Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (EDI) Committee

Goals and Mandate

OUR GOAL - The goal of the Psychology EDI committee is to work towards lasting and meaningful change that makes our department diverse, equitable, and inclusive in accordance with social justice principles. These principles include that: (a) progressive change needs to happen within structures, individuals, and our discipline; (b) that change is everyone’s responsibility, and should not be disproportionately shouldered by marginalized groups; (c) and that power, privilege, and majoritized groups need to be named and addressed as well as oppression, marginalization, and minoritized groups.

OUR FOCUS - We focus on EDI work around the five equity-deserving groups identified by the Canadian government and/or Queen’s University: (1) members of racialized groups/visible minorities, (2) women, (3) Indigenous/Métis/Inuit/First Nations peoples, (4) people with disabilities, and (5) LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) people. Some people clearly exist at the intersection of multiple oppressions that these five groups are subject to (e.g., not just misogyny, but misogynoir or transmisogyny). We also seek to work to improve the department for other minoritized groups, e.g., first-generation students, low income people, international students, etc. EDI needs and actions sometimes overlap for these groups and sometimes are distinct and the EDI committee aims to be thoughtful around shared and specific efforts. We focus on long-term change, but also a limited number of urgent issues as they arise.

OUR WORK - The committee’s work is to make change and we focus on the following areas, though not exclusively: teaching, supervision, research, service, climate, and hiring/recruitment. To that end, we develop principles, priorities, and procedures to help guide our work. We work with representatives of graduate students, undergraduate students, and faculty to inform and focus on change at all levels. We are a departmental committee, and will be a standing item on the Psychology Meeting agenda to share progress and invite involvement.

OUR TASKS - Some of our specific tasks include the following. We share guidance documents with the department that have suggestions, recommendations, and best practices. We organize invited speakers and training sessions. We will develop an annual plan and, in consultation with the Department Head, we will develop a budget; and we will report regularly on EDI progress from our committee and the larger department, including successes, barriers, and recommendations. We query the department to understand patterns of EDI activity, recruit volunteers for EDI initiatives, etc. We communicate with the department and sometimes outside of it, and develop notes about urgent EDI issues for the department to share. We partner with groups within our department or outside of it to meet committee goals. We consult on department materials related to EDI concerns when we are able to, with advance notice and encourage EDI being taken into consideration early in project development so there is time for us to give meaningful feedback. We bring EDI issues to the department, including to specific committees, for discussion and/or action. Because we focus on department-level structural change, we do not act on or investigate EDI complaints about individuals (we can direct those with issues to those who can), nor do we do area-specific work though we can support areas in their work.

Follow Us