As part of its obligations under the Federal Contractors Program, the University is required to conduct a workforce analysis to identify areas of under-representation of equity-deserving group members in its workforce. Each year, York University presents this analysis in the Annual Employment Equity Statistical Report. The report covering January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, is now available.
The report highlights representation at York University for the four federally designated groups under the Employment Equity Act (women, Indigenous peoples, racialized persons, and persons with disabilities) and community members identified as 2SLGBTQIA+. It also highlights some of the employment equity initiatives undertaken in 2023.
This year, the data revealed some improvements, including the year-to-year increase in representation of racialized persons and persons with disabilities among total employees over the last three years (2021 to 2023).
In general, the data showed that while the overall representation rates for women continue to exceed the external availability data, numbers for Indigenous peoples, racialized persons, and persons with disabilities show a general trend of representation rates falling below the external availability data provided by Statistics Canada.
Recently, there has been a notable increase in awareness of the potential uses of employment equity data within the University community, as requests for employment equity data by units and Faculties have increased. Responding to this need, a new York University employment equity dashboard will launch later this year. The dashboard aims to increase access to data for the entire community in order to assist in the implementation of some of the recommendations highlighted in the Decolonizing, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
Because it is important to obtain accurate data for the dashboard to be truly useful in supporting evidence-based decision making, community members’ participation in the Employment Equity Survey is critical to ensure the report and the new dashboard are being truly representative of the community.
Those who have not yet completed the improved version of the employee self-identification survey yet, or would like to change their responses, can access it via HR Self-Serve within your “Personal Details” tab. The more people who complete the survey, the more accurate the data will be for both the Annual Report and the soon to be launched dashboard.
To find out more about Employment Equity at York and to view past reports, visit the Employment Equity and Diversity website.