The Office of Advancement is furthering its efforts to foster a diverse and inclusive workplace environment by launching an equitable hiring process for new employees under the university’s employment equity framework.

“Over the past six years, Advancement has partnered with the Equity Office to better understand issues of diversity and inclusion and how they impact our ability to engage alumni and benefactors,” says Tom Harris, Vice-Principal (Advancement). “We are pleased to work with the Equity Office to evaluate the effectiveness of a more purposeful consideration of diversity and inclusion in our hiring processes.”

Advancement is among the first offices on campus to undertake the initiative, which aligns with the university’s commitment to making reasonable efforts and progress on achieving a workforce that is representative of the overall Canadian workforce.

“Diversity and inclusion serves to enhance our workplaces, leading to improved creativity and problem solving within the organization,” says Irène Bujara, University Advisor on Equity and Human Rights. “We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with Advancement on this initiative. Its willingness to lead the way in this area will hopefully serve as a positive example for other units across campus to follow.”

We are pleased to work with the Equity Office to evaluate the effectiveness of a more purposeful consideration of diversity and inclusion in our hiring processes.
— ​Tom Harris, Vice-Principal (Advancement)

With current and future job opportunities, Advancement will engage in more outreach recruiting in order to attract candidates from the four designated groups under the Employment Equity Act: women, Aboriginal Peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities. All candidates will be given the opportunity to self-identify through a survey that the Equity Office will administer and manage.

In addition to more active recruitment, Advancement will alter its selection process. All hiring committee members will receive equity training from the Equity Office. There will be an employment equity representative appointed from the hiring committee who will receive extra training and coaching from the Equity Office. Furthermore, the hiring committee will consider employment equity gaps within Advancement when developing a list of candidates, granting interviews to potential hires, and ultimately selecting a candidate to fill the position.

The university is committed to the principles of employment equity and to achieving diversity in its workforce. Learn more about Queen’s employment equity policy and procedures on the Human Resources website.