In August 2020, Queen’s senior leadership committed to confronting discrimination and battling racism and other forms of injustice on campus. Since then, the university has established several initiatives to combat systemic inequities. The development of new online training modules for the research community is part of an effort to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research.

The modules and affiliated resources are unique to Queen’s and aim to eliminate discrimination in research by increasing awareness and developing practical skills related to the inclusion of EDI throughout the full research cycle: from idea-generation to project outcomes and impact. The initiative, which began spring 2021, was a collaboration between the Vice-Principal of Research (VPR) Portfolio, the Human Rights and Equity Office (HREO), and former Queen’s researcher Leela Viswanathan (Geography and Planning), through her company Viswali Consulting. 

“We wanted to further develop researchers’ competencies in relation to equity, diversity, and inclusion in research. In addition, we are hoping these modules will serve as a tool to assist researchers in their applications for various funding sources,” says Erin Clow, Associate Director in HREO, who worked in collaboration with Viswanathan on the modules.

The training is divided in three parts: Module One introduces the topic of EDI in research. Module Two educates researchers on how to implement equity, diversity, and inclusion practices into recruiting and team-building and provides guidance for fostering a sense of belonging. Module Three is designed to assist researchers in developing knowledge mobilization, translation, and data management plans that embed EDI principles. The team believes that, after completing the modules, researchers will have the necessary skills to apply these practices to their own research endeavours.

"The training modules will strengthen scientific communities and contribute to the creation of the innovative and impactful research necessary to respond to local, national and global challenges,” says Dr. Clow. “Most importantly, the effort will help advance equity and inclusion for all within our community.”

The online modules are available through the Human Rights and Equity Office website. In addition, a synchronous component to the learning will be made available through a series of three Resources for Research at Queen’s (R4R@Q) sessions, each tied to a different module (see sidebar for details). 

Researchers can also learn more about how to implement EDI in their research practices by visiting the Wise Practices for Research section of the Vice-Principal Research Portfolio website, which contains an extensive list of resources and contact information to a team of dedicated Research Project Advisors available to provide guidance and feedback.