Taking action for greater equity, diversity and inclusion
The School receives a grant to support its action plan
May 14, 2019
HEC Montréal is to receive funding from the federal government to pursue its equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) action plan.
Minister Kirsty Duncan made the announcement on Thursday, May 9, when she revealed the names of grant recipients under the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Institutional Capacity-Building Grant Program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
HEC Montréal is one of 15 institutions, only three of them in Quebec, to receive funding under this competition, out of the 51 applicants. The School will receive a total of $370,300 over the next two years.
These funds will allow it to accelerate the implementation of its EDI action plan, which it launched in 2017 to meet the requirements of the Canada Research Chairs Program.
A series of measures will be put in place between now and March 2021, starting in the next few days with the hiring of an EDI expert to co-ordinate the implementation of the plan.
A coordination committee, chaired by Secretary General Johanne Turbide, will also be set up, to promote synergy among the School’s different units.
“HEC Montréal is aiming to identify and eliminate obstacles, including implicit bias, that impede the recruitment, selection, career advancement and retention of people in underrepresented groups,” said Professor Turbide.
To achieve this goal, and with the help of this financial support, the School will introduce a systemic and organizational change strategy focusing on four objectives:
- recognizing the groups belonging to its community
- understanding the recruitment, selection, integration, promotion and retention processes
- building awareness of the importance of EDI in its community, and
- acting to eliminate systemic barriers and obstacles.