adrienne s. chan, phd university of the fraser valley canada

Social Justice in the University Context

University of Kent at CanterburyMarch 2012

Adrienne S. Chan, PhDUniversity of the Fraser ValleyCanada

To examine social justice within Canadian universities (experiences, practices, policies, contexts, institutional culture). This includes a consideration of diversity and equity.

Objectives of the research

Research conducted over a three year period

Background research – documentary review : 20 universities

Field research – three universities, interviews

Overview

Fairness and equity

Access, resources, rights, and treatment for marginalized individuals, and groups of people who do not share equal power in society.

(Constantine, Hage, Kindaichi, & Bryant, 2007)

Social Justice

Research intensive and teaching intensive

Twenty universities

Alberta

“Pillars” of social justice on the basis of the 20 universities

Human Rights & Harassment Policy

Equity and diversity policy

Aboriginal Access Policy and Services;

International Education

Disability issues and services

Relationship to the community

University of British Columbia McMaster University St. Francis Xavier University

Three case studies

UBC

UBC

McMaster

McMaster

McMaster

St. Francis Xavier

Equity@XMARCH 2008International Women’s Day

~~~Guest Speaker ~~~Kim Pate, Executive Director of the Canadian Associationof Elizabeth Fry Societies will speak on Women Prisonersin Canada: the Criminalization and Institutionalization ofWomen on the Margins. This is sponsored by StFXHuman Rights & Equity Office, StFX Women's Studiesand the Antigonish Women's Resource Centre.

St Francis Xavier

St. Francis Xavier

Theme 1- Policies for International Education, Aboriginal Education, and Inclusion

“it’s a discrimination and harassment policy. … the word equity was a bit of a trigger word. So we’ll all talk in terms of equity but we’re really talking in broader terms.”

Human rights and harassment prevention

Equity and diversity

Disability issues

Theme 2 – Human Rights and Equity: Policies for inclusion?

Surviving in the academy requires compliance to the “community rules, language and culture”… This community is uni-cultural; it is the uni-versity,”

Theme 3 – Contradictions resistance to change

Contradictions

“…working with an equity advisory committee I began to draft a policy, I looked at policies across the country and took what I thought were best practices from other universities because there really was no equity policy regarding that. …there was a lot of resistance…

…faculty through various departments expressed concerns around issues like employment equity”

Theme 4 – Policy discourses

Some human rights harassment policy tends to focus on sexual harassment only.

Policy discourses evokes a sense of containment and gatekeeping (e.g. hiring): there is a “reification of qualities and characteristics” that make a ‘good’ faculty member

Policy discourses

The future…

The purpose of policies: Diversity,

equity, human rights, harassment

Addressing campus “culture”: inclusion

Training and education about policy – related

to “live” processes

Individual and collective agency; advisory groups

to advocate for policy change and policy action

Re-examination of what it means to say we are

committed to Social Justice, Equity, and Diversity.

Adrienne S. Chan University of the Fraser Valley Canada

adrienne.chan@ufv.ca

Thank you