Equity, diversity and inclusion

Equity involves treating all members of the academic community with fairness, impartiality and transparency, while recognizing the existence of advantages and barriers that place community members at different starting points. Equity is thus a process, which begins by recognizing these inequalities and ensuring that sustained efforts are invested to address the imbalances.

Diversity consists of the conditions, expressions and experiences of different individuals and groups identified by age, education, gender orientation, parental status/responsibility, immigration status, Indigenous status, religion, disability, language, race, place of origin, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status and other attributes. Diversity is thus a complex and multidimensional concept encompassing aspects relating to individuals as well as society. Diversity is often linked to visible dimensions but also touches upon a number of invisible ones: thoughts, perspectives, and life experiences including, for example, one’s education, family circumstances, values, and aspirations.

Inclusion refers to an intentional process to commit to diversity so that each member of the academic community is given the opportunity to take part in, and actively contribute to, the university’s progress and receive the same recognition. To be real and sustained, inclusion must be reflected in university leadership as well as in governance, teaching, research, employment, and community activities. Inclusion also requires that organizations affirm the values and principles of equity, justice and respect and remain open to different opinions and perspectives.

• Informing the next generation about scientific studies and careers: 1,000 sciences component of the Projet SEUR; Eurêka! Festival; Salon International de la Femme Noire; 
• AI training for women STEM graduates: AI for Social Good Summer Lab program;
• Internship program to support the next generation of African scientists with the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences;
• Allocation of research funds to young researchers from diversity backgrounds:  FRQ–IVADO research chairs for diversity and equity in data science.

• We appointed Professor Vincent Larivière, holder of the Canada Research Chair in the Transformations of Scholarly Communication, to conduct a survey of researchers in our IVADO ecosystem so as to better understand their perceptions and experiences related to EDI;
• We are supporting researcher Gita Ghiasi, whose work focuses on gender and equality issues in science and technology;
• We supported the creation and structuring of the Québec Interuniversity Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Network, which brings together some 100 members from all universities in the province.

• First IVADO/Mila International Summer School on Bias and Discrimination in AI;
• Support for the Montréal Declaration for Responsible AI, which includes the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion in the development of AI, and for the creation of the Observatoire international sur les impacts sociétaux de l’IA et du numérique (international observatory on the societal impacts of AI and digital technology).