New life for Dimensions

After a surprising shutdown,  a short Oct. 24 press release announced that, “following the success of the five year pilot,” the Dimensions program is back on course and moving into its next phase. This Tri-Agency initiative to advance equity, diversity and inclusion was co-designed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. “This is good news,” said Malinda Smith, vice-provost and associate vice president research (equity, diversity and inclusion) at the University of Calgary. “It was unfortunate that the transition [from a pilot to a full program] hadn’t occurred. … This is what the original signatories were calling for.” 

A surprising decision 

News in early 2023 that Dimensions had ended was met with astonishment in the Canadian higher ed sector. Seventeen academic institutions participated in the pilot project, which was launched in 2019 with the initial goal of refining its vision. Inspired by the Athena SWAN charter, a UK-initiated framework to advance gender equity in higher education and research, the project aimed to develop EDI tools for universities. Included in the Dimensions project’s ambitious goals were five levels of recognition offered to universities based on their EDI efforts with five equity-seeking groups: women, Indigenous peoples, disabled people, visible minorities and racialized people, and the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. 

Read more: Plug pulled on Dimensions program 

“The program’s sudden end left a significant gap in the inclusivity efforts underway in postsecondary institutions,” said Karine Coen-Sanchez, co-chair of SSHRC’s advisory committee to address anti-Black racism in research and research training. 

The decision to shut down the program before the pilot’s final evaluation report was even published was all the more surprising given the federal government’s EDI initiatives and priorities. “Without the data, we don’t know how effective [the efforts] are,” said Wendy Rodgers, president of University of Prince Edward Island.  

The final report was, at long last, recently released online. Among its other findings, the Dimensions program demonstrated “value, relevance, and effectiveness … as a driver for advancing EDI within and across Canadian post-secondary institutions.”  

Rallying the EDI community  

The EDI community remained impassioned after Dimensions shut down. “The pilot project was a major investment,” said Bibiana Pulido, co-founder and executive director of the Québec Interuniversity Equity Diversity Inclusion Network. “What message would it send to end Dimensions there?” At an EDI workshop at CÉGEP André-Laurendeau in May, “a number of people called the shutdown of Dimensions a major loss,” said Karine Morin. Formerly with NSERC, she is now president and CEO of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences. 

A vast community of researchers, social rights activists and community leaders worked together to bring Dimensions back to life. “Getting Dimensions reinstated was a collaborative effort,” said Ms. Coen-Sanchez. In July, she co-wrote an article with Evidence for Democracy, a non-profit championing the integration of scientific evidence in government decision-making. The article highlighted the program’s impact and the consequences of shutting it down. 

Anoush F. Terjanian, a former SSHRC board member, noted, “The Dimensions Coalition built on the momentum generated by the Support Our Science movement to unite representatives … to ensure that this high performing and low-cost program could continue to drive inclusive and sustainable innovation in Canada ….” Significantly, the pilot project only spent $3.6 million of its $5-million budget. The revived program’s budget was not mentioned in the October press release. 

Continued support for EDI initiatives 

The details of the revived program have yet to be released, but NSERC said in an email that, “Dimensions will follow the [Athena SWAN] charter, continue to offer EDI recognition to institutions, provide practical support to the academic community, and create resources for the sector as a whole,” with a focus on higher education. 

“This is a really good step forward for EDI in the research ecosystem in Canada,” said Dr. Smith. “I think it will help to create a more cohesive and coordinated approach.” As a recent Council of Canadian Academies report pointed out, universities have a long road ahead with EDI. “Measures integrated across multiple institutions are more likely to create real change,” said Dr. Rodgers, who chaired the CCA report’s expert panel. 

Without more details, it’s hard to say what effects Dimensions may have. “There are always improvements to be made, as with anything. What’s important is to do the work and rally the universities together,” said Ms. Pulido.  

Aryan Karimi, a sociology professor at the University of British Columbia, hopes to see EDI efforts implemented from the bottom up. He said he didn’t know about Dimensions despite his interest in EDI initiatives, and even though UBC is one of the 17 institutions involved in the pilot project. 

The hope among EDI advocates is that Dimensions will provide all institutions – especially smaller institutions with fewer resources – with tools to support diverse talent and researchers implementing EDI measures and encourage universities to collaborate, not compete. “I think it’s really important to emphasize beyond the acronym,” said Dr. Smith. “It leads to better research; diverse research teams are smarter. I believe that EDI enhances and contributes to excellence.”