Some ways to do this include:  

• Have an open call to invite participation from diverse identity holders  
• Have two or more committee members from groups traditionally excluded or marginalized 
• Review additional responsibilities to ensure that members from marginalized groups are not overburdened with service work 
  • Where possible, provide compensation for any additional or overload work
• For faculty/librarian searches, refer to the Faculty and Librarian Recruitment Guide and Collective Agreement requirements. 
• Create supports to enable full participation in the committee 
  • Schedule meetings during regular working hours 
  • Explore other supports—childcare, eldercare, bringing in meals 
  • Consider alternate means of attending and/or alternating meeting times 
• Identify specific knowledge and skills needed, particularly related to diversity and inclusion  
• Learn about aspects of identity relevant to the position 
• Ensure everyone is heard, treated respectfully, and supported to contribute 

For more ideas, see Creating and Working Well with Diverse committees.

Criteria

Draft the criteria first. Base these on the needs and priorities of your unit by drawing from:

• representation data,
• mission and vision statements,
• professional standards and expectiations and
• university policies and plans. 

For more support in drafting a criteria, use this template.

Job Posting

Use the criteria to write the job posting and design a search process to collect relevant data from candidates.

• Ensure your language is inclusive, ungendered and unbiased. For support, review the resources on bias. 
• Avoid ableist language and language that excludes English as an Additional Language speakers (“stand up,” “speak clearly,” etc.).
• Post only the qualifications and skills necessary for the job; avoid overstating requirements and avoid optional/ preferred requirements.
• Have a diversity of people review the posting.
• Write in plain language.
• Consider whether the criteria are equity-centred and focussed on skills.

Include:

• A territory acknowledgement 
• The UVic equity statement 
• The hiring statement about preferential or limited searches
• Welcoming initiatives and commitments to equity, diversity and inclusion 
• Additional information that will identify the unit and UVic as good places to work for members of underrepresented groups 
• Description of why the position exists (the problems it will solve)  
• Emphasize collaborative aspects of the job as well as independent aspects 
• If you anticipate needing accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process, please contact FRrecruit@uvic.ca for faculty positions or uviccareers@uvic.ca for staff positions. Any personal information provided will be maintained in confidence.

Drafting an academic job posting starts with developing strong, inclusive criteria. 

Criteria

In addition to the criteria for all positions as listed above, please review the following in developing your criteria for an academic hire.

• Unit standards
• Salary evaluation and performance management processes
• Faculty and Librarian Recruitment guide
• Collective Agreement requirements

Job posting

• Account for non-traditional areas of research and/or research outputs (e.g., professional work or contributions, measures of excellence aside from impact factors, widely varying excellent research such as community-based research, Indigenous research, and policy work).
• Be careful when framing knowledges as “core” as historically, core content taught in education has excluded the experience of underrepresented groups. Research recognizes that evaluators may have discriminatory biases against academics from underrepresented groups in addressing core content. In reality, such academics may be more skilled, having to develop expertise in navigating not only traditional content but also emerging and underrepresented content.
• Ask about competencies in working respectfully and effectively with diverse groups in research (including lab management and meaningful, respectful engagement with research populations), teaching (disciplinary content and working with diverse students), and collegial relations (respectful interactions, collegial orientation, ability to participate in administrative work). 
• Ensure requested application materials allow for non-traditional materials or evidence such as sound clips, videos, and photos. These may require additional ways to submit materials (e.g., via email, dropbox, sending hard copies, etc.).
• Ask for evidence, and from a diversity of sources and perspectives, rather than simple assertions of excellence.
• Include a statement that recognizes the potential impact of career interruptions and asks applicants to explain their personal experience if they wish.
• The Faculty and Librarian Recruitment Guide provides sample templates and statements to include for academic positions as well.

The examples below are drawn from job postings at UVic. We encourage you to consult and modify as appropriate for your particular unit and position. 

Overall statements to welcome equity knowledge, skills and commitment

• We are a relatively small group and depend on close cooperation, mutual respect and camaraderie for our flourishing.
• We seek a candidate whose teaching, research and professional activities express our shared values of inclusion, commitment to respectful and fair engagement with colleagues, research participants and students.

Climate, Culture and Service

• Applicants should address strengths and experiences (or track record) in promoting equity and diversity in research, professional work and/or teaching and curriculum.
• Contribute positively to the respectful and inclusive (or collegial, collaborative, fair, accessible, etc.) culture of the Department of X through respectful and effective engagement with colleagues, staff and students [or additional collegial expectations].
• Service activities apply contemporary research findings to address barriers facing historically underrepresented groups.

Teaching

Ability to teach diverse students well

• Dedication to an environment that supports diversity of population and perspectives. 
• As our students come from a wide range of disciplines, cultures, and backgrounds, we invite candidates to address their ability to teach, supervise, and mentor in this context. 
• Ability to teach to a diverse undergraduate student body with a range of perspectives, experiences & learning styles. 
• Experience supporting students in the classroom/ teaching students from marginalized groups. 
• Outstanding teaching effectiveness across a diversity of students.  

Attention to power, classroom dynamics and respectful relationships with students

• Manage classroom dynamics to ensure marginalized students are comfortable & empowered. 
• Accessible, fair and respectful to students. 
• Addresses classroom power dynamics to enhance learning and student well-being. 
• Track record of respectful and effective engagement, teaching and mentoring of students from diverse genders, cultures and backgrounds.

Ability and commitment to mentoring, including ability to mentor marginalized students 

• We value candidates who demonstrate their commitment to student mentorship and recognize the diversity of student experience in their teaching.
• The successful applicant will develop as an outstanding teacher and mentor of marginalized undergraduate and graduate students.  
• Ability to work respectfully, fairly and in a supportive capacity with teaching assistants. 
• Engage in positive and respectful interactions with colleagues and student. 

Self-reflectivity and ability to engage personal identity meaningfully in the work 

• Sensitive to the range of attitudes, experiences, and diversity in the classroom. 
• Demonstrated credibility and ability to relate theory to practice. 
• Ability to draw on experiential knowledge/ identifies own perspective in teaching. 
• Applies an intersectional analysis to their work and teaching. 
• Takes a self-reflective approach to dealing with students, colleagues and community members. 

Help students develop skills and knowledge in diversity, self-reflection and critical perspectives

• Open to questions and differing opinions. 
• Develop self-reflection among all students. 

Addresses critical perspectives on equity and diversity dimensions of discipline 

• Actively acknowledges contributions of marginalized people through the history and present emergence of the discipline, and past and present barriers to their full inclusion and contributions. 
• Willing and able to improve diversity content in the curriculum/classes. 
• Incorporates attention to diversity of identities of key figures in discipline. 
• Integrates marginalized perspectives and previously unrecognized contributors. 

Pedagogical contributions to effective teaching for diversity 

• Pedagogical contributions to teaching that builds on different cultural approaches to knowledge and/or acknowledges different histories and perspectives on the topic. 
• Research that explores barriers faced by XYZ underrepresented groups. 
• Experimentation with activities to remove barriers and increase participation of underrepresented groups. 

Research

Ability to maintain healthy, diverse, respectful lab environment 

• Demonstrated ability to manage a healthy lab environment that integrates diverse employees. 
• Demonstrated commitment to equity in representation and work processes in labs.  

Research area engages equity perspectives 

• To do: Include alternate methods to measure research ability beyond high-impact publications. 
• To do: Include non-traditional, interdisciplinary and emerging research areas where marginalized candidates tend to be better represented. 
• Preference for specialization at the intersection of gender and Indigenous cultural production and/or analysis with a strong focus on Indigenous knowledge production, ways of knowing, and direct engagement with Indigenous communities. 
• Ability to situate Indigenous gender issues in Canada in a comparative and relational perspective is also of particular interest. 
• Research engagement with critical perspectives, minority or marginalized populations, and research areas related to social justice are particularly welcomed. 
• Candidates whose research and clinical activities contribute to our understanding of diverse populations are particularly encouraged to apply. 

Welcome diverse forms of research

• Outstanding record of scholarly achievement in basic, applied, or community-based research that contributes to the diversity of perspectives and methodologies.
• Community engagement – direct engagement with Indigenous communities.
• A demonstrated research or creative agenda (content, framework, and practice) rooted in Indigenous feminist, intersectional, and community-based theory and practices (i.e. careful integration of gender, race, class, sexualities, etc. in analysis).
• Outstanding record of research achievement that contributes to the diversity of research and methodological perspectives in the discipline.

Research methodologies are respectful and appropriate

• Research that is responsive to and respectful of the needs of Indigenous and local communities.

Welcome alternate pathways within career

• Postdoctoral (or equivalent professional learning) experience is desirable.
• Copies of 3 publications in peer-review journals and up to 3 other relevant publications
• Address how your work in community or service has developed your abilities in the areas of research, teaching and/or service.
• Alternate pathways welcome, including clinical research, industry work, policy development.

Collaborative, respectful research approaches

• Ability to collaborate with existing researchers in the department and in other departments at the University of Victoria. 

Creating a diverse applicant pool requires some conscious effort and deliberate approaches. Consider the following key outreach strategies: 

• Ensure that the targeted field of work/expertise is sufficiently broadly defined. 
• Ensure that the job posting is welcoming and unbiased. 
• Actively reach out directly to professional associations and organizations that support underrepresented groups (e.g., hold an information session with the Association for Women in Science).  
• Reach out through your network (colleagues, programs, previous institutions, mentors) to invite applications and to see if they can circulate the posting or suggest potential candidates. 
• Reach out to programs and institutions across the region or country that have a diverse group of employees and/or program foci. 
• Circulate the posting in places where it is more likely to be seen by candidates from underrepresented groups, including advertising in targeted venues (professional societies and associations of designated groups). 
• If using recruitment firms or agencies, check their track record with finding candidates who are members of specific underrepresented groups and embed this in your contract. 

Before you review applications, review criteria with your committee to ensure everyone has a strong, shared understanding of what you are looking for in the applicants.  

Then, discuss the following common biases with your committee. Develop some strategies or reminders to help you—individually and as a committee—avoid having these influence your evaluations of candidates. If assistance is needed, review how to address these unconscious biases. 

• Assuming a connection between a person’s identity and their professional expertise, working schedule and style, job commitment, competency, etc.  
• Undervaluing the achievements of persons whose identities have accrued negative biases. This includes not valuing professional expertise, not recognizing the work involved in achievements, and not valuing or including perspectives in decisions. 
• Overvaluing the achievements of persons whose identities have accrued positive biases. This includes not questioning achievements and overestimating how significant someone’s contributions were.  
• Preferring a traditional career path and established notions of “excellence” while ignoring evolving criteria for excellence and the biased systems that have limited opportunities for some. 
• For members of groups that are higher status or socially privileged, attributing success to abilities or effort. For members of lower status groups or those lacking privilege, attributing success to help from others or luck. 
• Focusing on how you like or connect with a person (“fit”) rather than their competencies. This can include giving more attention and value to candidates who have similarities with you such as hobbies, career paths, institutions you’ve attended, and more. 
• Assuming that certain persons are not serious, committed, or really interested in a position. This is usually raised about persons whose identities diverge from the incumbent or from the dominant institutional or regional demographics, and result in paying their applications less attention and not making job offers.