OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2019 - 19

COVER

Accenture, General Electric (GE), Xerox, CH2M, Microsoft,
Deloitte, TELUS and Amec Foster Wheeler. Further, advocates
of equity, diversity, and inclusion in the engineering profession
have also expanded their efforts beyond a focus on gender
equity and parity.
IS OSPE SUPPORTING COMPREHENSIVE EQUITY
AND DIVERSITY INITIATIVES?
OSPE recognizes the importance of achieving equity, diversity,
and inclusion in the engineering profession. OSPE relies on the
wide range of expertise and experience that members bring to
the association to help problem-solve and innovate on issues of
importance to stakeholders. The depth and breadth of the OSPE
community also helps to strengthen the profession, as it enables
us to bring together professionals of all diversity dimensions and
engineering backgrounds to help one another learn and grow.
To achieve a more comprehensive approach to our equity,
diversity, and inclusion advocacy initiatives, OSPE formed the
EDI Committee in 2017. Prior to the creation of this committee,
diversity initiatives had focused solely on women in engineering.
However, government stakeholders and partner organizations
expressed that OSPE must take a leadership role in creating
more equitable and inclusive workplaces for all.
While we know anecdotally that many equity-seeking groups
continue to be underrepresented in the engineering profession,
there is a lack of reliable and comprehensive data on this matter.
This is one of the key priorities of the EDI committee, to collect
data to understand the current diversity landscape of the
profession and identify gaps.

To achieve a more comprehensive
approach to our equity, diversity,
and inclusion advocacy initiatives,
OSPE formed the EDI Committee
in 2017.
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO ADVANCE
INTERSECTIONAL THINKING?
* Enforce accountability: Ensure that leaders and employees
are supported and held accountable for inclusive leadership
behaviours. All of us have a role to play in creating workplaces
where everyone is valued and heard, with fair opportunities
to succeed.
* Be open minded: Normalize talking openly about differences-
paying particular attention to listening to and affirming
experiences that bridge gender, race, and ethnicity.
* Know your privilege: To help start to understand the
additional degrees of difficulties others may be facing, it's
important to understand our own privilege. Instead of it being
a personal attack, it's a way of noting your own history and
how it may have spared you from the oppressions being faced
by others.
* Prioritize listening and making space for others: If you've
self-reflected and feel ready to support your peers, the best way
to do it is to give them your full attention and listen. Listening
also allows you to take a step back. Advocating for others
doesn't have to mean speaking for them - it can also mean
giving them the space to speak. Don't discount the subtle ways
people can feel singled out or connected to their colleagues.
* Knowing that words have power: Imagine all the subtle yet
extremely hurtful microaggressions you may face for falling
into one of the marginal groups. Now imagine a peer that
falls into more than one of these groups. Oversimplifying
through language can cause others to feel excluded from the
conversation.
Intersectionality is a broad concept - and it's still widely
debated even today. However, acknowledging how different
types of discrimination intersect and increase biases will help
us ensure that everyone benefits from the principles of equality
and equity.
➝ To learn more, join OSPE in Ottawa on November 6 at our
conference The EDI Imperative: Changing the Profile of STEAM
in Canada. Visit www.ospeedi.ca for more information and to
purchase tickets.

Fall 2019

THE VOICE

19
http://www.ospeedi.ca
OSPE - The Voice - Fall 2019

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