Diversity and Excellence Research Hub

Equity, diversity,  inclusion, accessibility and belonging are essential for fostering an innovative, creative, and productive environment within universities and across all aspects of society. They are foundational institutional values. Diversity and equitable inclusion not only fulfill a moral imperative. They also drive individual achievement and institutional excellence.

This page is designed to debunk myths around diversity and inclusion and equip members of the University of Calgary campus and the wider community with actionable resources to effectively champion these principles within living, working, teaching, and learning, and research environments.

Explore the benefits of diversity and inclusion below by listening, watching, or reading resources to deepen your understanding and identifying actions to combat myths and misinformation. 

This diversity and excellence research hub features research and multi-media resources that highlight the value of diversity and equitable inclusion. Created by political scientist Dr. Malinda S. Smith, PhD, vice provost and associate vice president research (equity, diversity, and inclusion), it recognizes the context and the need for knowledge and a shared narrative. The diversity and excellence research hub will continue to evolve. Each of these sections respond to how and why diversity and inclusion are important in the university and in other sectors of our society. The research outline the benefits of diversity and inclusion and how, together, they fuels excellence, ingenuity, innovation and creativity as well as lead to better decision-making, teams, productivity, and profitability. Diversity leads to better outcomes. 

The resources also helps institutions understand the value of moving from commitments expressed in documents and, more, they also help us articulate why we defend diversity and inclusivity as a value proposition (it is the “right thing to do,” and it is also a “must have” for individual and institutional excellence). EDI are foundational institutional values and core leadership competencies at the University of Calgary (UCalgary).

The ten sections of this resource are included below, each with articles, books, podcasts, and videos. This research will help us develop a shared understanding and common narratives of the benefits of diversity, and also assist us in responding to those who misperceive a trade-off or zero-sum between diversity and excellence  Instead, this research shows that diversity and excellence are co-constitutive.