Only 21.5 per cent of senior management at UBC are BIPOC, according to the 2021 Employment Equity Report.
On November 18, the Board of Governors's Employee Relations Committee heard a presentation of the employment report, which found that 17.6 per cent of senior managers — deans, associate vice-presidents, and others — are non-white and 3.9 per cent are Indigenous. Numerically, this breaks down to 9 people and 2 people out of 51, respectively.
These numbers come as UBC has been implementing recommendations from the Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence task force, which were released in March 2022. These recommendations include increasing the recruitment and retention of BIPOC at all levels of employment.
Associate VP Equity and Inclusion Arig al Shaibah acknowledged the discrepancy, but said UBC has been developing a Strategic Equity and Anti-Racism (stEAR) Framework and Roadmap for Change to help address this discrepancy, and support other equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives.
According to a statement from Al Shaibah, the roadmap will enhance the recruitment of faculty and staff from historically marginalized groups at all levels to broaden diversity.
“In addition to enhanced recruitment, the development, retention, and advancement of racialized employees already at UBC is a focus,” she wrote.
More specifically, Al Shaibah said UBC would nominate and include a greater number of racialized faculty and staff in emerging leaders development programs, apply an equity lens for leadership development programs and support racialized leaders through mentorship.
“We will also continue to work with our Unions and Associations to promote opportunities for historically marginalized groups for greater equity, diversity, and inclusion,” she added.
Al Shaibah also said more information regarding these practices will be released in the future.