Building a more inclusive environment at McGill with SAFE: Students Advocating For Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
By Fio Vialard, Keerthana Harwalkar and Sheri McDowell
The spring of 2020 brought global attention to injustices linked to race and ethnicity that exist within society. Out of this intensely emotional time, McGill University’s Students Advocating For Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (SAFE) committee was born. What initially started as a small group of students interested in building a more inclusive academic environment, has transformed into a Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences committee with 10 trainees and 2 faculty members trying to progressively shape our current academic landscape through the fundamental principles of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA).
Our goals
All individuals are different, and as such, they have different advantages and barriers. In addition, certain individuals have been systematically excluded from or prejudiced within academia and science due to the historical and current structures that post-secondary institutions might unwittingly uphold. Providing equal opportunities ensures that these individuals with diverse identities are on an equal footing, such that ultimately, this will lead to an erosion of the current underrepresentation in science that affects this demographic. To succeed in a workspace, this equal footing needs to be promoted and maintained by addressing accessibility concerns and ensuring a safer and more welcoming work environment. In a space committed to EDIA practices, all individuals play a role in ensuring a safer, more welcoming, accessible, and equitable space. It is the moral imperative of academic institutions to strive towards such an environment and it is based on these principles that SAFE has developed its goals.
EDIA in the workspace, particularly in scientific research, is crucial. A diverse community of scientists in a welcoming and equitable environment allows for diverse ideas, perspectives, and thought processes that can enrich both the workplace and scientific research. EDIA in scientific research also ensures that scientific data is relevant to society and helps mitigate biases both in experiment planning and execution. Finally, inclusive EDIA practices in scientific research improves representation of systemically excluded, marginalized and racialized individuals in academic fields, informing present and future generations that science is for everyone.
As a Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences affiliated EDIA committee, SAFE is dedicated to creating a safer space where systemically excluded, marginalized and racialized students and post-doctoral fellows (postdocs) vulnerable to systematic barriers to success can feel heard, supported and validated. With this working mandate in mind, we have three main goals:
To support and build a community for systemically excluded, marginalized and racialized students and postdocs.
To educate the wider university and society about issues pertaining to EDIA within science and academia.
To implement action – through institutional change – to ensure procedures are put in place that allow for sustainable change.
Our ongoing initiatives
We currently provide support to graduate students and postdocs through three main types of initiatives:
Townhall meetings: These formal meetings are organized once a semester and are designed to encourage dialogue within the student/postdoc community in order to share experiences/feedback. This helps us understand student/postdoc needs and informs the SAFE committee of relevant matters as well as helps to assess and encourage growth. Our previous townhall meetings had discussions revolving around understanding one's rights as a student, the necessity for faculty/staff EDIA training, and the importance of mental health in international students who face various challenges not faced by home students, among others.
Monthly 5 à 7 virtual socials/community gatherings: Every month, the SAFE committee organizes informal gatherings (currently being done virtually to ensure COVID-19 guidelines are followed) to provide a safer space to connect with peers, share experiences, and unwind from the stresses of post-secondary studies, thus building a supportive community circle. One of our more recent gatherings had the theme "scary stories in different cultures", where attendees participated in a quiz about folklore associated with diverse cultures. Similarly, we have had discussions about language, mental health, current topics of interest in various countries, grad school during the pandemic, all in an informal, relaxed setting.
Lunch & Learn Workshops (in collaboration with the student-led Health & Wellness Working Group and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences): As the name suggests, these workshops center around learning about a specific topic (accompanied by free food) – both staples of the graduate student/postdoc experience. Every last Thursday of the month, we deliver food and drinks to different campus locations, followed by a virtual webinar on a variety of EDIA topics. Recent workshop topics have covered career planning and microaggressions in academia. Our upcoming workshop in January 2022 will revolve around best practices in using gender-inclusive language at McGill.
With these initiatives informing our committee's trajectory, we hope to mold our ongoing initiatives or develop new ones to improve the support we can offer to students and postdocs.
Our future
As a faculty-wide, student-led group, with the aim of building an inclusive community, SAFE has introduced initiatives to encourage dialogue and educate individuals on EDIA practices. We aim to continue these initiatives, while also improving them and/or creating new ones to enhance the support we offer to our community. We are committed to ensuring that all voices are heard and addressed, with our overarching goal being the alleviation of systemic structures that exist or potentially exist at the University-level, which make the academic experience challenging or difficult for systematically affected or excluded students. With that mindset, SAFE will closely follow the development of EDIA training available to students, staff and faculty. This project is part of the EDIA action plan as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Plan and the action plan to address anti-black racism that McGill University is committed to implement. We hope to use our platform to gather student/postdoc experiences to better inform EDIA projects put forth by the University and the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Finally, we hope that the birth of SAFE will encourage individuals, other faculties, and universities to implement similar programs that will positively affect our society and communities. Students and postdocs are encouraged to reach out to us at safe@mcgill.ca if they would like to get involved or share any experiences that they might need moral support regarding.
Acknowledgments:
We thank the SAFE executive committee members for their insights, dedication and help with all our initiatives. We thank the students and postdocs who share their experiences with us, attend our events and support our committee. We thank the speakers and individuals who play supporting roles during our meetings and initiatives.
About the Authors:
All authors are members of the SAFE executive committee
Fio is a recent graduate of the Master of Microbiology and Immunology program and is currently working as a research assistant at the Centre for Outcome Research and Evaluation at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre in the field of innovative diagnostics for sexually transmitted infections. They are currently the Secretary of the SAFE executive committee.
Keerthana is completing her PhD in Human Genetics in the field of gynecological oncology, at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute. She is a Communications Officer of the SAFE executive committee.
Sheri is completing her PhD in Physiology in the field of cancer research at the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute. She founded the SAFE committee and is currently the Chair of the SAFE executive committee.