The Cost of Caregiving: Family Status and the Persistent Barriers to EDI in Canadian Academic Institutions

Abstract

Although the discourse of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) has been formally embraced in post-secondary institutional contexts in Canada and globally, the policies and practices that would tangibly manifest these principles remain uneven. Indeed, EDI data collection tools and initiatives often neglect to consider some human-rights protected grounds, such as family status, as intersections of interest. Extant human rights jurisprudence continues to place the onus on the employee to engage individual accommodations processes in the absence of system-wide, family-friendly policies that recognize the added care responsibilities shouldered by academic parents, and mothers specifically. Yet, increasingly, academic institutions are being called upon to adopt family-friendly policies, practices, and cultures. The characteristics of a family-friendly institution, however, remain disputed and opaque, and the pace to realize EDI goals remains glacial. This article explores dimensions of the family-friendly academic institution and explains why its implementation is so necessary in the Canadian academic context. We argue that academic institutions and grant-funding bodies need to better account for the impact of caregiving responsibilities to meet the stated goals of their EDI action plans to contribute to a fair and diverse research ecosystem.