Ally: Being an ally involves someone from a privileged group actively engaged in an on-going process of deconstructing their own privilege (Case, 2013). Ally-ship is an ongoing process of learning and unlearning. In the context of women in science, men from all backgrounds can actively listen to and learn about how to create supportive environments for women in public sector science environments. Additionally, white women can learn about white privilege and work towards ally-ship with racialized and Indigenous women (see Indigenous Women and Two Spirit People).

Allyship: According to the British Columbia’s Teachers Federation: “Allyship is not an identity—it is a lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency, and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people. Allyship is not self-defined—our work and our efforts must be recognized by the people we seek to ally ourselves with.” See the BCTF website for more information.

Cisgender refers to someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth.

Cultural appropriation: We are citing definitions of cultural appropriation shared by Dr. Adrienne Keene and Matika Wilbur on the All My Relations podcast. To learn more about cultural appropriation, listen to Episode #7 Native Appropriations on the All My Relations podcast or visit Dr. Adrienne Keene’s blog: Nativeappropriations.com. From Lenore Keeshig-Tobias (1990): “Taking from a culture that is not one’s own intellectual property, cultural expressions and artifacts, history, and ways of knowledge.” Wikipedia’s definition includes the understanding that “(cultural) appropriation is a form of colonialism: cultural elements are copied from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture, and these elements are used outside of their original cultural context—sometimes even against the expressly stated wishes of members of the originating culture.”

Diversity: Rodriguez (2016) states that diversity involves “the recognition of the visible and invisible physical and social characteristics that make an individual or group of individuals different from one another, and by doing so, celebrating that difference as a source of strength for the community at large (p. 242).” Multiple scholars have described how diverse ways of knowing, reasoning, and engaging in knowledge production supports meaningful activity (Bang & Vossoughi 2016; Emberley 2013). In 2019 the Minister of Science, Honourable Kirsty Duncan, made this clear when she said: “diversity of thought, experience, background, breeds great research” (Moss, 2019).

Emotional labour “is the process of regulating both feelings and expressions for organizational goals... Emotional labor may involve enhancing, faking, or suppressing emotions to modify the emotional expression” (Grandey, 2000, p. 97). Although emotional labor might be helpful in some contexts, it is known to be stressful for an individual and may result in burnout.

Equity: Rodriguez (2016) explains that equity “refers to the enactment of specific policies and practices that ensure equitable access and opportunities for success for everyone” (p. 243). Often, we may conflate equity and equality, which can be detrimental to meeting and surpassing our diversity and inclusion goals. Rodriguez speaks to the difference between equity and equality when she writes that, “in order to be equitable, we cannot treat everyone the same. To be equitable, we must treat individuals according to their needs and provide multiple opportunities for success” (p. 243).

In the context of health sciences, for example, equity would have us provide childcare for scientists travelling with children, even though others may not need such services. Resources and policies do not need to be equal to be equitable.

Gender is our socially constructed behaviours, roles, and identities about girls, boys, women and men and gender diverse people. Gender can be thought of as a spectrum. Other gender identities are Two Spirit, transgender, non-binary, genderqueer and gender fluid; however, this list is not complete. Gender influences, and is influenced by, the distribution of power and resources in society. To read more about sex and gender research, refer to the Reading List at the end of this Toolkit. The “gender binary” is the idea that there are only two genders and that they are psychologically and physically distinct (Hyde et al., 2019). This widespread misconception about a gender binary continues to influence all aspects of scientific inquiry, including medical, psychological, and natural sciences.

Gender Roles are behaviours and attributes expected of individuals on the basis of being born either female or male. Whereas the term sex is a biological term based on an individual's reproductive organs and genes, the term gender is a psychological and cultural term.

Gender Identity is how an individual sees themselves (self-identifies) in relation to their gender.

Gender-inclusive language is a language that places all genders at the same level. It is also a way of communication that does not discriminate against a particular sex or gender identity, and does not perpetuate gender stereotypes.

Gender leadership gap refers to the difference between women and men’s attainment of leadership positions. Regardless of women’s predominance in an occupational field, men are more likely to occupy leadership positions, or positions of authority and decision-making.

Imposter syndrome is “a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success.”

Implicit Biases “are discriminatory biases based on implicit attitudes or implicit stereotypes. Implicit biases are especially intriguing, and also especially problematic, because they can produce behavior that diverges from a person's avowed or endorsed beliefs or principles.”

Inclusion: According to Jordan (2011), “inclusion puts the concept and practice of diversity into action by creating an environment of involvement, respect, and connection—where the richness of ideas, backgrounds, and perspectives are harnessed to create business value. Organizations need both diversity and inclusion to be successful.” Mor Barak (2014) states that “[t]he concept of inclusion-exclusion in the workplace refers to the individual’s sense of being a part of the organizational system in both the formal processes, such as access to information and decision-making channels, and the informal processes, such as “water cooler” and lunch meetings where information exchange and decisions informally take place” (p. 155). An inclusive workplace goes beyond employing people from diverse backgrounds (racial, class, gender, nationality, religion, ability, etc.). Workplace inclusion involves being attuned to the organizational climate, as well as the “unwritten rules” that maintain workplace culture. If socializing amongst colleagues, for example, often takes place after office hours, and in bars or pubs, parents with young children and people who do not drink (for religious, health or other reasons) may not feel comfortable or supported by the organization.

Institutional Racism is “the collective failure of an organization to provide appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people” (“The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, Report of an Inquiry” cited in Eddo-Lodge, 2017, pp. 60-61).

Intersectionality is a theory and framework for action that was initially articulated by Kimberlé Crenshaw (1991), a Black woman academic. Intersectionality is used to understand the systemic oppression of Black women within a particular socio-legal context. Additional theorists who also contributed to this important theory include members of the Combahee River Collective, Patricia Hill Collins and bell hooks.

LGBTQ2S is an acronym used in Canada to refer to various sexualities and gender identities that are not heterosexual and cisgender. In this case, the acronym refers to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transsexual, Queer, Questioning, and Two Spirit. Related acronyms are LGBTQ or LQBTQI (I refers here to Intersex).

Mentorship: One definition of mentorship is: a supportive “process in which a more skilled or more experienced person, serving as a role model, teaches, sponsors, encourages, counsels, and befriends a less skilled or less experienced person for the purpose of promoting the latter’s professional and/or personal development. Mentoring functions are carried out within the context of an ongoing, caring relationship” (Anderson, 1987 cited in Anderson & Shannon 1988). Mentors can serve the following five functions: teaching, sponsoring, encouraging, counselling, and befriending.

Microaggressions is a term that was coined in 1970 by Chester M. Pierce, psychiatrist and Harvard University professor, to describe insults and dismissals which he regularly witnessed non-black Americans inflicting on African Americans. Others have defined them as “brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to certain individuals because of their group  membership” (Sue, 2010, p. xvi).

Networking: Merriam Webster defines networking as “the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions.” In the professional context, networking is specifically “the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business.”

Non-binary refers to someone whose gender identity is neither man nor woman, or a mix of both.

Racism is "encompassing economic, political, social, and cultural structures, actions, and beliefs that systematize and perpetuate an unequal distribution of privileges, resources and power between white people and people of color (Hilliard, 1992)...Whiteness itself refers to the specific dimensions of racism that serve to elevate white people over people of color" (DiAngelo, 2011, p. 56).

Servant leadership: “Servant leaders view their key role as serving employees as they explore and grow, providing tangible and emotional support as they do so. To put it bluntly, servant-leaders have the humility, courage, and insight to admit that they can benefit from the expertise of others who have less power than them. They actively seek the ideas and unique contributions of the employees that they serve. This is how servant leaders create a culture of learning, and an atmosphere that encourages followers to become the very best they can.”

Sex: According to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), “[s]ex refers to a set of biological attributes in humans and animals. It is primarily associated with physical and physiological features including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive/sexual anatomy.” Sex is usually dichotomous and categorized as female or male, however, there is more biological variation in how sexual characteristics are expressed (Heidari et al., 2016).

Sexism refers to the selectively unjustified negative behaviour against women, girls, and anyone not identifying as a man. Sexism is a term that is particularly used to denote discrimination against women and girls. Research has suggested there are four levels of sexism — individual, social/structural, institutional, and cultural — that interact with each other.

Settler colonialism “is defined by a territorial project  – the accumulation of land – whose seemingly singular focus differentiates it from other types of colonialism... Because ‘Indigenous’ peoples are tied to the desired territories, they must be ‘eliminated’; in the settler-colonial model, ‘the settler never leaves’ (1999, 2006)” (from Patrick Wolfe, cited in Simpson, 2014, p. 19).

Sponsorship is an integral part of mentorship, but not all mentors take this approach. “Sponsoring involves being a kind of guarantor. Sponsoring within the context of mentoring involves three essential behaviors: protecting, supporting, and promoting” (Anderson & Shannon, 1988).

Tokenism is “. . . the practice of making only a token effort or doing no more than the minimum, especially in order to comply with a law” (Collins English Dictionary, 2003, “Tokenism”).  “Tokenism is most likely to occur when members of the minority group in any situation account for fewer than 15 percent of the total” (Gutiérrez y Muhs, 2012, p. 449).

Transformational leadership is when “leaders motivate their followers to move beyond self-interest and work for the collective good” (Wang et al., 2011). Four dimensions of transformational leadership include leaders: 1) enacting influential behaviour, 2) providing motivation inspired by a vision for the future, 4) providing intellectual stimulation by, for example, encouraging others to challenge existing assumptions and take risks, 3) giving individualized support to followers/team members/employees (Banks et al., 2016).

Transgender: According to the Ontario Human Rights Coalition, "trans or transgender is an umbrella term referring to people with diverse gender identities and expressions that differ from stereotypical gender norms. It includes but is not limited to people who identify as transgender, trans woman (male-to-female), trans man (female-to-male), transsexual, cross-dresser, gender non-conforming, gender variant or gender queer."

Two Spirit is a term developed in 1990, at the Third Annual Inter-tribal Native American, First Nations, Gay and Lesbian American Conference, held in Winnipeg and is a term used exclusively by Indigenous Peoples. According to Chelsea Vowel, Two Spirit is a “pan-Indigenous concept encompassing sexual, gender and/or spiritual identity” (Vowel, 2016, p.108). Not all Indigenous people identify with this term. Non-Indigenous people cannot use this term.

White fragility “is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves. These moves include the outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation. These behaviours, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium” (DiAngelo, 2011, p. 54).

White privilege is “inherent advantages possessed by a white person on the basis of their race in a society characterized by racial inequality and injustice. unearned over advantage and conferred dominance.” White privilege works systematically to confer dominance on white people because of their race (McIntosh, 2003).