McMaster is committed to recruiting students, staff and faculty from diverse backgrounds building an inclusive community. We have numerous programs to help attract and retain diverse talent to our to the university.

McMaster’s Policy on Recruitment and Selection of Faculty Members includes provisions to ensure hiring selections are made free from explicit or implicit biases (Page 3, section 9. Fairness and Equity). If finalists for a position include self-identified members of an equity-deserving group, departments shall consider employment equity gaps in the recruitment of women, persons with disabilities, First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples, persons who are members of racialized communities, and LGBTQ+ identified people.

When applying to work at McMaster applicants are invited to complete an optional and confidential Applicant Diversity Survey that requests voluntary self-identification in relation to equity-deserving groups. If a hiring committee reaches Short List Stage (Page 5, second C) and does not include any or a sufficient proportion of members of equity-deserving groups an Employment Equity Facilitator will work with Human Resources Employment Equity to identify candidates worthy of a ‘second look’.

McMaster’s Presidents Advisory Committee on Building an Inclusive Community established a Race, Racialization and Racism Working Group (R3) in 2015. This group works with McMaster’s diverse communities of colour, Indigenous, First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) communities to identify and address issues affecting them both within the University, and in the broader community. The working group provides expertise on issues related to racism and anti-racism, and advises the administration on the planning and development of anti-racism policies and strategies with an intersectional lens focused on “building an inclusive community with a shared purpose.”

McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering has made great strides in advancing equity in the program, 40 per cent of incoming engineering students in 2022 identified as women, an 18 per cent increase over just six years (Page 8-10) The faculty has also created an Indigenous Working group and hired five Black Scholars as part of the University’s Black Faculty Cohort Hiring Iniative (Page 12)

Strengthening diversity and equity is an institutional priority and McMaster is focussed on building an inclusive community that celebrates diversity when hiring. All senior leaders, hiring managers, selection committee members and staff involved in the hiring process are encouraged to complete diversity and equity training that includes instruction on how to recognize and combat unconscious, implicit, overt, prejudicial and any other kinds of bias. This training also includes aspects of anti-oppression, anti-racism, cultural competency, accessibility and LGBTQ+ education.

McMaster was named one of Canada’s Top Diversity Employers for the fourth straight year in 2022.The University’s efforts included creating an employee resource group for Black, Indigenous and racialized staff, and recruiting 12 scholars as part of the Black Excellence faculty cohort. Details about McMaster’s strategic planning and management process are documented in: Towards Inclusive Excellence: A Report on McMaster University’s EDI Strategy.