Colleges and Institutes Canada

About Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan)
CICan is the national and international voice of Canada’s largest post-secondary education network. It advocates, builds capacity, and drives knowledge to strengthen Canada’s publicly supported colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics. With more than 95% of Canadians living within 50 km of a member
institution, and thanks to its extensive reach around the globe, CICan works to future-proof communities in Canada and abroad. CICan is also the pan-Canadian UNESCO-UNEVOC centre and secretariat of the World Federation of Colleges and Polytechnics (WFCP). The head office of CICan in Ottawa is located on the traditional and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation.

The CICan 50 – 30 Challenge Outreach Project
This important project is well aligned to the ImpAct-EDI initiative of the association and aims to contribute to systemic change in EDI practices across Canada. More specifically, the 50 – 30 Challenge is about inviting Canadian companies, not-for-profit organizations and post-secondary institutions to commit to achieving gender parity (50%) and significant representation (30%) of other under-represented groups—including racialized persons, Indigenous people, people living with (dis)abilities, and members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community—on corporate boards and in senior management positions. Supporting the 50 – 30 Challenge as an Ecosystem Partner deeply connects with CICan’s vision for better futures for peoples and communities.

Definition

Microaggression

Microaggression is defined as: “A comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group” – Source: Merriam Webster

Definition

Unlearning

Unlearning is defined as: “To make an effort to forget your usual way of doing something so that you can learn a new and sometimes better way” – Source: Cambridge Dictionary

Definition

Intersectionality

Intersectionality is defined as: A framework for understanding how different aspects of a person’s social and political identities (e.g., gender, race, class, sexuality, ability, physical appearance, etc.) combine to create unique modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies advantages and disadvantages that are felt by people due to this combination of factors – Source: Kimberlé Crenshaw, TIME

Definition

Privilege

Privilege is defined as: “The unfair and unearned advantages individuals are granted for having, or being perceived to have, social identities that align with those deemed to be superior according to societal rules and norms. It is often experienced as an absence of barriers related to a particular social identity (e.g., White privilege, straight privilege)” – Source: Egale

Definition

Safe Space

Safe Space is defined as: “A place intended to be free of bias, conflict, criticism, or potentially threatening actions, ideas, or conversations” – Source: Merriam-Webster

Safe spaces allow individuals to feel comfortable having brave and honest conversations.

Definition

Emotional Tax

Emotional Tax is defined as: “The combination of feeling different from peers at work because of gender, race, and/or ethnicity, being on guard against experiences of bias, and experiencing the associated effects on health, well-being, and ability to thrive at work” – Source: Catalyst

Definition

Tokenism

Tokenism is defined as: “Performative policies that ostensibly promote diversity or equality (placing women or diverse groups in leadership positions), but do not truly have a positive impact on the workplace. Tokenism isn’t progressive, and it especially causes harm to tokenized individuals, causing extra pressure to succeed due to being perceived as representative of a group and often leaving them in an alienating work environment” – Source: Catalyst

Definition

Psychological Safety

Psychological Safety is defined as: “An environment that encourages, recognizes and rewards individuals for their contributions and ideas by making individuals feel safe when taking interpersonal risks. A lack of psychological safety at work can inhibit team learning and lead to in-groups, groupthink and blind spots” – Source: Gartner