or higher 
• Statistics Canada - Statistics on Indigenous peoples

Gender and LGBTQ2S+

• LGBTQ2 Secretariat 
• LGBTQ2 Action Plan Survey
• Statistics Canada- Sex, gender and sexual orientation statistics

Disability and Accessibility

• Statistics Canada - Canadian Survey on Disability Reports 
• Statistics Canada - Accessibility statistics

Visible/Racialized Minorities

• Statistics Canada - A Look at Employment-equity Groups Among Recent Postsecondary Graduates: Visible Minorities, Aboriginal Peoples and the Activity Limited, 1994
• Statistics Canada - Visible Minority Persons 
• Statistics Canada - Ethnicity 
• Immigration and ethnocultural diversity statistics

Women

• CAUT – Narrowing the Gender Gap: Women Academics in Canadian Universities (Mar 2008)
• University and College Academic Staff System – Full-Time Staff (FT-UCASS)

Incorporating EDI strengthens our research programs and projects by harnessing a broader range of ideas, skills, expertise, perspectives and disciplines-which further enhances outcomes, impacts and social relevance and better reflects Canada's diversity, the diverse and globalized world we live and work in, and our responsibilities to the peoples and the lands where we live and work.

The Census of Population provides demographic and social information vital for planning services including child care, schooling, family services and skills training for employment.