EDI Seminars, Workshops & Meetings

Have you ever wondered what it takes for a graduate student to become a successful lab director? Do you know why there are gender gaps in our fields of research? Do you think there is room for more representation in science from minority groups, including women, racialized and under-represented communities? Do you want to kick start your learning on how to become the kind of leader our society urgently needs?

The MBP Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (MBP EDI) Committee is a student discussion group that meets regularly. Our goal is the create a space for open conversations about EDI issues, guided by lived experiences and the literature on EDI. Ahead of each meeting, one of the group members will recommend a short article or book excerpt relating to EDI in science. Each meeting will start with a brief introduction of the theme of the reading material, followed by a confidential discussion.

By providing opportunities to become more familiar with EDI in science, and to learn from each other, we hope your experiences will be more enriched and successful in MBP and beyond. Topics that are raised through these discussions can also be channeled through the MBP EDI Committee to help effect real change in our department.

If you are a student who is interested in participating in this group, please email group lead Liam Lawrence.

The principles of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) have entered many aspects of research life; from improving research design, to maintaining a healthy lab environment, and even promoting work-life balance.

Do you know what EDI truly means to you? Are you aware of how it can affect you? Is there an EDI-related issue you would like to bring into focus?

The MBP Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (MBP EDI) Committee has a faculty discussion group that meets on a regular-basis. Our goal is the create a space for open conversations about EDI issues, guided by lived experiences and the literature on EDI. By providing opportunities to become more familiar with EDI in science, and to learn from each other, we hope your experiences as MBP faculty and in the U of T community will be more successful and enriched. Topics that are raised through these discussions can also be channeled through the MBP EDI Committee to help effect real change in our department.

The opportunity to become more familiar with EDI in science will help enrich the experiences of MBP faculty within the U of T community. Additionally, topics raised through these discussions may be channeled through the MBP EDI Committee to help effect real change in our department.

If you are a faculty member who is interested in participating in this discussion group, please email Dr. Jean Chen, MBP EDI Committee Chair.

This workshop offers participants a step-by-step guide to having difficult conversations. Participants will review the reasons why we seldom have difficult or uncomfortable conversations and provided with a case for having them. As participants are lead through our approach to difficult conversations, they will be offered examples and suggestions for inviting, having, and capturing these conversations.

Learn more here.

Participants learned about new frameworks to help identify and address microaggression and racial aggression, and understand the notion behind active allyship. 

Learn more here.

EDI Series Workshop: Preventing Racial Discrimination and Harassment in Work and Learning Environments.

Learn more here.

PICTURE A SCIENTIST chronicles the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists. Biologist Nancy Hopkins, chemist Raychelle Burks, and geologist Jane Willenbring lead viewers on a journey deep into their own experiences in the sciences, ranging from brutal harassment to years of subtle slights. Along the way, from cramped laboratories to spectacular field stations, we encounter scientific luminaries - including social scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists - who provide new perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse, equitable, and open to all. 

Learn more about the film here.

The Departments of Medical Biophysics (MBP) and Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology (LMP) invited MBP and LMP faculty, students and postdocs to a workshop centered on how to be a better ally. This interactive session discussed everyday practices that each of us can take on in order to move a needle on discrimination. Following a brief talk, participants broke into small groups to discuss scenarios, inspired by actual events in the departments, that examined ways to implement these practices in our everyday work.

Learn more here.

At this session, participants:

• Discussed the concept of the 'echo chamber' as it relates to the experience of yourself and those around you.
• Experienced willful awareness of your own 'echo chamber' and how it impacts your perceptions of the world.
• Engaged in thoughtful conversation with MBP peers.
• Learned/discussed how to escape your own personal 'echo chamber'.

Learn more here.