Throughout history, diverse groups of women and men have faced both formal and social barriers and disadvantages in particular societies, based on gender, ethnicity, religion, age, and so on.
Historical disadvantage refers to this systemic circumstance or condition.
Refers to the intentional and ongoing practice of fostering a safe, supportive, diverse, and respectful environment. A space can easily be diverse without being inclusive. Practices that are framed as inclusive but continue to center the experiences of those with power and privilege as the “norm” from which space can be carved out for the accommodation of other experiences are not genuinely inclusive. Inclusion is not only the practice of ensuring a seat at the table for everyone, but of dismantling the structures that determine whose table will be used.
Inclusion encompasses norms, practices and intentional actions to promote participation, engagement, empowerment and a sense of belonging for members of EDGs who are underrepresented and historically disadvantaged in university life. Inclusion is a mindset and skillset necessary for the cultivation and promotion of an institutional culture and set of practices to ensure all members of the campus community can experience it as welcoming, and as a space of fairness, dignity and human flourishing. Where diversity may focus on quantitative representation, inclusion focuses on the qualitative experience of belonging. Where diversity may exist with inequity, isolation and marginality, social inclusion focuses on culture and practices that deepen participation and engagement. Inclusion requires institutions to design spaces of leadership and governance, teaching and learning, research, scholarship and artistic inquiry, and community engagement so that there are no impediments to full participation by women, visible/racialized minorities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and LGBTQ2S+. Inclusion requires proactive measures to transform cultures and relations.
We value the equitable, intentional and ongoing engagement of diversity within every facet of university life. It is the shared responsibility of all community members to foster a welcoming, supportive and respectful learning, teaching, research and work environment.
(Source: Recruiting & Hiring Diverse Faculty Guidelines)
From: TMU Dimensions Action Plan
True excellence in an institution is unattainable without inclusion; and, in fact, diversity and inclusion are fundamental to excellence. Inclusive excellence moves away from historical approaches to diversity that focused on numbers and representation and instead helps us think about the institution as a vibrant community that can create excellence by embedding diversity throughout all its operations and relations.
Inclusive Excellence is the individual and institutional pursuit of excellence, quality or merit, and is best achieved in equitable, diverse, inclusive and decolonial conditions in which everyone can thrive. While the human pursuit of excellence is an inclusive one, how it is socially and institutionally defined, operationalized and recognized historically has often been exclusionary of, among other things, diverse ways of knowing, knowledges, methodologies and perspectives. Recognizing the integral relationship between equity-as fairness and inclusive excellence is necessary to mitigate how access to, and success within, scholarly associations, universities and colleges have been shaped by histories of discriminatory ideas, attitudes, processes and practices.
Inclusive excellence affirms how diversity can deepen learning, enhance critical thinking and problem-solving, and fuel creativity and innovation in teaching and learning, research and artistic enquiry, professional service, and community engagement in academia.
At TMU, this involves proactively applying and incorporating acquired knowledge and understanding of EDI and anti-racism into policies, processes, practices and behaviours to promote a culture where all members of our community (students, faculty and staff) feel a greater sense of belonging, are supported, are valued for their differences and encouraged to participate. Inclusive excellence also calls for the intentional evaluation of inclusion efforts (qualitatively and quantitatively).
From: TMU Dimensions Action Plan
According to the Tri-Agency: "The three agencies recognize the diversity of Indigenous Peoples, including global Indigenous Peoples. The fact that an Indigenous person does not fall within the scope of this Policy does not mean that they are not Indigenous, nor does it prevent them from self-identifying as Indigenous according to their respective Indigenous traditions, cultures and protocols. For the purposes of interpretation, however, “Indigenous people”, “Indigenous persons” or “Indigenous applicants” within the Tri-Agency Policy and Directive on Indigenous Citizenship and Membership Affirmation refers to First Nations, Inuit or Métis people."
Source: Tri-Agency Policy on Indigenous Citizenship and Membership Affirmation
Refers to the way in which people’s lives are shaped by their multiple and overlapping identities and social locations such as race, class, sexual orientation and gender, which, together, can produce a unique and distinct experience for that individual or group. The term was coined in 1989 by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, and built upon by other Black feminist scholars, to not only acknowledge the ways in which people’s experiences are shaped by their multiple and overlapping identities and social locations, but to also account for the ways in which these experiences are shaped differently by processes of discrimination, oppression, power and privilege. As such, the term accounts for the complex contextual dynamics of social inequality, power, relationality and systemic disadvantage. This theoretical framework was developed by professor Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 in a paper for the University of Chicago Legal Forum entitled “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics” to explain how African-American women face overlapping disadvantages and discrimination related to sexism and racism. This approach or lens is a best practice and assists researchers to better understand and address the multiple barriers and disadvantages that individuals with intersecting social identities, such as race, gender, sexuality and class, face. All individuals have multiple identities, and the intersection of those identities should be considered wherever possible. Using an intersectional approach to develop policies and research projects helps better identify and address systemic barriers.
From: TMU Dimensions Action Plan
A range of hidden mental and physical attributes which are not immediately apparent but may cause a disadvantage or have an impact on an individual’s personal well-being. This includes chronic pain or fatigue, amnesia, autoimmune disease (e.g. various forms of arthritis, multiple sclerosis), brain injuries, anxiety, mental illness, sight or hearing impairments, neurological disorders, learning differences and cognitive dysfunctions, among others.
From: TMU Dimensions Action Plan