February 11, 2021. We had an amazing time organizing the reflective panel discussion on Picture a Scientist documentary with the Chemical Engineering Graduate Students’ Association and the Centre for Applied Bioscience and Bioengineering at the University of Toronto. The panel was attended by over 50 people, including students, staff and faculty at the University of Toronto and everyone contributed to an insightful and actionable discussion. Some key takeaways that emerged:
1. Supporting women and minority community leaders in their roles and helping share the burden for action towards equity by giving value to work done by them which is often invisible, via active allyship.
2. Collecting data on pervasive bias that might exist with the university and using those insights to implement policy changes.
3. Providing means to disclose discrimination and harassment, free of fear of persecution.
We hope this event leaves people with important thoughts to enact on equity, inclusion, and diversity in our daily lives and have important discussions with those closest to us!