Update from HBHL on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (December 2021)

Dear Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives Community,

For nearly two years, researchers and trainees have had to adjust to the new realities of remote teaching and learning, limited laboratory and facility access and have made a collective effort to protect each other by masking and social distancing. As McGill resumes in-person activities, we are optimistic that the worst of the pandemic is behind us; however, we are also aware that individual experiences during this time have varied considerably across members of our community.

Mental health services have been strained across the country due to overwhelming demand and essential medical procedures have been delayed. Individuals with precarious socio-economic resources have faced an increased financial burden, and living and working in the same small spaces has made it harder to maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life. International students have anxiously awaited approval of study permits and many have been unable to travel to see family and friends. Those living alone away from their families have spent long months in isolation. Those with caregiving responsibilities have experienced increasing and unpredictable demands and reduced support, making existing challenges worse. The HBHL community has shown great resilience and adaptability and HBHL will continue to support researchers and trainees whose work has been impacted as a result of COVID-19.

To stay transparent and accountable for our equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) commitments, we are continuing to provide semesterly progress updates to members of the HBHL community.

As HBHL enters its second phase, we are reflecting on our achievements and areas where we need to be doing more. Given this is our first update of the academic year, we are sharing progress made towards our existing commitments and identifying priority areas of focus for the next six months.

Progress Made

We have seen significant improvements in representation, inclusion and equitable distribution of funding for McGill equity-seeking groups in HBHL’s funding programs and leadership since the EDI Committee formed two years ago. Some highlights of progress include:

• Updating our process for self-ID collection and analysis of McGill equity-seeking groups, allowing us to identify and respond to documented inequities with strategic, data-driven decisions.
• Incorporating Sex- and Gender-Based Analysis Plus (SGBA+) review into the funding mechanism for all programs to ensure that HBHL-funded research is generalizable to and representative of Canada’s diverse population.
• Developing clear procedures and an EDI checklist for funding programs that formalizes requirements for funding call development, EDI application components, how the programs are promoted and protocols for application collection and evaluation if the applicant pool is not representative of the eligible population.

Representation of women in governance and leadership positions

One of the areas for improvement identified in the early years of HBHL was the significant underrepresentation of women in HBHL governance and leadership positions, which at the time were represented in only one-third of positions. We made changes to our governance structure to address these issues, including open calls for vacant governance and leadership positions and the creation of associate theme leader roles to include highly qualified co-leads across the four HBHL research themes. These changes have provided space for new voices and inputs on key scientific evaluations related to resource allocation. As a result of these efforts, the representation of women in HBHL governance has increased from 32% to 44%and is now consistent with that of the McGill neuroscience community.

2021 HBHL Graduate Fellowship Competition

Training Fellowships represent a major investment by HBHL to support the next generation of McGill-trained neuroscientists. Since the formation of the EDI Committee in 2019, HBHL has introduced several mechanisms in this funding program to ensure more equitable representation and distribution of funding. This includes collecting self-ID data, having supervisors complete an EDI statement and placing requirements for Sex- and Gender-Based Analysis Plus in the research design and evaluation process.

The results of the most recent fellowships competition demonstrate how a slight adjustment to the funding mechanism, such as using an excellence-levels approach in funding decisions, can lead to significantly more equitable outcomes. We have seen large improvements in the representation of equity-seeking groups, including Black and Indigenous trainees. Additionally, we met our goal to exceed the national average (55%) of representation of women in related fields by 3% (58% of awardees). We have also seen more equitable representation of racialized persons and individuals who identify as 2SLGBTQIA*.

Priorities for the next six-months

Addressing anti-Black racism and Indigenous access and inclusion

Following a series of consultations with groups and individuals who identify as Black at McGill, and in alignment with institutional initiatives, HBHL is finalizing our Action Plan to Address Anti-Black Racism and has already taken steps to implement many of the action items outlined in this new plan. We aim to release this plan and associated metrics in Winter 2022.

Conversations with Indigenous groups and individuals at McGill have revealed that the highest impact action HBHL can take is to help increase the pipeline of students entering McGill neuroscience. Supporting students during their transition from undergraduate to graduate studies is key to reaching this goal. To accomplish this, HBHL has allocated funding for a mentorship program currently being developed in collaboration with Branches, McGill’s Community Outreach Program. This program will place Indigenous and Black undergraduate students in McGill neuroscience labs, providing paid mentorship opportunities for students to gain valuable research experience and consider pursuing graduate studies in neuroscience.

We are planning to launch this program in the summer of 2022. If you are a principal investigator who is interested in getting involved in this mentorship program, we encourage you to reach out to the andrzej.tereszkowski [at] mcgill.ca (HBHL EDI and Training Program Officer).

Climate Survey

HBHL has committed to assessing the climate of our community once every two years. We conducted our first Climate Survey in February 2020 and the survey questions and resulting report are summarized in the appendices in HBHL’s EDI Action Plan and Report. We will be conducting a second Climate Survey for our community in February 2022 to assess where progress has been made and what areas need more attention.

We value feedback from our community and encourage you to reach out to the andrzej.tereszkowski [at] mcgill.ca (HBHL EDI and Training Program Officer) if you have feedback, ideas, questions or wish to collaborate with HBHL on EDI-related initiatives.

Sincerely,

The HBHL Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee