Equity, Diversity & Inclusion
Western University is committed to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Decolonization, (EDI-D) and is collecting applicant equity and diversity data to fulfill our commitments to hiring more indigenous, black, women, persons with disability, and LGBTQ2S+ staff and faculty.
We hope to fulfill this commitment by using responsible collection and analysis of personal information and data that accurately reflects the demographic composition of those applying to be a part of the Western community. The data will help to inform decisions related to the effectiveness of our recruitment and hiring processes. The question areas include: Sexual Orientation; Gender Identity; Indigenous Identity; Accessibility (person with a disability); Racial Identity.
Completion of this questionnaire is voluntary. Please indicate if you do not wish to complete it. This data will always be reported in aggregate form only to hiring units to maintain the anonymity of respondents.
The University of Western Ontario collects personal information under the authority of the University of Western Ontario Act, 1982, as amended. The information collected on this questionnaire is needed by the University for the purposes of ensuring an equitable, diverse, and inclusive work and learning community. Questions relating to the collection of information may be directed to: working-at-western-faculty@uwo.ca or working-at-western-staff@uwo.ca.
Definitions and Notes
Sexual Orientation:
Sexual Identity refers to an individual's identity in relation to the gender(s) to which they are attracted and or how people identify their sexuality. Our applicant data places the sexual orientation options of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer, Asexual, and Pansexual into one variable in order to protect the anonymity and safety of respondents.
Gender Identity:
Our applicant data places the sexual orientation options of Gender non-conforming, Gender Fluid, Non-binary, Genderqueer, Gender variant, X, Agender into one variable in order to protect the anonymity and safety of respondents.
Indigenous:
The term "Indigenous" here is based on the Canadian Constitution Act of 1982, as a person of First Nation (Status/Non-Status), Métis, or Inuit ancestry.
Disability:
The Accessible Canada Act defines disability as “any impairment, including a physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, communication or sensory impairment—or a functional limitation—whether permanent, temporary or episodic in nature, or evident or not, that, in interaction with a barrier, hinders a person’s full and equal participation in society.” This can include:
- Physical/functional; such as: Mobility, coordination or dexterity impairment (e.g. difficulty using hands or fingers, inability/difficulty walking long distances or inability/difficulty using stairs; Chronic Pain; Speech impediment)
- Sensory; such as: Seeing disabilities (e.g. blindness or visual impediment); Hearing disabilities (e.g. deafness/hearing impediment)
- Mental health related; such as: Emotional, psychological or psychiatric conditions (e.g. anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, addictions, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, etc.)
- Cognitive or learning related; such as: Autism Spectrum Disorder, Asperger Syndrome, Specific Learning Disability (e.g. dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia), Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Down Syndrome, Global Developmental Delay, etc.)
Racialized Group (Visible Minorities):
The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as "persons, other than Aboriginal peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour" and include:
- Black (e.g. African ancestry, Afro-Caribbean, African American, African Canadian, )
- East Asian (e.g. Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean )
- Indigenous Global (e.g., Maori, Australian Aboriginal, South American Indigenous, )
- Latino/a or Latinx (e.g. South, Central American, Caribbean )
- South Asian (e.g. Bangladeshi, Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan )
- South East Asian (e.g. Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodian, Malaysian, Filipino/a, )
- West Asian or Middle Eastern (e.g. Iranian, Afghani, Lebanese, Egyptian, Iraqi, Armenian, Israeli, Palestinian, etc. )
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