New Canada Research Chairs in Philosophy
The government of Canada recently named 93 new Canada Research Chairs, and three of them are philosophers.
[Yabu Pushelberg, “Rua Ipanema Chair”]
- Kimberley Brownlee, Canada Research Chair in Ethics and Political and Social Philosophy at the University of British Columbia
- Chike Jeffers, Canada Research Chair in Africana Philosophy at Dalhousie University
- Francesca Vidotto, Canada Research Chair in Foundations of Physics at Western University
The Canada Research Chairs program funds scholars to support “research excellence in engineering and the natural sciences, health sciences, humanities, and social sciences” and “improve our depth of knowledge and quality of life, strengthen Canada’s international competitiveness, and help train the next generation of highly skilled people through student supervision, teaching, and the coordination of other researchers’ work.”
You can see the full list of new and renewed chairs here.
Those chairs look plush.
CRCs are good, but they way in which they are plush (if they are) ought not be understood as simply to the individual’s benefit. The CRC funds largely go to cover faculty salary and benefits (which are typically governed by a Collective Agreement). They are not in addition to salary, though there may be a small CRC salary stipend at some institutions. CRCs are awarded on the basis of a 5-7 year research proposal (as well as the CV of the nominee). Any CRC funds not spent on salary recovery need to go to support the research program. Universities do need to commit to support their CRCs, but this ought not simply be with the salary stipend, but rather typically includes a commitment to support a CRC’s research program. Philosophers typically need some travel money and funds for materials, relatively modest in the scheme of things. Substantial funds may be committed to supporting students (grad and undergrad, or potentially post-docs, but that is more expensive and so far rarer). Sometimes there is modest support to host a workshop. So the largest benefit to the individual is that it makes it easier to do research, and to recruit students to engage in their research along with them.
It’s worth looking at who has been running SSHRC for the last 10 years:
Paul K. BatesChair of the Independent Audit CommitteeA Certified Professional Accountant and fellow of the Society of Management Accountants, Paul Bates has been a leader and educator in the Canadian business community for more than two decades. He is a former dean and industry professor in financial management services at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He now serves as assistant professor of leadership at McMaster Divinity College, where he is pursuing a PhD.
As a former adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, he was awarded an Outstanding Teacher Award in 2003 and again in 2004.
In 2003, after serving on the boards of the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Canadian Investment Dealers Association, Bates was appointed part-time commissioner to the Ontario Securities Commission; he completed his second and final term on June 10, 2009. He also chaired the Investor Education Fund and served as a member of the OSC’s Investor Advisory Panel.
In 2000 he was named Most Influential Broker of the Year by Investment Executive Magazine. In 2002, Bates was awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal for community service.
Bates was first appointed to SSHRC Council in 2008. In 2009, he was appointed to the Programs and Quality Committee and served as chair and member of the group from February 2010 until February 2014.
https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/about-au_sujet/governance-gouvernance/committees-comites/members-membres/bates-eng.aspx
Like the faculty rosters of the Canadian university in general and Canadian philosophy departments more specifically, the roster of CRC holders is disproportionately dominated by nondisabled white people. At UBC, for instance, approximately 40% of CRCs are held by nondisabled white women. Disabled academics hold less than1% of the CRCs at UBC, despite the fact that disabled people make up about 25% of the Canadian population. Academics of colour and Black academics are also considerably underrepresented as CRC holders at UBC and elsewhere.
How do I know this? At the invitation of the Office of the Vice Provost and Equity and Inclusion Office at UBC, I have been taking part in focus groups that aim to identify the reasons why disabled academics are so underrepresented as CRCs at UBC and other Canadian universities and what can be done to mitigate this exclusion.
I’ve checked my notes and want to give more exact figures, amending what I stated above. Nevertheless, the general landscape of the CRC program is as I depicted it. These figures are taken from 2019 and 2020.
Less than 6% of all CRCs (Tiers I and II) were held by disabled academics. Only 5.3% of Tier II CRCs were held by disabled scholars. (Remember: disabled people constitute approximately 25% of the Canadian population.)
Only 4% of the Tier II CRCs at UBC were held by disabled scholars. Disabled academics held 5% of the total number CRCs at UBC.
Disabled academics constituted only 9% of the 2020 applicant pool for CRCs at UBC. Even worse, disabled academics constituted only 7% of applicants nominated for CRC positions at UBC. White women academics at UBC constituted 31% of CRC applicants and 52% of nominees for positions.
Structural barriers with respect to the criteria for CRC applicants, nominees, and recipients, as well as widespread ableism in the Canadian university system more generally continue to severely restrict opportunities and advancement for disabled people.
I’ve written a post at BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY that derives from this Daily Nous post.
You can find the post at our blog here: https://biopoliticalphilosophy.com/2021/06/22/on-the-ableist-and-racist-legacies-of-canadian-philosophy/
Despite the rather outrageous and libelous things you have said about me and others, Shelley, I just followed your link and read your post at your blog.
I hope others will also read your post. I think it does a very good job of making clear the fallaciousness of many modes of reasoning that others have used elsewhere on related topics. Perhaps this will help open readers’ eyes.
Hello!
I’ve written a follow-up post at BIOPOLITICAL PHILOSOPHY about the UBC study that I mentioned in other comments of this thread. You can find my post at our blog here: https://biopoliticalphilosophy.com/2021/07/06/ableism-crcs-and-academic-freedom/