Sheridan receives federal funding to support equity, diversity and inclusion-focused research

Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, announced on May 9 in Waterloo, Ontario that Sheridan has been awarded approximately $400,000 by the Government of Canada’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Institutional Capacity-Building Grant program. Sheridan is one of 15 postsecondary institutions selected nation-wide for this new funding and the only college in Ontario.  

The program is part of a larger pilot initiative called Dimensions: Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Canada that aims to address systemic barriers experienced by members of underrepresented or disadvantaged groups. With a focus on research, the program and funding will help support institution-led initiatives to transform research culture in order to improve its quality, social relevance, outcomes and impacts.

“We’re proud that Sheridan is part of today’s important announcement,” says Dr. Janet Morrison, President and Vice Chancellor at Sheridan. “Our commitment to long-term, systemic change to advance EDI is embedded in our institutional priorities, and we have committed resources (human and financial) to ensure this is a meaningful and sustainable endeavour.”

Sheridan is a proven research institution, earning a place on RE$EARCH Infosource’s national Top 10 Research Colleges list in each of the last eight years. A Scholarship, Research and Creative Activities (SRCA) culture and five research hubs in areas like the screen industries, advanced manufacturing and mobile innovation, positions the college to approach and engage with research in innovative ways. While research is a pillar of both Sheridan’s Academic and Strategic Plans, implementing a framework to ensure it’s conducted with EDI in mind is now sharpening in focus.

Funding from the EDI Institutional Capacity-Building Grant program will be allocated at Sheridan to a two-year-long, evidence-based action plan that will be developed with the support of an advisory committee consisting of student, faculty and staff representatives. Proposed elements of the plan include the creation and delivery of unconscious bias training, designing and piloting a faculty mentorship program, and developing and executing a communications campaign about the plan and EDI more broadly at Sheridan.

“These activities will serve to clearly establish EDI as an institutional priority, to promote greater awareness of EDI in research, and galvanize our individual responsibility to act and confront implicit bias,” says Dr. Jane Ngobia, Sheridan’s Senior Advisor, Equity, Diversity and Inclusive Communities. Dr. Ngobia will be leading the advisory committee alongside Andrea England, Sheridan’s Vice Provost of Research. Background preparatory work to advance the set goals has already begun.

Learn more about Sheridan Research here.