Promoting diversity & equity

The University of Victoria and the Department of Psychology are committed to providing an environment that protects and promotes the human rights and affirms the dignity of all persons, including those of diverse backgrounds, orientations, and needs, and that provides equitable access to opportunities for working and learning. The University and the Department recognize the many benefits of a faculty, staff, and student body that reflect the rich diversity of Canadian society.

Victoria has long had thriving communities of people of Chinese and South Asian descent, as well as First Nations peoples, and in recent decades Victoria has become home for people with a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.

The UVic student body (approximately 18,000, including approximately 2,100 graduate students) is 59% female. Approximately 70% of UVic students come from outside the Victoria area. The student body includes individuals from a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Each year, several hundred students earn a bachelors degree (BA or BSc) in Psychology at UVic. Psychology also has approximately 80 graduate students (about 65% women; 10% international). We accept between 10% and 15% of applicants to our graduate program.

UVic has 628 regular continuing faculty (33% female). The Department of Psychology was a leader in the University in developing and following an ambitious gender equity policy in 1990. Partly due to that policy, several years ago we obtained gender parity across our 25 faculty members: There are 12 women and 14 men, and approximately half of our faculty at each rank (Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor) are women. The Department is now increasing its emphasis on efforts to hire and support excellent new researchers and teachers who are visible minorities, aboriginals, or persons with disabilities. Psychology, as the science of behaviour and mind, enjoys the characteristics that make each person unique. We want the composition of faculty, staff, and students in our department to reflect the wide diversity of people. Diversity in the department will enrich all of our lives. We want the faculty, staff, and students of our department, too, to reflect and be enriched by that diversity.

UVic has numerous programs, initiatives, and resources for promoting equity and for supporting faculty, staff, and students with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and orientations. For further information about equity and diversity at UVic, visit the University's Office of Equity Issues website. If you have any questions or comments regarding equity or diversity in the Department of Psychology at UVic, please contact the chair of the Department of Psychology's Equity and Diversity Committee (as the position of chair changes regularly, contact the department office to be put in touch with the current chairperson).

Links to Diverse UVic Web Sites

• Association of International and Canadian Students
• Centre for Asia-Pacific Initiatives
  Dedicated to expanding and strengthening UVic's links with universities and other institutions in the Asia-Pacific region
• Child Care Services
  Care for children aged 18 months to 12 years of age in programs that are designed to meet the needs of specific ages
• Child and Youth Care First Nations Partnership Program
  A community-based post-secondary program for First Nations students wanting to train as child and youth care workers
• Faculty Women's Caucus
  A forum for female faculty members to discuss and act upon issues and concerns that affect them as members of the university community
• International and Exchange Students Services Office
• Native Students' Union
• Office of International Affairs
• Equity and Human Rights Office
• Resource Centre for Students with a Disability
• Student Services list of clubs with cultural/international emphases
• Student Services Women's Centre
  A wide variety of services and information sources for women at UVic
• UVic Pride
  University of Victoria Student Services social and political organization for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons
• Women's Studies
  Information on academic work in women's studies