Equity, diversity and inclusion

Workplace

The intention of this page is to enhance our comprehension of the meanings associated with this subject.

Contents

Color blind or color brave?

How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Maybe It's Time to Re-think What "Professionalism" Means

There is no universally held concept of medical professionalism. One definition
outlines that "medical professionalism exists in difficult, daily choices made by practicing physicians under system and internal stresses whilst delivering patient care.1 Those choices can look very different across health-care teams.

The Evolving Concept of Professionalism

Professionalism is not fixed; it evolves with culture and context. Historically, it has been shaped by outdated colonial standards (i.e., norms, practices and values imposed by colonial powers). Today, we recognize that professionalism:

  • is culturally defined and can vary greatly across contexts.
  • holds different meanings depending on one’s identity and lived experiences.
When professionalism is narrowly defined, it can create barriers to equity, including limited access to resources, mentors, and education, or a sense of belonging.


Professionalism as Both a Tool and a Risk

Professionalism can be a positive tool to address bias and racism in medicine. However, it can also be misused as “a tool of social control to maintain the interests of the social groups that dominate medicine.”² Conflicts often arise when:

  • assumptions are made about someone’s motives.
  • expectations of behaviour differ among individuals.
  • mistreatment occurs.

Responding to Professionalism Conflicts or Mistreatment

If you experience or observe concerns related to professional behaviours, there are multiple possible responses:

  1. Do nothing. Let it go.
  2. Debrief. Talk with a trusted colleague or friend.
  3. Approach the Person. 
    • Calling in the person in private, after the interaction or event. Provide feedback with compassion about how the interaction impacted you or others (i.e., how you felt).
    • Calling out the person in the moment, often publicly. Address the behaviour and its impact right away.

Communication frameworks can help structure difficult conversations, including:

  • XYZ Model: “I feel X when you say Y because Z.”
  • ACTION Model: Ask clarifying questions, Come from curiosity, Tell what you observed, Impact of their statement, Own your thoughts and feelings, Next steps.

Reporting Options

If you choose to report a concern, possible channels include: division, department, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, Alberta Health Services, University of Alberta, or College of Physicians & Surgeons of Alberta.

References:

  1. Birden Med Teach 2014
  2. Frye et al. Acad Med 2020

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Mentorship and Sponsorship

Mentorship and Sponsorship: We need both

Mentorship: Guidance and Skill-Building
Mentorship has long been recognized as a key element to professional success. A mentor acts as an advisor by sharing wisdom and experience to assist junior colleagues in their growth. They can also provide constructive feedback on skills and areas for improvement, helping individuals build capabilities they can carry forward throughout their careers.

Mentorship is often formalized and built into an organizational structure. This approach can be helpful in establishing direct connections between mentor and mentee, as well as create regular opportunities to meet and learn.

Sponsorship: Advocacy and Opportunity
Sponsorship, on the other hand, is usually informal and occurs when a senior colleague advocates for and promotes a junior colleague. Sponsorship is focused on creating opportunities and connections that can allow people to take the next step in their careers. A sponsor may recommend someone for a promotion, put their name forward to take the lead on a new project, or endorse their skills and experiences when speaking with others. Although a mentor can also serve as a sponsor, sponsorship can be done by anyone who is willing to champion the growth and success of junior colleagues.

Why Both Matter
If mentorship is handing someone a key, sponsorship is helping them walk through the door. Both are valuable in helping colleagues build skills, recognize their own potential, and move to the next level.

Everyone has something to contribute. We encourage you to speak with your director about mentorship opportunities and to consider who can you sponsor today?

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Microaggressions in the Workplace

 

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The Myth of Meritocracy

Meritocracy is the idea that the "best" individual will be selected for a position strictly based on hard work, dedication, and intelligence. It is the belief that who you are, what your skin colour is, or where you were born will not affect your opportunity for success. On the surface, hiring, promoting, or selecting leaders based on merit sounds like a great idea. But, in reality, privilege and bias play a role, leaving women, Indigenous peoples, and people of colour behind.

Who defines merit? Who determines what the "best" is? These decisions are often made using proxies for aptitude and those proxies are inherently biased. For example, in 2014, a study of urology program directors in the United States investigated factors that gave applicants special consideration (Urology. 2015 Apr; 85(4): 731-736). Forty-seven percent of urology program directors gave special consideration to applicants who were a child of an academic urologist. This is not merit.

Food for thought: There is no one "best fit" in medicine. As physicians, we serve a diverse group of patients who all have different backgrounds and different needs. Let's consider that our selection processes and hiring/promotion practices may need to evolve to meet the needs of our current population as meritocracy is flawed and inherently biased.

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Parity for Women in Medicine — Still a Work in Progress

According to a recent CMA study, currently over 54% of Canadian physicians under age 40 are women. It is estimated that by 2030, half of all Canadian physicians will be women. Despite this, only 25% of leadership positions in medicine are held by women, with very few being held by women of colour. More women are stepping into leadership roles to bring different perspectives to the way medical care is delivered and taught, yet an overwhelming majority continue to report weekly microaggressions based on gender.

Medicine is a profession that is built on pre-existing culture and hierarchical ideas. Ongoing wage gaps, discrimination toward parental leave, lack of consideration of family/work balance, and unequal access to mentorship all contribute to disengagement and burnout amongst women in leadership. Women are effective systemic disruptors, with fresh ideas to challenge the norm, and have known positive outcomes with patient care, both in treatment and prevention.

Below are a few examples of situations demonstrating the lack of parity that still exists in medicine today. Let's try to even the playing field by being an ally to all women physician colleagues!

Example 1: Women physicians are often addressed by their first names, even when being introduced to speak at international conferences or in important meetings. Men are regularly addressed as "Dr. X."
Solution: Equity in acknowledgment.

Example 2: Women in leadership are often not offered an administrative assistant as a standard. Assumptions are made that women can handle it all, and thus administrative help is reserved for male colleagues.
Solution: Standardizing leadership contracts and terms for the role.

Example 3: Women in medical leadership are less likely to negotiate higher wages and stipends than their male counterparts for fear of being labelled as difficult.
Solution: Reducing barriers for negotiation and providing space with allies to discuss difficult, but necessary details.

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Rethinking Professionalism: How Dress Codes Can Reinforce Discrimination

Rethinking Professionalism:
How Dress Codes Can Reinforce Discrimination

Medical dress codes are often justified as neutral standards of “professionalism,” yet expectations for how physicians, residents, and medical students should dress are rooted in white, patriarchal, and heteronormative norms. These narrow standards elevate Eurocentric appearances as the professional ideal while disproportionately policing women, gender-diverse individuals, and racially- and culturally-marginalized trainees and clinicians. Restrictions on hairstyles, tattoos, and clothing that deviates from traditional gender roles reinforce rigid binaries and send a message about whose identities are deemed acceptable.

Such expectations actively undermine equity by ignoring socioeconomic realities, religious and cultural attire, and the needs of neurodivergent individuals, for whom conventional medical dress—such as tight uniforms, layered clothing, or neckties—can be physically distressing or inaccessible. Dress codes that prioritize conformity over inclusion do not improve professionalism or patient care. Instead they create barriers to belonging and well-being.

Medical institutions must move beyond outdated ideals and adopt inclusive dress policies that centre on comfort, safety, and self-expression. Expanding definitions of professionalism strengthens the medical workforce and builds patient trust by allowing physicians and trainees to show up authentically. Rethinking how we define professional dress is an essential step toward a more equitable, representative, and humane medical system.

Read the department Chair's follow-up to feedback received on this article here.

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What's in a Name?

What's in a Name?

A name is often the first thing we learn about a colleague, trainee, staff member or patient. It may seem like a small detail, but names carry identity, history, family, culture and professional recognition.

In a department as diverse as ours, it is inevitable that some names will be unfamiliar to others. We will occasionally misspell a name or pronounce it incorrectly.

Perfection is not the goal—making the effort is.

Taking a moment to verify the spelling, asking someone how they pronounce their name, or correcting a recurring mistake may seem insignificant. Yet these small actions communicate that we recognize one another as individuals with unique identities, cultures and histories, rather than simply as roles or names on a list.

Health-care professionals are trained to value accuracy. We carefully check medication names, laboratory values, diagnoses and procedures because details matter. Names deserve the same attention. They are essential not only for communication and identification within our health-care system but also for fostering a culture of collegiality and belonging.

Making the effort to pronounce and spell an individual's name correctly costs nothing, yet it may be one of the simplest and most meaningful acts of respect we can offer one another.

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Why are Equity and Diversity Important to the Promotions Process?

Ensuring diversity at all levels is an important element of an organization’s success. Promotion policies that emphasize fairness and diversity drive organizational performance fostering a culture of trust, increasing colleague engagement, and building diversity over the span of career development.

Equity-focused promotion policies help to address bias and create pathways for a wider range of people to bring their unique skills and attributes to the table. These strategies help to reduce the "Advancement Gap", a stumbling block for organizational development that can occur when marginalized groups are promoted at a slower rate.

By developing paths for promotion with an equity lens, leaders can be intentional in recognizing potential in those from a variety of backgrounds, highlighting work done outside traditional and formal roles, and creating space for everyone to make meaningful contributions to the work we do. 

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Why Representation Matters

There are mixed sentiments about initiatives that call for increased workplace diversity. This may be due to a common misperception that increasing representation and diversifying the workforce is about meeting specific targets or quotas.

However, there are many reasons why increasing diversity is important.

  • Varied life experiences can lead to different talents and viewpoints, which then lead to better decision-making and improved outcomes.
  • Being part of a diverse workforce encourages learning and personal growth, as well as enhances creativity and innovation.
  • In the medical profession, it is essential that our workforce reflects and serves the needs of diverse populations.

One way to ensure adequate representation is to reflect on who is missing at the table. You might consider asking yourself this question the next time you are in a meeting or at a work function.

 

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