Top Canadian university posts job listing that excludes white heterosexual men

One of Canada’s most well-known universities has posted a job opening for a new research chair position but has essentially barred non-homosexual white men from applying for the job.

A recent job posting for the position of “Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Oral Cancer Research” at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Vancouver campus has explicitly mentioned that those who don’t meet its so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements need not apply.

The UBC job posting was published on May 21, and notes that the seven-year contract for the chair role has with it certain “eligibility requirements,” such as candidates having to demonstrate a track record of “supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion.”

According to UBC, the selection for the role will be “restricted to members of the following federally designated groups: people with disabilities, indigenous people, racialized people, women, and people from minoritized gender identity groups.”

This rules out straight white men from applying for the role. UBC uses its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Plan as well as the B.C. Human Rights Code as validation for its job requirements.

The UBC claims that its current faculty is underrepresented by those who “self-identify” as having a disability, thus it notes that a person from this category is “preferential.”

To ensure that straight white men do not apply for the job, the UBC is also mandating that anyone who applies for the role must first conduct what it calls an “equity survey.”

“Candidates from these groups must self-identify as belonging to one or more of the designated equity groups to be considered for the position,” notes UBC.