Canadian Economics Diversity Committee (CEDC)

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The CEA believes that the practice of economics in Canada should feel relevant to people from all groups in society and that people from groups that have faced discrimination, in particular, should feel that it is a respectful, relevant, and welcoming profession.  Building true inclusion is everyone’s responsibility. Therefore, the CEA, itself, aims to actively promote this goal of inclusion by taking a facilitating and, where appropriate, leading role.

Making progress toward that goal involves a combination of contributions and leadership from people from communities that face barriers and discrimination, as well as from the CEA.  It is also a goal that encompasses all the various facets of economics in Canada: academic; government; private sector; and not-for-profit. And, of course, the participation of and outcomes for students are vital in moving toward a future of an inclusive profession.

In pursuit of this goal, in June of 2022, the CEA convened a Diversity Summit just before the annual meetings at Carleton University. A productive conversation at that meeting led to a proposal to form action groups under the umbrella of a Canadian Economics Diversity Committee (CEDC). That committee was formally created by the CEA Board in September 2022 along with a Economics Profession Data Committee (EPDC), that is charged with creating an ongoing concerted effort to gather data on the economics profession in Canada.

      The CEDC has within it an initial set of sub-committees:

• Mentorship Committee to extend the excellent work of CWEC to create mentorship opportunities for students and junior faculty from under-represented backgrounds;
• Best Practices Committee to bring together and disseminate information on the policies undertaken by economics departments to address diversity and inclusion;
• Affinity Groups Committee to co-ordinate actions for affinity groups as meeting places for under-represented groups in economics.

Several existing CEA committees, including the Code of Conduct and Communications committees, have also adjusted their mandate to take on work related to diversity and inclusion. A document explaining the role of each of these sub-committees and their goals more completely can be found here [PDF].

In all of this, we gratefully acknowledge the leadership and substantial efforts made by the Canadian Women Economists Committee (CWEC), not only relating to issues of gender in the profession but issues of diversity more broadly. It is important to emphasize that the CEDC will stand parallel to CWEC in the CEA structure, working with it on important issues. The CEDC does not subsume CWEC.

We also gratefully acknowledge the efforts of the many people who have stepped up to volunteer in these efforts, many of whom were working on these issues well before the CEA got involved. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact the inaugural chairs of the CEDC, Ismael Mourifie (Ismael.mourifie@utoronto.ca) or David Green (David.green@ubc.ca).

CEDC Members Include:

Ismael Mourifie and David Green as inaugural chairs;

Michelle Alexopoulos (as CEA Vice-President and co-chair of the Mentorship Committee);

Janice Compton (as co-chair of the Mentorship Committee and representative of CWEC);

Ke Pang, Byron Lew and Inbal Marcovitch (as co-chairs of the Best Practices Committee);

Prosper Donovon, Rob Gillezeau and Viet Vu (as co-chairs of the Affinity Groups Committee);

Nick Dadson and Sermin Gungor (as co-chairs of the Data Committee); and

Ana Ferrer (as chair of the Code of Conduct Committee).

CWEC & CEDC Mentoring Sessions at CEA 2023, Winnipeg MB

Jointly organized by the Canadian Economic Diversity Committee (CEDC) and the Canadian Women Economists Committee (CWEC/CFÉC). The mentoring is aimed at early career economists, and all who fall into this category are welcome. The event will be held on Friday June 2, 2023 during the first morning session time slot. Mentees and mentors will be organized by topic. Come and speak with a senior economist about issues such as "Getting Published", "Managing Service", "Balancing", "The importance of presentations." etc. You will have the opportunity to discuss the issues you deem most relevant with senior economists. 

The deadline for session registration is May 13, 2023 - Space is limited to 40 attendees 

Please complete the following form so that we can best choose appropriate mentors: Mentoring Session Form

Note, to attend the conference, you need to complete the conference registration here.  

Best Practices Subcommittee: Department Survey in Progress 

As part of the CEDC’s efforts to improve diversity within the economics profession and reflecting the interest of some Chairs in having better information on what good diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices look like, a Best Practices Subcommittee has been formed

A survey created by the Best Practices Subcommittee has been circulated to economics department chairs in Canada. It will help us to gain insights about the DEI practices at economics departments across Canada, and identify initiatives and practices which may hold promise for others, as well as related pitfalls and strategies for overcoming them.

The Best Practices Subcommittee will analyze the information gathered and report on results at an aggregate level to an upcoming meeting of economics department Chairs. A report will also be presented on the CEA Embrace Diversity Day in June 2023 and posted on this webpage.

If you have any questions about the survey, please do not hesitate to email any of us.
 

Co-chairs, CEDC Best Practices Subcommittee

Byron Lew (blew@trentu.ca)

Inbal Marcovitch (inbal.marco@gmail.com)

Ke Pang (kpang@wlu.ca)