UBC launches inaugural Student Diversity Census 

UBC launches inaugural Student Diversity Census 

New census will provide UBC with important demographic data to better understand the diversity of the student body, identify barriers to inclusion and opportunities to enhance student experiences, and assess progress. 

Advancing equity and anti-racism is one of UBC’s institutional priorities. Core to advancing these commitments are efforts to identify and address systemic barriers and inequities where they exist for historically, persistently or systemically marginalized (HPSM) students. The newly launched Student Diversity Census is an important step to obtaining a more accurate understanding of student diversity and of the barriers to equitable and inclusive access to programs and services.

Launched on September 25, all UBC students are encouraged to complete the confidential and secure census at their earliest convenience – and in advance of the first data analysis which will use the information provided by students up until December 11. The link to complete the census is available in a student’s Canvas inbox.

“Our efforts to improve student access, inclusion, wellness and success for all students are enabled by our ability to collect student diversity and student experience data,” says Ainsley Carry, Vice-President, Students. “This census provides a quick but important way for students to help us refine our programs and services.”

What’s the difference between a census and a survey? 

While surveys tend to rely on a smaller sample of respondents from a community, a census aims to collect information from everyone (aiming to get as close as possible to 100 per cent participation). A census is used to maximize accuracy when the aim is to gather more robust information on sub-groups within a population. 

The census takes between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. Every question has an “I choose not to disclose” option so that students can participate in the census to the fullest extent with which they are comfortable. 

The census, and census questions, have been developed and guided by consultations with students from HPSM groups. Only aggregate-level data will be reported on and no personally identifiable information will be shared. All information is confidential and hosted on a secure UBC platform. 

“This is now UBC’s principal tool to better understand the diversity of our student community, and it’s essential to our ability to identify barriers to inclusion faced by students,” says Arig al Shaibah, Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion.

“While we have qualitative data and a sense of where those opportunities already lie, the census will provide an additional and important dimension to deepen that understanding and better focus our efforts.” 

The census also fills an important gap in the coordination and standardization of student data collection. Until now, Faculties and programs have engaged in separate and varied ways to collect student demographic data. Now, through a more centralized process, Faculties and programs will be able to have access to a more robust data set for their local needs allowing them to better understand how they can support HPSM students. Faculty and staff interested in learning more about accessing or using student demographic data can contact the Student Demographic Data project team

In early 2024, a report on the results of the Student Diversity Census will be shared with the campus community and institutional leadership including the Board of Governors, to inform future decisions and guide institutional EDI efforts.  

Following this initial roll-out, the census will in the future be integrated into Workday Student

Learn more about the Student Diversity Census here.  

Trans Day of Remembrance

November days of significance and campus community-building

This November marks several commemorative days that are relevant for the Equity & Inclusion Office (EIO) to acknowledge given their implications for the sense of inclusion and belonging for our diverse domestic and international campus communities.

November days of significance

November marks the 3rd annual Hindu Heritage Month and the second anniversary of Lebanese Heritage Month in Canada. Such heritage months invite us to learn more about and support the preservation of the cultures, histories and universal rights of diasporic communities in Canada.

During this month, we also commemorate the rights of transgender people and women. Trans Week of Awareness takes place from November 13 to the 19, culminating in Trans Day of Remembrance – a worldwide observance on November 20. UBC will fly the transgender flag during the week and lower all flags on the 20.  Soon after, we recognize the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25th, which kicks off 16 days of activism against gender-based violence. To learn more about the trans rights, trans inclusion and trans affirming care as well as campus events and resources broadly attending to gender-based rights and gender equity/justice at the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses – visit events.ubc.ca/tdor.

November is also the month in which communities across the world are invited to recognize the UN International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, observed on November 29. 

The EIO always acknowledges days of significance with full awareness of the socio-cultural and geo-political context of the day, and the complexity of impacts on UBC’s diverse and globally interconnected communities. Faculty, students and staff continue to feel the reverberations of the ongoing and expanding violence associated with the Israel-Palestine-Lebanon conflict – whether we have ancestral and diasporic ties to and/or family in the region, or we are deeply emotionally and intellectually engaged with the region through research and teaching, or we are involved in professional and scholarly collaborations in the region or we deeply empathize with the devastation in the region and are searching for ways that we can make a difference in promoting peace and justice.   

Through these difficult times, the EIO continues to engage community-building initiatives to promote and protect human rights, educational and employment equity, as well as a sense of inclusion, belonging and safety. I want to share some of the most recent work in this regard. 

Protecting rights and freedoms

Aligned with our mandate, we continue to work with UBC leaders and community members to foster living, learning and working environments that are free from discrimination, harassment, and violence based on protected human rights grounds. We reiterate the university’s obligations to protect human rights and academic freedom as well as the value of freedom of expression including the freedom to peacefully protest to our society.

In response to inquiries and concerns related to discrimination, the EIO continues to offer confidential and impartial human rights advising, facilitation of informal resolution, and referral to campus resources, including the Investigations Office, where appropriate.

Promoting education and community-building

To foster a culture of respect for human rights and encourage constructive critical debate and dialogue, the EIO will soon be releasing an online educational series, including a module on UBC’s obligations under its Discrimination Policy as well as modules on various forms of discrimination, including anti-Arab, anti-Asian, anti-Black, anti-Indigenous and anti-Jewish discrimination. 

To facilitate community-building, the EIO is partnering with academic residential colleges to pilot restorative community practices, which offer voluntary opportunities for resident community members to participate in series of conversations aimed to enhance the sense of inclusion, belonging and safety across the diverse community. 

To encourage critical and constructive academic dialogue and debate, the EIO is offering financial sponsorship of academic and co-curricular events, in accordance with the Strategic Equity & Anti-Racism Enhancement Fund eligibility criteria and guidelines for sponsorship of campus community-led equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives 

For more information, contact the Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion.

Leticia Pamela Garcia

Manager, Student and Community Engagement

Campus: UBC Vancouver
Pronouns: She/her/hers

I’m a seasoned anti-racist educator with extensive experience in higher education and community engagement. Skilled in facilitation, strategic planning, and building community partnerships, I prioritize kindness, education, and accountability in my leadership and actions. I love laughing, movement and music.

Outside of work, my most cherished roles are as mom, daughter, partner, tia, sister and companion to my labradoodle, Jet.

Complete revised Employment Equity Survey

You are invited to complete the 2024 revision of the Employment Equity Survey. This confidential online survey helps inform the university’s understanding of the demographic composition of faculty and staff and efforts to ensure equity and fairness in employment practices. 

New this year, the survey includes an additional response option among disaggregated ethno-racial population groups and an additional question on disability which supports UBC’s compliance under the Federal Contractor’s Program.  

Join over 84 per cent of UBC employees who have participated to date – it takes three minutes, and your information remains confidential and secure. If you previously completed the survey, please update your responses.

The greater the participation rate of UBC employees, the more accurate the data analysis will be, supporting sound leadership planning and decision-making around recruitment, promotion and retention.

As one way to examine patterns and trends in employment across the university, your participation in the survey will enable leadership to take important steps to identify and remove systemic barriers to equity and will help inform the implementation and evaluation of UBC’s equity and antiracism commitments and priorities outlined in the Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism Framework and Roadmap for Change

A few minutes of your time spent completing this survey will provide UBC with better and more accurate data to advance equity and inclusion in our workplaces.  

To learn more about employment equity at UBC, visit https://equity.ubc.ca/resources/employment-equity/.

Please visit our Employment Equity Survey page to learn more about the survey and explore frequently asked questions. To learn more about how the data is reported, please review the 2023 Employment Equity Report.

The deadline is October 31.

Days of significance and fostering a culture of inclusion and belonging 

By Dr. Arig al Shaibah, Associate Vice-President Equity & Inclusion and Honorary Associate Professor Educational Studies

As part of my welcoming remarks at a recent new employee orientation session, I mentioned the Equity & Inclusion Office’s (EIO) efforts to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging through the recognition of particular days of significance. This is just one of many ways that UBC can convey respect for and raise awareness about major religious and cultural observances as well as local and international commemorative events that are resonant and relevant to our diverse global community of students, faculty and staff. 

An awareness of these days of significance enables people managers, supervisors, instructors, coaches and others in decision-making positions to proactively consider when consequential professional and academic events are scheduled or to prepare for the provision of concessions or accommodations so that students, faculty and staff are able to participate in observances or events that are often integral to their emotional, spiritual and social well-being. 

Religious accommodations are important given UBC’s obligations to ensure that learning and working environments do not discriminate on the basis of religion, in accordance with UBC’s Discrimination Policy (SC7).

In addition to communicating days of significance, the EIO subscribes to and has made available as a community resource a comprehensive calendar that includes a broad array of important religious and cultural days and commemorative events.

Days of significance for Jewish and Muslim people are converging in a particularly poignant way this October. As we continue to hold space for grief, we also wish to make space for Jewish and Muslim community members who wish to recognize the following important religious and commemorative events:

  • Two High Holy Days of Judaism take place in October: Rosh Hashanah, which begins at sundown on October 2and ends after nightfall on October 4, and Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, which is observed from minutes before sunset on October 11  to after nightfall on October 12. 
  • October is also Canada’s Islamic History Month. Proclaimed by Parliament in 2007, the month invites recognition of, and dialogue and education related to, the cultural heritage and contributions of Muslim people to world history and knowledge.

During this time, it is important that Jewish students, faculty and staff feel safe and supported to observe their high holy days, and that Muslim students, faculty and staff feel safe and supported to recognize their cultural heritage and their historical and intellectual contributions. 

Support resources available to students, faculty and staff:

Building campus capacity

In addition to raising awareness of days of significance, the EIO is also developing an online educational series to further build UBC community members’ capacity to cultivate learning and working environments that respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all UBC students, faculty and staff.

Within the educational series are introductory modules about antisemitism/anti-Jewish discrimination, anti-Arab discrimination, and Islamophobia/anti-Muslim discrimination. Over the last year, it has been a privilege to engage and consult with Jewish, Arab and Muslim faculty on the development of these forthcoming introductory modules. I want to thank these faculty members for the tremendous emotional and intellectual labour they contributed to this work. The process was complex but rewarding in the creation of space for diverse faculty perspectives to be heard and in the discovery of shared understandings despite outstanding divergences in viewpoints and experiences. 

The resource, which will be released in the coming weeks, intends to build UBC community capacity to cultivate learning and working environments that respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all Jewish, Arab and Muslim students, faculty and staff and that promote their sense of inclusion, belonging and safety. 

The resource reinforces that while academic debate and critical dialogue are foundational to academic freedom and the mission of the university, discriminatory and hate speech targeting Jewish, Arab and Muslim peoples as members of an identifiable group (based on ancestry, colour, place of origin, political belief, race, or religion, for example) are unacceptable violations of UBC’s policies and laws in Canada. This is not to say that impassioned expressions equate to disrespect or discrimination according to UBC’s Respectful Environment Statement (RES) or Discrimination Policy (SC7) – they may simply be expressions of strong disagreement. And, this is also not to say that expressions that do not violate UBC’s RES and SC7 cannot be experienced as invalidations of or insults to one’s identity and personhood – intentional or not. 

The EIO plans to build on this resource and the process. We will continue to work in consultation with our communities in supporting a learning and working environment that fosters a culture of inclusion and belonging in these particularly polarized times. 

Access our guide to navigating human rights and expression rights with an ethic of care.

Communicating progress on StEAR implementation 

A year since the launch of the StEAR Framework and Roadmap for Change, the Associate Vice-President, Equity and Inclusion engaged UBC’s leadership across 15 different touch points and hosted 5 virtual sessions for UBC community members to share progress made to date. 

The 20 engagements provided an opportunity for community members to directly ask questions and provide feedback on the work to date.  

Over 400 community members registered for the five virtual community sessions, four of which were sessions specifically for members of various communities, including racialized, disabled, 2SLGBTQIA+, HPSM students, faculty and staff.   

A high-level summary was also presented to a number of different leadership groups at UBC including the UBC executive, Deans, and administrative and academic leadership bodies at UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan. 

At both the leadership and community-based events, the presentation was well received overall. Opportunities for further improvement and continued engagement were identified, discussed in the Q&A section below.  

The presentation provided a background overview of the StEAR Framework and Roadmap for Change​ development process, StEAR evaluation approach​, including the status of institutional strategic actions, inventory of unit-level activities and institutional indicators of change, and spotlight initiatives. 

*Note: Some session presentations also contained additional information relevant to a particular community of focus.  

Discussion themes 

Throughout the sessions, we received a total of 159 questions across the five community engagement sessions held. These questions reflected deep community engagement and highlighted a broad spectrum of concerns regarding the ongoing implementation of equity and anti-racism initiatives at UBC. Here is a summary of the primary themes that emerged from the questions posed by participants 

Accessibility and Accommodations: This theme was the most prominent during the engagement session with disabled students, faculty, and staff, highlighting significant interest in UBC’s compliance with the Accessible BC Act, the development of comprehensive accessibility plans, and the procedures for ensuring educational and facility accessibility.  

StEAR Framework Implementation and Strategic Priorities: This theme was central to many inquiries, focusing on the methodologies for identifying and prioritizing equity and anti-racism actions within UBC, the role of central units versus individual departments, and the overall consistency and effectiveness of the framework’s implementation across different campuses and faculties. 

Data and Metrics: This theme was one of the top emerging themes at all five community engagement sessions, highlighting participants’ keen interest in understanding how data is collected, analyzed, and utilized to inform and evaluate the university’s equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives.  

Leadership and Institutional Commitment: This theme was the most prominent at the engagement session for 2SLGBTQIA+ students, faculty, and staff. Participants were interested in the depth of involvement and dedication of UBC’s leadership in advancing the Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism (StEAR) framework, as well as how those who are working to advance equity and anti-racism from outside of formal leadership structures, can be recognized for their contributions. 

EDI Funding and Resource Allocation: This theme was the most prominent at the open engagement session for all UBC students, faculty, and staff, with questions focusing on the allocation of resources for EDI initiatives, especially the StEAR Enhancement Fund.  

Complaint Processes and Accountability: This theme was one of the top emerging themes at the engagement session for racialized students, faculty, and staff. Participants expressed a strong desire to understand the mechanisms UBC has in place for handling complaints related to human rights and discrimination, with a particular focus on issues concerning racial and disability equity.  

Antisemitism and Jewish Engagement: There was considerable interest at the engagement session for HPSM students, faculty, and staff in how UBC is engaging with the Jewish community and addressing issues of antisemitism.  

Community Engagement and Advocacy: Participants expressed a strong interest in how UBC plans to foster deeper engagement with various community groups and ensure their active participation in shaping equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives.  

What’s next?

The engagement sessions provided us with first-hand insight into how implementation efforts are received by the UBC community and valuable feedback to consider as we continue to evolve this work going forwards in our attempts to be as responsive as possible to community experiences and needs. The additional resources below share additional information about our work to address the themes raised.  

Moving forward, the EIO will employ an iterative approach to updating the StEAR Roadmap for Change based on a broad spectrum of feedback. We will also continue gathering progress updates on institutional actions, sharing information about unit-level activities, and monitoring indicators of change. We will share an interim update in December 2024 and a Progress Report in June 2025.  

We acknowledge and are grateful to the UBC community, staff, faculty and students, for their ongoing commitments and engagement to advance equity and anti-racism, accountability and engagement. 

Additional Information & Resources 

The below resources provide additional information regarding the themes raised in the sessions.

Additional resources and initiatives are in development related to themes around accessibility and antisemitism. For example, the EIO is developing an EDI educational resource hub on accessibility, human rights, equity and anti-racism, including on antisemitism, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim discrimination as forms of racism.   The Accessibility Committee and Accessibility Planning Team are also in the process of developing an Accessibility plan. 

If you are looking for further opportunities to engage with the EIO and/or StEAR please reach out at info@equity.ubc.ca or sign up for our newsletter

If you need support with unit-level efforts to advance equity and anti-racism efforts, submit a request for a consultation with our office or reach out to your Faculty or portfolio equity lead.

Inviting early career academics to Maximizing Impact 2024/25

Applications open for the StEAR Enhancement Fund

UBC releases 2023 Employment Equity Report 

The 2023 Employment Equity Report presents a comprehensive analysis of trends in employment equity for faculty and staff.  

The comprehensive report is prepared by the UBC Equity & Inclusion Office (EIO) in partnership with the Planning and Institutional Research Office (PAIR) and published annually. It presents the latest demographic data, key findings and ongoing efforts to create a more equitable workplace.

New for 2023, the report incorporates:

  • improvements to the various categories in which UBC’s employment equity data is presented and labour market cohorts to which that data is compared;
  • continued efforts to more fully explore employees’ lifecycles by including turnover data (introduced for the first time in the 2021 report), a high–level depiction of voluntary and involuntary separations and retirement and the proportional representation of designated groups among employees who leave UBC;
  • Faculty and portfolio snapshot data.

Data presented in the report is based on the November 1st, 2023 snapshot of Employment Equity Survey data. 

Key findings

  1. Record response rate:  UBC achieved its highest cumulative response rate to date, with 84 per cent of eligible employees completing the Employment Equity Survey.
  2. Demographic composition trends:  The report provides detailed demographic data for various employee groups, including faculty, staff and executive leadership. Notable findings include:
    • Women: UBC continues to demonstrate strong overall representation amongst women in its workforce (59 per cent at UBCO; 56.4 per cent at UBCV), exceeding regional, provincial, and national workforce representation levels at both campuses.
    • Indigenous employees: The overall proportion of Indigenous employees at UBCO (5.1 per cent) aligns with or exceeds regional, provincial and national comparator cohorts, while at UBCV, the proportion (2.1 per cent) is in alignment with regional but below provincial and national comparator groups.
      • Significant gaps in the representation of Indigenous Peoples are present among UBC’s senior-most Executive group, as compared with provincial and national workforce data, as well as across various professorial and lecturer categories, educational leadership and research streams, research associates and post-doctoral fellows and across a range of staff employment categories.
    • Racialized employees: The overall proportion of racialized employees at UBCO (22 per cent) exceeds regional, falls just below provincial and aligns with national workforce proportions, while racialized employees at UBCV exceed provincial and national workforce proportions but fall below the regional comparator cohort.
      • Significant gaps have been identified among UBC faculty across several professorial and associate professorial categories, Educational Leadership and Research Tenure Streams, with specifics dependent on campus. Significant gaps in the representation of racialized staff are also present in more than half of the employment categories at UBCO.
    • People with disabilities: The overall proportional representation of people with disabilities exceeds national and provincial comparator cohorts at UBCO (12.2 per cent) but is below provincial and aligned with national comparator at UBCV (9.6 per cent).
      • There are significant gaps in representation at UBCO among various professorial roles, in the Educational Leadership and Research Tenure Streams and among Research Associates and Postdoctoral Fellows. There are also significant gaps across a number of employment categories for staff at both UBCV and UBCO.  
    • Non-binary, trans, and 2SLGBQIA+ employees: The representation of these groups is similar across both campuses: non-binary representation is at 1.2 per cent at UBCV and 0.9 per cent at UBCO, trans representation is at 1.2 per cent at UBCV and 1.2 per cent at UBCO, and 2SLGBQIA+ representation is at 10.3 per cent at UBCV and 10 per cent at UBCO. There are no comparable data collected by the government.

Aggregate level summaries may mask nuances of representation at disaggregate levels. For more information on disaggregated data, please access the full report

Ongoing efforts and next steps 

UBC is committed to continuous improvement in its employment equity practices. Key initiatives include: 

  1. Data-driven decision making:  UBC is leveraging systematic collection of demographic data from job applicants through its Applicant Diversity Survey, providing search committees with informative workforce gap analyses and enabling better monitoring of diversity throughout the recruitment process. 
  1. Equitable hiring practices:  The Guide to Equitable Hiring Practices and forthcoming updates to the Equity in Hiring Canvas module will provide hiring managers with specific guidance on integrating equity principles throughout recruitment and hiring processes​. 
  1. Strategic Equity & Anti-Racism (StEAR) Roadmap:  UBC’s StEAR Roadmap outlines strategic actions to improve data collection, analysis, and reporting capabilities, ensuring a holistic understanding of the university’s progress on employment equity commitments. 
  1. Future reports: Looking ahead, UBC plans to release a more comprehensive report in 2025, featuring detailed snapshots of demographic composition across faculties and administrative portfolios, as well as an in-depth analysis of intersectional identities among employees. This expanded analysis will help uncover any masked equity gaps and differential experiences among employees with multiple marginalized identities. The report will provide a clearer picture of the university’s efforts and progress in fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace​. 

UBC’s overall efforts to advance equity and anti-racism are guided by the Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism Framework and Roadmap, inclusive of the 2019 Employment Equity Plan. UBC’s Employment Equity Policy (HR10) sets out the university’s commitment to equity and employment.  

For a full analysis of employment equity at UBC, read the 2023 Employment Equity Report.