OEDI workshops

EDI Workshops

A compilation of workshops focusing on issues related to equity, diversity and inclusion

OEDI delivers workshops on various diversity and inclusion topics to students, faculty and staff. Literacy and education are crucial mechanisms used to ignite change and foster inclusion. The impact of training and education depends on community members' understanding and committing to life-long learning, practicing mindfulness and taking responsibility for building an inclusive university.

Danger of Burnout and anxiety: What are the social stressors and what to do about them?

The workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Gregor Wolbring, Academic Director, Disability and Accessibility

This is an introductory workshop of 1.5 hours designed to look at the danger of burnout and anxiety caused by social stressors with a focus being on EDI groups and EDI as an activity.

This workshop covers three main areas of burnout: workplace burnout; activist burnout and problem based or life burnout and the social stressors that lead to the danger of burnout. It also engages with how these social stressors influence anxiety as in:  feelings of tension and worried thoughts and concerns that could lead to the reaction that people might avoid doing certain things due to that worry https://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety.

This workshop does not cover personal strategies to minimize the danger of being burned out or experiencing anxiety but focuses on the identification of social stressors and what to do about them to decrease the danger of burnout and anxiety.

 Pre-requisites – please prepare before attending the course:

  1. Reading: OEDI glossary
  2. Reading: Ability Expectation/Ableism Glossary

Optional:  

  • Wolbring Gregor, Lillywhite Aspen (2023) Burnout through the Lenses of Equity/Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Disabled People: A Scoping Review Societies 2023, 13(5), 131; open access
  • Academic Coverage of Social Stressors Experienced by Disabled People: A Scoping Review Societies 2023, 13(9), 211; open access
  • OEDI Workshop: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Through an Ability Studies Lens
  • OEDI workshops: EDI Foundations course

Learning Objectives

In this course, participants will;

  • Explore different areas of potential burnout and anxiety
    • Workplace burnout
    • Activist burnout
    • Problem based or Life burnout
  • Identify different social stressors of burnout and anxiety and explore what one could do about them
  • Learn about how ability expectation, ableism and disablism is linked to the different areas of burnout  and anxiety
  • Apply your learning to think what this means for EDI work

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Allies and Allyship; particular focus on disabled people/people with disabilities

The workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Gregor Wolbring, Academic Director, Disability and Accessibility

This is an introductory workshop of 1.5 hours designed to look at what it entails to be an ally of disabled people. This entails non-disabled people being allies of disabled people but also disabled people being allies of other disabled people and non-disabled people.  The workshop especially engages with the issue of allies being in danger of ally burnout and ally anxiety caused by social stressors.  Although the workshop covers in particular being an ally in conjunction with disabled people/people with disabilities, many of the social stressors that can lead to ally burnout are also applicable to allies of other EDI-deserving groups. 

This workshop does not cover personal strategies to minimize the danger of being burned out or experiencing anxiety as allies but focuses on the identification of social stressors and what to do about them to decrease the danger of burnout and anxiety of allies. 

 Pre-requisites – please prepare before attending the course:

  1. Reading: OEDI glossary
  2. Reading: Ability Expectation/Ableism Glossary (contains some burnout and anxiety concepts linked to disabled people
  3. Filling out the survey (its anonymous but want to use the % result for the workshop)

Optional:

  • OEDI Workshop: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Through an Ability Studies Lens
  • OEDI workshops: EDI Foundations course
  • The three tables of the BIAS FREE framework. BIAS FREE is an acronym for Building an Integrative Analytical System For Recognizing and Eliminating In Equities, Margrit Eichler and Mary Anne Burke. The Framework poses 20 questions in three tables that indicate biases that help maintain social hierarchies in three main sections: H-Maintaining and Existing Hierarchy; F-Failing to Examine Differences; and D-Using Double Standards. Many of the issues flagged by the 20 questions can be seen as social stressors that could lead to the danger of burnout and anxiety for allies  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6976234/pdf/41997_2006_Article_BF03405218.pdf (short piece); https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/bitstream/1807/9581/1/BIASFree_interieur.pdf  (longer one)

Learning Objectives

In this course, participants will

  • Explore what it means to be an ally
  • Explore the danger of burnout and anxiety linked to being an authentic ally
  • Explore the social stressors that could cause ally burnout and ally anxiety and how to decrease the social stressors

When you click the link below, please sign in (if required) and select the learning tab/button.

Register

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Through an Ability Studies Lens

The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, OEDI, is launching a series of EDI workshops available for faculty, students and staff as part of our education, training and literacy role. The workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Gregor Wolbring, Academic Director, Disability and Accessibility.

Pre-requisites – please prepare before attending the course:

This is an introductory workshop of 1.5 hours designed to look at EDI through an ability studies lens. The workshop looks at the various strands in ability studies and touches on the examination of ability-based expectations, judgments, norms, and conflicts to question irrelevant ability norms and “ability privileges”. Ability Studies is a useful lens for EDI as many of the EDI problems experienced are based on ability expectations, whereby disabled people are just one social group judged based on their abilities. The content provides an explanation of systemic barriers and discrimination and ways of thinking of change through processes and practices. The workshop is interactive to provide tools towards becoming anti-disablism, that will support the rethinking of the norms, policies, processes, and systems and will offer the audience ways of thinking about how to bring change in their work environment and their everyday context.

Learning Objectives

In this course, you will:

  • Explore EDI issues through an Ability Studies lens
  • Enhance your knowledge of Ability Studies concepts and the ways they shape lived experiences.
  • Identify issues, processes, and practices through an ableism lens.
  • Apply your learning to think about EDI through an ability studies lens in your role at the University.

When you click the link below, please sign in (if required) and select the learning tab/button.

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Introduction to Anti-Racism

The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, OEDI, is launching a series of EDI workshops available for faculty, students and staff as part of our education, training and literacy role. The workshop will be facilitated by Dr. Ghada Sfeir, Senior Director, Anti-Racism and Racial Equity.

Pre-requisites

This is an introductory course designed to be interactive to support students, staff, and faculty members to enhance the development of their understanding of anti-racism in creating meaningful change within one’s spheres of influence and assuming accountability for racial justice. Participants will gain a deep understanding of concepts related to racism and antiracism to counter the mainstream narratives that propagate and legitimize systems of oppression. Participants will learn how systemic racism shapes experiences in interpersonal and institutional contexts and how to implement anti-racist practices in daily life and in the workplace. The course will address intersectionality as an analytical tool to understand how anti-racist actions can be integrated in decision making to reduce systemic racism and advance equitable interventions recognizing that one size does not fit all.

Learning Objectives

  • Enhance your knowledge of historical roots of systemic racism and its pervasive impacts in Canada.
  • Explore main concepts related to understanding systemic racism and anti-racism
  • Identify and unlearn racist nuances subtly operating in interpersonal and structural relations.
  • Become familiar with tools and knowledge to develop your anti-racist identity.

When you click the link below, please sign in (if required) and select the learning tab/button.

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Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI): Foundations and Principles

The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, OEDI, is launching a series of EDI workshops available for faculty, students and staff as part of our education, training and literacy role.

In this foundational workshop titled "Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI): Foundations and Principles," participants will be introduced to equity and inclusion in practice within the context of the university's mission and commitments. Participants will also discuss applying EDI foundations and principles in their roles and their units' functions.  

This foundational overview of EDI explores the concepts enhancing participants' understanding of equity, diversity, inclusion, unconscious bias, and microaggression and their application in the institutional setting. The interactive session will examine the impact of EDI issues on equity-deserving faculty, students and staff and on the culture and climate of the university. Participants will also learn critical perspectives on equity, diversity, and inclusion and develop an understanding of commitments to and measures towards applying equity and inclusion principles in their roles and responsibilities. 

When you click on the link below, please sign in (if required) and select the learning tab/button.

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Inclusive Excellence Cluster Hiring Initiative - Equitable & Inclusive Hiring for Academic Selection

This session is co-facilitated by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Human Resources. All members of academic selection committees recruiting positions under the Inclusive Excellence Cluster Hiring Initiative are recommended to attend this session.

This workshop provides information on the Inclusive Excellence Cluster Hiring Initiative, an overview of equitable and inclusive hiring, how to apply an EDI lens through the recruitment and selection process, implicit bias, and tools to mitigate bias.

When you click on the link below, please sign in (if required) and select the learning tab/button.

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Equitable and Inclusive Hiring for Academic Selection

This session is co-facilitated by the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and Human Resources. All members of academic selection committees shall be required to participate in this session at least once every two years.

This workshop provides academic selection committees with an overview of equitable and inclusive hiring, how to apply an EDI lens through the recruitment and selection process, implicit bias, and tools to mitigate bias.

When you click on the link below, please sign in (if required) and select the learning tab/button.

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Equitable and Inclusive Hiring

Presented by the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Human Resources  

The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Human Resources are partnering to deliver a workshop on Equitable and Inclusive Hiring. This workshop is an opportunity for hiring managers for non-academic staff specifically and anyone interested in learning more about equitable and inclusive hiring practices. This 90-minute session will provide participants with some foundational ideas about what it means when we talk about equity and inclusion in hiring processes for staff at the University and learn how to incorporate them into the existing practices and processes. This interactive workshop will challenge and engage participants in thinking critically about barriers to equitable and inclusive hiring while examining and applying hiring managers' role in creating an inclusive environment.  

Anti-Islamophobia 101 Virtual Workshop

The Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is hosting a workshop by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women.

The Anti-Islamophobia 1O1 virtual workshop addresses the realities of Islamophobia and how it operates within Canadian society. The workshop will help participants critically examine the impacts of Islamophobia on the lives of Muslims living in Canada and how it further marginalizes Black and Indigenous Muslims, queer Muslims, and Muslims with disabilities. Participants will learn how to be active allies to counter Islamophobia.

Learning Objectives

  • Increased understanding of what Islamophobia is and how it works within our society.
  • Increased understanding of gendered Islamophobia and its impact on Muslim women.
  • Increased understanding of intersectional identities.
  • Increased understanding of how to collectively act against racism and Islamophobia.

 

Other Workshops

Please allow 10 business days for a response to your request.

Regardless of their sources, microaggressions often occur in different contexts and are usually marked by unfriendly, hostile behaviours toward victims. There are cases of microaggressions in xenophobic reactions to persons from underrepresented social minorities. Defined as “...brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioural and environmental indignities, intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults to the target person or group”, microaggressions considerably harm the victim and, if left unaddressed, may create a non-welcoming environment for students, staff or faculty.This workshop focuses on what microaggressions are, everyday categories, reactions to acts of microaggression, and strategies for responding to microaggressions.

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This workshop explores the implications of diversity and the need for creating an inclusive teaching and learning environment at the university.  An inclusive learning climate is where all students receive adequate support to reach their intellectual and academic goals. Students in an inclusive learning environment experience a sense of belonging in the classroom regardless of learning preferences, or experiential or identity backgrounds. Such environments are sustained when instructors and students become mindful of the need for sensitivity to diversity in the classroom.

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This presentation focuses on the alignment between the intent of EDI initiatives and their impacts. Inclusion and diversity require intentionality and decisive actions to deliver qualitative results in driving progress. The presentation examines EDI actions and their alignment with the university's equity and inclusion goals. Discussions explore ways staff, faculty and students can align their intent with meaningful impact to support their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

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A discussion on developing diversity and inclusion initiatives within a unit involves several measures that may include collecting and analyzing data to determine priorities and areas of need, aligning EDI strategies with the unit’s objectives, and implementing and regularly evaluating the strategy to ensure progress. This presentation highlights practices for effectively implementing EDI initiatives.

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As humans, we all have unconscious biases that impact our decision-making and behaviours.  In many ways that we are unaware of, these biases can undermine our efforts to foster inclusion, equity and diversity. Understanding unconscious/implicit bias and how it impacts our decisions is key to fostering more inclusive environments in our workplaces, teaching and learning, and leadership. This workshop explains how unconscious bias is formed and different forms of unconscious bias, e.g. affinity bias; confirmation bias; social comparison bias; and attribution error. Participants learn about ways to self-examine various biases that influence how we interact and behave around/towards various groups of people, the impact of unconscious bias in the workplace, and strategies for reducing its effects.

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This workshop focuses on the concepts and contexts of power and privilege. What does it mean to have privilege? The workshop will consider how social identities (sexuality, gender, race, class and religion) provide or deny privilege. Can we identify whether we have the privilege and how our actions might reflect such privilege? How do power and privilege impact disparities? How can power and privilege be applied to break the cycle of oppression? This workshop explores these questions, allowing participants to examine how social identities create power and privilege and perpetuate oppression. Participants will learn about bias, develop skills for allyship, and take steps toward equity and inclusion.

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This workshop aims to introduce faculty, students, and staff to the concept of intercultural competence. The workshop examines why developing intercultural competencies are essential for creating an inclusive and welcoming climate for the university community.  The research states that intercultural competence is an ambiguous term, and many people have challenges applying it to their practices.  This workshop will start from the basics to provide participants with opportunities to discuss the concept, what it means to them, and how it can be applied to their practice.

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In our everyday interactions, we may inadvertently use words and phrases that have the potential to be considered unwelcoming by the recipient or an observer. In diverse environments, the language we use can cause harm to those we interact with. Using respectful and mindful language is important in creating and fostering a welcoming and inclusive climate at the university. The objective of this workshop is to explore ways language can exclude and include diverse groups of people and to encourage practice skills for the intentional use of language in interactions in our interactions.

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This workshop focuses on gender imbalances, gaps, and discriminatory practices in higher education.  What do we know about the nature, extent, and impact of barriers to the equitable participation of women in higher education? What measures can be applied to address barriers and factors that contribute to gender imbalances in universities?

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