Whose University Is It, Anyway?

Is the university today more diverse? Is it more inclusive? Has equity been realized? If we look simply at the number of women teaching in Canadian universities today, we might conclude that significant progress has been made. However, as the various contributors to Whose University Is It, Anyway? remind us, there is more to equity than the numbers, and while gender is important, there can be other bases of inequities such as race, sexual orientation, age, class, Aboriginal status, and disability. ... The contributors write from different perspectives and as "diversely situated subjects within the academic community." Included in the collection are personal narratives and analyses as well as discussions of findings from qualitative research. The contributors include administrative support staff, teaching assistants, graduate students, a middle-level administrator, contract academic staff, as well as tenured and tenure-track faculty. ...

There are a number of reasons to read this timely book. Most important, it challenges us to examine critically the academic institutions in which we work and to ask what we really mean when we talk about equity and diversity. Each of the contributors provides a unique lens for how we might think about equity differently. The theory of intersectionality provides an important framework through which we can understand the complex ways by which people's ascribed identities interconnect and shape their experience of discrimination. Equity requires much more than just physical presence: it includes many things. Equity means working in an academic culture where all voices are heard and acknowledged, where different knowledge and pedagogies are welcomed, even encouraged, and where the different needs of all people are respected. ... While much of the focus in these essays, not surprisingly, is on structure, many of the contributors also speak to the fact that individuals have agency and the power to create things differently. ...

In sum, this book provides us with an inside look at how differently-situated individuals see equity; it makes us aware of why we must remain vigilant about equity, the successes to date, and the limitations of traditional approaches that focus primarily on setting equity goals and increasing numbers. As for "whose university is it?" — there is no clear answer except that we must continue asking the question.