The purpose of this tool is to support units, departments, faculties, and divisions1 in intentionally considering equity, diversity, and inclusion as part of their decision-making processes.
Overview
UBC’s strategic plan has named “inclusion” as one of three cross-cutting themes to help guide the university as it moves into its next century of operations. As a way to operationalize this commitment to inclusion, UBC’s Building Inclusive UBC: An Inclusion Action Plan includes developing equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) decision-making principles as a way to advance the goal of systems change at UBC.
By ensuring that EDI is front-of-mind in any decision that is made, you can ensure your decisions reflect both your values and UBC’s values. The following questions are designed to support you in applying an EDI lens to your decisions.
Decision-Making Considerations
Considerations | Questions to Ask |
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Impacts |
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Symbols and messages |
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Mitigation |
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Feedback and response |
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Next Steps
Consider using these questions to learn from a decision that has already been made. Plan a debrief session when the pressure on a particular decision has lifted, but when you are close enough in time to remember the details.
Reflecting on past decisions provides an opportunity to consider unintended consequences in more detail or to develop a greater understanding of particular communities and groups. Lessons learned from past experiences may ultimately help enhance the way that EDI is incorporated into future decisions.
Diversipro, Inc., (2019). Diversity, Equity and Indigenous Lens. Thunder Bay, ON: Confederation College. Accessed at: https://www.confederationcollege.ca/human-resources-services/human-rights-decolonization/diversity-equity-and-indigenouslens.
Partington, J. (2020 Apr 27). A Mindset, Not a Program: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Time of COVID-19. Academica Forum. Accessed at: https://forum.academica.ca/forum/a-mindset-not-a-program.
Williams, D. (2020). The COVID-19 Crisis Action Strategy Guide: Recommendations to Drive Inclusive Excellence. Atlanta, GA: Centre for Strategic Diversity Leadership and Socia Innovation. Accessed at: https://inclusiveexcellenceacademy.org/deiandcovid19/.
1.Throughout the document EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) will be used to refer to all/any committees whose mandate and/or responsibility include these areas (a.k.a., equity committees). In creating these guidelines, it is important to attend to the variety names, formations, and histories of these types of committees↩