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Talks and Workshops

TIDE delivers talks or workshops designed to start conversations about inclusion, illustrate common patterns of (unconscious) bias, provide practical tools to mitigate bias in academic practices and processes, and discuss promising ways to create more diverse and equitable unit cultures. TIDE content is constantly evolving, and draws on the literature, the experiences of members at all levels of the professoriate and in leadership, and the ideas, programs, and challenges shared with us by colleagues across the university.

Talks typically include relevant data on representation, an explanation of how bias can affect professional decisions and assessment, examples of bias from the literature, and practical advice for personal practices or structural changes that can increase inclusion. Talks end with time for questions, and slides are shared after the talk including links to resources.

Standing talks are offered each year, and are open to University of Toronto faculty and librarians. This is an excellent way to begin education on bias and inclusion. More information about these standing talks and registration information is shared below.

Workshops include a talk followed by break-out group discussions centred on the analysis of scenarios that capture real-world manifestations of bias and exclusionary practices in academic contexts. Break-outs are followed by a plenary discussion, including additional slides providing resources on mitigating the main challenges in the scenario.

Since 2016, TIDE has been a volunteer organization providing peer-to-peer knowledge translation for thousands of our colleagues.

Plans are underway for the University of Toronto to support a sustainable structure for TIDE. 

Starting in 2025, TIDE will once again offer individual sessions for academic units under this new structure. 

Request a session for your unit

TIDE maintains a curated group of recorded sessions that may be used for self-directed education.

Upcoming Standing Talks

Contact me when new TIDE standing talks are scheduled

Previous session date: Oct. 10 2024, 10:10-11:10am (EST)

TIDE will be offering an in-person talk and Q&A entitled Unconscious Bias 101: An Introduction for U of T Faculty & Librarians on Oct. 10 2024 from 10:10-11:10 am (EST).  The session will be held on the St. George campus.

Understanding unconscious bias is an important first step to making structural and personal changes that support equity and inclusion.

This talk is offered at an introductory level.  

Previous session date: Nov. 11 2024, 1:10-2:40pm (EST)

The Toronto Initiative for Diversity and Excellence (TIDE), will be offering an in-person workshop entitled Unconscious Bias 102: Workshop for U of T Faculty & Librarians on Nov. 11 from 1:10-2:40pm (EST).  The session will be held on the St. George campus

This session will build on the learnings of the Unconscious Bias 101 talk and will provide concrete guidance to faculty on advancing equity and inclusion, by making changes at the individual level and spurring a transformation at the structural level.  

Session date: TBC

We recommend that registrants either attend the Unconscious Bias 101 & 102 talks and/or complete the Unconscious Bias Education Modules 1, 2 & 3 (on SuccessFactors) prior to attending this workshop.

The purpose of this workshop is to:

  • Demonstrate how structural changes to institutional culture and policies can advance equity and inclusion
  • Discover ways to mitigate bias and cognitive errors in peer assessment and in recruitment/hiring
  • Explore concepts of privilege, anti-racism, intersectionality and allyship

Recorded Sessions

Most of TIDE’s recorded sessions are available only to University of Toronto Community members, others are posted for the public (see below). Using excerpts of these sessions, or sharing password-protected session recordings outside the University community is prohibited without permission.

Unconscious Bias 101: Talk for U of T Faculty, Oct. 19 2023

Presenters: Prof. Anthony Wensley (Associate Professor, Emeritus, Information Systems and Accounting) and Dr. Nadia Alam (Clinical (MD) Adjunct Appt., Public Health & Medicine).  

The purpose of this talk is to:

  • Explore the existing evidence on representation and bias
  • Explore case studies that illustrate how bias might intersect with various aspects of faculty experience, both within academia and beyond (e.g., everyday interactions, grant applications, interviews, award nominations, committee decisions) 
  • Provide an overview of how bias can affect decision-making
  • Suggest strategies for reducing the effect of bias on structural and personal practices

Workshop for search committees: Inclusive Practices in Recruitment, Sept. 29 2022

Presenter: Professor Maydianne Andrade (Dept. of Biological Sciences)

The focus of the session is specifically on recruitment, but many of the approaches discussed can be leveraged in other contexts.  The purpose of this workshop is to share promising practices on how to advance equity and inclusion in hiring by:

  • providing an overview of how bias can affect decision-making in the academic context and beyond; and
  • suggesting practical strategies for reducing the effect of bias on processes, procedures and personal practices associated with faculty recruitment.

Speaker: University Professor Maydianne Andrade (Dept. of Biological Sciences)

Host: ‘MindFest’ 2021, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.

This keynote talk was part of a conference centred on mental health. The audience included students (high school, undergraduate, graduate), members of the public, faculty and mental health professionals. Material covered includes a basic introduction to unconscious bias, examples from the literature on how bias manifests in assessment of others, and strategies for interrupting negative effects whether you are a witness to bias, or are impacted by bias.