Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) - Funding Programs

We have a strategic commitment to fostering a more equitable, diverse and inclusive health research system.

Diversity in research is important to cultivating talent and promoting inclusive excellence, which in turn drives discovery and helps build a more equitable health research system.

Data from Canada and around the world show a lack of diversity in the research system, as well as systemic inequities in access to research jobs, funding and other resources. These inequities disproportionately impact groups who have been historically underrepresented among researchers and in academia, including those who are Indigenous, Black and people of colour, LGBTQ2S+ people and people with disabilities.

As BC’s health research agency, we have an important role in leading and supporting efforts to address systemic racism and other forms of bias and discrimination that create and exacerbate inequities in the health research system. In recognition of this, we are taking a number of actions to advance EDI in our health research funding programs, policies, processes and strategic initiatives. These are described below in more detail.

Alongside our EDI-focused work, we are working to grow our knowledge and skills in Indigenous cultural safety, including through staff training, improving our policies, programs and practices, and building relationships and partnerships with Indigenous organizations, collectives and communities. Our intention is to do this work from a place of humility, integrity and accountability, grounded in our ongoing commitment to reconciliation and respect for Indigenous self-determination.

Expanding our EDI data capabilities

As an evidence-informed organization, we have a long history of systematically tracking and analyzing data and other information about our funding programs. To help deliver on our strategic commitment to EDI, we’ve made it a priority to improve our data collection on who is applying to our funding programs, reviewing applications for us, and receiving Health Research BC funding.

Self-identification form

In 2019, we implemented a self-identification form to collect demographic information about applicants, their supervisors and collaborators, and the health research experts who review funding applications for us. This information can help to identify potential barriers and challenges to EDI within our funding programs, as well as opportunities for improvement.

The self-identification form invites all applicants, co-applicants, research users, trainee supervisors and peer reviewers to share information about their gender identity, LGBTQ2S+ identity, age, Indigenous identity, racialized/visible minority identity, population group, and whether they identify as disabled.

We’ve also ensured our EDI data are collected and analyzed in ways that facilitate comparison with national data. This helps us to contribute to the bigger picture understanding of diversity within BC’s and Canada’s research system and to subsequent conversations about actions that may need to be taken in response to systemic inequities.

EDI-related program improvements

Equity, diversity and inclusion is central to our work. In the past, we’ve primarily focused our efforts on gender equity in our funding programs. Today, there is gender parity in award funding rates for the majority of our funding programs, though we recognize there are persistent gender inequities in research and academia and that actions to remedy them are still required. As part of our commitment to EDI, we are now enhancing our efforts to support other groups and communities who have been historically underrepresented among health researchers, including Indigenous, Black and people of colour, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ2S+ people.

We have implemented policy, program and process improvements to reduce barriers and facilitate greater diversity among Health Research BC funding applicants and award recipients. For example, over the past several years, we’ve:

• Implemented unconscious bias training for all our peer reviewers
• Revised our application evaluation criteria for peer reviewers to mitigate potential biases in application assessment
• Developed an EDI-informed supplemental guide and training sessions for peer reviewers on how to fairly, equitably and consistently review applications, including in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Become a signatory to the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) as part of enacting our broader commitment to fair and equitable assessment of research outputs
• Engaged in proactive outreach and dialogue with research-intensive universities in BC who are underrepresented amongst Health Research BC funding applications and award recipients to enable successful applications from diverse institutions across BC

Knowledge exchange and learning

As a learning organization, we are continually looking for ways to share, expand on and improve our knowledge and understanding about EDI in health research funding and the health research system.

We are members of an international consortium, the Research on Research Institute (RoRI), working in collaboration with other partners to conduct new research on research systems and test innovations to enable a more strategic, open, diverse and inclusive research system. One example is the RoRI Excellence Project, which examines how traditional definitions of research excellence can create barriers to EDI and innovation.

In addition, members of our leadership team are leading and engaging in EDI-focused dialogues with other research funders and health research system colleagues and collaborators in BC, Canada and internationally. These conversations focus on key challenges, opportunities and actions we can take to enable a more equitable, diverse and inclusive health research system for all.