taking action to change the systemic discrimination apparent as the first
appointments started being made under the Chrétien government as a
millennium project to create 2,000 new professorial positions across
Canada. As a result of a single message which we sent to the list, women
academics volunteered from across the country to launch a Complaint with
Canada's Human Rights Commission. The co-founders of PAR-L, the late
Michèle Olliver and I, were amongst the group of eight that came together,
with the incredible effort of CAUT legal counsel Rosemary Morgan and
Maureen Webb, and successfully negotiated, over the course of three years,
a Settlement Agreement with the Canada Research Chairs Program.
That legal Agreement was signed in 2006. Not nearly enough progress has
been made in the ensuing decade, not just for women (especially senior
women who hold only 17% of "Tier 1" Chairs), but for all target groups
including people with disabilities, radicalized minorities, and Indigenous
people. A law professor and activist at the University of Ottawa, Amir
Attaran, is taking the initiative, now that a decade has passed and we have
a government committed to equity and diversity, to champion change once
again.
Here are some links you may find interesting, with some statistics and
interpretation. You could help by making some inquiries at your own
institutions. A concerted effort will surely be necessary.
Yours,
Wendy Robbins
*Canada Research Chairs Program.*
*Statistics by Gender*
As of 2016, the Canada Research Chairs Program has decided to publish
additional statistics to illustrate the progress made to date, and the work
that still needs to be done, on the representation of women among the
Canada Research Chairs.
From the figures below, it can be concluded that:
· for the last 10 years, universities have recruited women for an
average of 31 per cent of their available Canada Research Chair positions;
· the program’s average success rates of both genders are equal, at
91 per cent; and
· the proportion of active Tier 2 Chairs who are women has increased
steadily from 31 per cent in 2011 to 37 per cent in 2015, but the
proportion for active Tier 1 Chairs remained constant at 17 per cent, over
the same period
http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.
And here is what the Secretariat is being prompted to do about this lack of
progress.l
http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.
Open Letter to University Presidents from the Canada Research Chairs Program
------------------------------
On April 28, 2016, the following letter was sent on behalf of the Canada
Research Chairs Program’s Steering Committee to the presidents of all
institutions that participate in the program. The program works together
with these institutions to find and share strategies and practices
<http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.
that respect openness, transparency and equity, with the goal of ensuring
all qualified researchers have access to, and the opportunity to
participate in, the program.
This letter is an important reminder of the program’s firm commitment to
equity. It calls on all institutions to continue and further strengthen
their efforts to address the underrepresentation within the program of
members from the four designated groups. In the spirit of openness and
transparency, the program is currently exploring options for making public
the results and findings of itstarget-setting exercise
<http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.
while also respecting the *Privacy Act*.
April 28, 2016
To the University Presidents who participate in the Canada Research Chairs
Program:
I am writing today, on behalf of the Steering Committee for the Canada
Research Chairs Program, to call on you and your colleagues across Canada
to make a concerted effort to address the under representation of the four
designated groups (women, Aboriginal Peoples, persons with disabilities and
visible minorities) in nominations for Canada Research Chair positions.
In November 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau appointed the most diverse Cabinet
in Canada’s history. Efforts are ongoing, internationally and in Canada, to
increase the proportion of women on corporate boards and other positions of
leadership. We know that some of you have publicly committed to specific
diversity goals at your institution. Others have put in place equally
important institution-wide policies and targets with respect to advancing
women and members of the other designated groups to positions of academic
leadership. Canadian universities have shown innovation and leadership in
this area.
The program’s steering committee, which is composed of the Presidents of
the three federal granting agencies, the Deputy Ministers of Innovation,
Science and Economic Development and Health Canada, as well as the
President of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, would like to see these
groundbreaking efforts also translate into a greater representation of the
four designated groups among Canada Research Chair nominees. We are
especially concerned by the very slow progress being made in this regard.
For example for women,their representation among chairholders
<http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.
has not increased at the same rate as in the representation of women in
academia. We recognize that affecting the recruitment process in a complex
organization such as a university can be challenging. We are calling on
you and your colleagues to sustain and *intensify* your efforts, in order
to address, as soon as possible, the under representation of individuals
from the four designated groups within the program.
From its inception, the Canada Research Chairs program was established to
help leaders of Canada’s postsecondary institutions build world-class
centres of excellence, in support of institutional strategies. Now, fifteen
years later, the program remains one of the key tools available to you to
implement the vision and goals you have set for your institution.
The Canada Research Chairs Program is currently undergoing an evaluation
and the results are expected in the fall of 2016. My fellow Steering
Committee members and I will review the results of the evaluation with an
‘equity lens’ to consider what program changes may be necessary to further
address equity within the program and to better support your efforts. We
would encourage your institution to conduct a similar review to see what
changes are necessary within your own organization to affect substantive
change. We welcome your thoughts on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Ted Hewitt, PhD
President, SSHRC
Cc: Institutional 1st contact
Institutional 2nd contact
Alain Beaudet, President CIHR
Mario Pinto, President NSERC
Gilles Patry, President and CEO CFI
John Knubley, Deputy Minister Industry Canada
Simon Kennedy, Deputy Minister Health Canada
Michèle Boutin, Executive Director, Chairs Program
Dominique Bérubé, Vice-President SSHRC
