Employment Equity Glossary of Terms

Barrier:

Anything that prevents a person from fully taking part in all aspects of society, including physical, architectural, information or communications, attitudinal, economic and technological barriers, as well as policies or practices.

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Belonging:

The co-creation of structures, institutions, and the conditions for human thriving.

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Bias:

A predisposition, prejudice or generalization about a group of persons based on personal characteristics or stereotypes.

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Bisexual:

A person who is emotionally, physically, spiritually and/or sexually attracted to people of more than one gender, though not necessarily at the same time.

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Cis/Cisgender:

A person whose gender identity is in alignment with the sex they were assigned at birth.

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Colonization:

The process of focusing on and devaluing people’s differences in order to dominate and control them, including various economic, political and social policies by which a powerful group maintains or extends control over other people or areas.

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Decolonization:

• Decolonization restores the Indigenous world view
• Decolonization restores culture and traditional ways
• Decolonization replaces Western interpretations of history with Indigenous perspectives of history (View Source for Decolonization)

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Disability: 

According to the Ontario Human Rights Code, disability is defined as:

1. any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog, wheelchair, or other remedial appliance or device;
2. a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability;
3. a learning disability or dysfunction in one or more of the processes involved in understanding or using symbols or spoken language;
4. a mental disorder; or
5. an injury or disability for which benefits were claimed or received under the insurance plan established under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997.

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Discrimination:

Treating someone unfairly by either imposing a burden on them, or denying them a privilege, benefit or opportunity enjoyed by others, because of their race, citizenship, family status, disability, sex or other personal characteristics.

Employment Equity Act:

A federal law enacted with the purpose of achieving equity in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability and, in the fulfilment of that goal, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities by giving effect to the principle that employment equity means more than treating persons in the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences.

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Equity Lens:

A process for analyzing or diagnosing the impact of the design and implementation of policies, practices or procedures on Indigenous Peoples and individuals from equity-deserving groups, and to identify and potentially eliminate barriers.

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Ethnicity:

Of or relating to races or large groups of people who have the same customs, religion, origin, etc.

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Ethnocentrism:

The attitude that one's own group, ethnicity, or nationality is superior to others; a tendency to view other ethnic or cultural groups from the perspective of one's own.

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First Nation:

This term became common use in the 1970s to replace the word “Indian.” Although the term First Nation is widely used, no legal definition exists. The term has also been adopted to replace the word “Band” in the naming of communities. Many people today prefer to be called “First Nations” or “First Nations People” instead of “Indians.” The term First Nation includes all Indigenous people who are not Inuit or Métis, regardless of their legal status under the Indian Act.

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Gay:

A person whose enduring physical, romantic and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same gender. The word can refer to men or women, although some women prefer “lesbian.” Sometimes used as an umbrella term for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, Queer) community.

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Gaslighting:

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them cognitive dissonance and other changes, including low self-esteem, thereby rendering the victim additionally dependent on the gaslighter for emotional support and validation. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and delegitimize the victim’s beliefs. Instances can range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents occurred, to belittling the victim’s emotions and feelings, to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim. The goal of gaslighting is to gradually undermine the victim’s confidence in their own ability to distinguish truth from falsehood, right from wrong, or reality from delusion, thereby rendering the individual or group pathologically dependent on the gaslighter for their thinking and feelings. (View Wikipedia Source for Gaslighting)

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Gender Identity:

Refers to each person’s internal and individual experience of gender. It is a person’s sense of being a woman, a man, both, neither, or anywhere along the gender spectrum. A person’s gender identity may be the same as or different from their birth-assigned sex. For most people, their sex and gender identity align. For some, it does not. A person may be born male but identify as a woman, or born female but identify as a man. Other people may identify outside the categories of woman/man, or may see their gender identity as fluid and moving between different genders at different times in their life.

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Genderqueer/Gender Non-conforming/Gender Variant:

Individuals who do not follow gender stereotypes based on the sex they were assigned at birth. They may identify and express themselves as “feminine men” or “masculine women” or as androgynous, outside of the categories “boy/man” and “girl/woman.” People who are gender non-conforming may or may not identify as trans.

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Heterosexual:

A person who has romantic or sexual attractions to people of another gender.

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Homophobia:

Negative attitudes, feelings, or irrational aversion to, fear or hatred of gay, lesbian, or bisexual people and communities, or of behaviours stereotyped as “homosexual.” It is used to signify a hostile psychological state leading to discrimination, harassment or violence against gay, lesbian, or people.

Indigenous Peoples:

An umbrella term for self-identified descendants of pre-colonial/pre-settler societies. In Canada these include the First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples as separate peoples with unique heritages, economic and political systems, languages, cultural practises, and spiritual beliefs. While the collective term has offered a sense of solidarity among some indigenous communities, the term should not serve to erase the distinct histories, languages, cultural practices, and sovereignty of the more than fifty nations that lived in Canada prior to European colonization.

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Indigenization:

• Indigenization recognizes validity of Indigenous worldviews, knowledge and perspectives
• Indigenization identifies opportunities for indigeneity to be expressed
• Indigenization incorporates Indigenous ways of knowing and doing (View Source for Indigenization)

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Intersectional Lens:

An approach based on the assumption that an individual’s experiences are based on multiple identities that can be linked to more than one ground of discrimination.

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Intersectionality:

A term coined by Black feminist legal scholar Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe the ways in which our identities (such as race, gender, class, ability, etc.) intersect to create overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

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Inuit:

The Indigenous Peoples of Arctic Canada who live primarily in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and northern parts of Labrador and Québec. The word Inuit means “people” in the Inuit language – Inuktitut. The singular of Inuit is Inuk. Their traditional languages, customs and cultures are distinctly different from those of the First Nations and Métis.

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Islamophobia:

Stereotypes, bias or acts of hostility towards individual Muslims or followers of Islam in general. In addition to individual acts of intolerance and racial profiling, Islamophobia leads to viewing Muslims as a greater security threat on an institutional, systemic and societal level.

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Learning/Working/Living Environment:

Wherever a member of the College community attends for the purpose of learning, working and living, involving activities sanctioned by the College, including virtual environments within the Humber ecosystem, such as our Learning Management system (for example: Blackboard), and virtual social-based environments outside Humber College’s IT ecosystem, such as, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.

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Lesbian:

A woman who is emotionally, physically, spiritually and/or sexually attracted to women.

Métis:

The Métis are a distinct Indigenous people with a unique culture, language, and heritage. Their ancestral homeland includes Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, and the Northwest Territories. The term is used broadly to describe people with mixed First Nations and European ancestry who identify themselves as Métis, distinct from First Nations people, Inuit or non-Indigenous people.

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Nationality:

A group of people who share the same history, traditions, and language, and who usually live together in a particular country.: the fact or status of being a member or citizen of a particular nation.

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Non-Status:

Refers to people who identify as First Nations but are not recognized on the Indian Register maintained by the federal government of Canada.

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Ontario Human Rights Code:

A provincial law that gives everybody in Ontario equal rights and opportunities without discrimination in areas such as jobs, housing and services. The goal of the Human Rights Code is to prevent discrimination and harassment based on the 17 protected grounds: citizenship, race, place of origin, ethnic origin, colour, ancestry, disability, age, creed, sex/pregnancy, family status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, receipt of public assistance (in housing) and record of offences (in employment).

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Occupational Health and Safety Act:

This is Ontario’s cornerstone legislation for workplace health and safety. The main purpose of the Act is to protect workers from health and safety hazards on the job. It sets out duties for all workplace parties and rights for workers. It establishes procedures for dealing with workplace hazards and provides for enforcement of the law where compliance has not been achieved voluntarily.

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Queer:

Formerly derogatory slang term used to identify LGBT people. Some members of the LGBT community have embraced and reinvented this term as a positive and proud political identifier when speaking among and about themselves.

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Racial Equity:

The systemic fair treatment of all people. It results in equitable opportunities and outcomes for everyone. It contrasts with formal equality where people are treated the same without regard for racial differences. Racial equity is a process (such as meaningfully engaging with Indigenous, Black, and racialized clients regarding policies, directives, practices and procedures that affect them) and an outcome (such as equitable treatment of Indigenous, Black, and racialized clients in a program or service).

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Racism:

A belief that one group is superior or inferior to others. Racism can be openly displayed in racial jokes, slurs or hate crimes. It can also be more deeply rooted in attitudes, values and stereotypical beliefs. In some cases, people don’t even realize they have these beliefs. Instead, they are assumptions that have evolved over time and have become part of systems and institutions. 

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Racialized:

According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (2005), “When it is necessary to describe people collectively, the term “racialized person” or “racialized group” is preferred over "racial minority,” “visible minority," “person of colour" or “non-White” as it expresses race as a social construct rather than as a description based on perceived biological traits. Furthermore, these other terms treat “White” as the norm to which racialized persons are to be compared and have a tendency to group all racialized persons in one category, as if they are all the same.”

Status Indian:

Refers to individuals who are eligible to have their names included on the Indian Register maintained by the federal government of Canada.

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Sex:

The classification of people as either male, female, or intersex. Sex is usually assigned at birth and is based on an assessment of a person’s reproductive systems, hormones, chromosomes, and other physical characteristics.

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Sexual Orientation:

The direction of one's sexual interest or attraction. It is a personal characteristic that forms part of who you are. It covers the range of human sexuality from lesbian and gay, to bisexual and heterosexual.

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Sexism:

Discrimination based on sex.

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Tone Policing:

Tone policing (also tone trolling, tone argument, and tone fallacy) is an ad hominem (personal attack) and anti-debate tactic based on criticizing a person for expressing emotion. Tone policing detracts from the validity of a statement by attacking the tone in which it was presented rather than the message itself. The notion of tone policing became widespread in U.S. social activist circles by the mid-2010s. It was widely disseminated in a 2015 comic issued by the Everyday Feminism website. Many activists argued that tone policing was regularly employed against feminist and Black Lives Matter advocates, criticizing the way that they presented their arguments rather than engaging with the arguments themselves. (View Wikipedia Source on Tone Policing) 

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Trans:

Umbrella term that describes people with diverse gender identities and gender expressions that do not conform to stereotypical ideas about what it means to be a girl/woman or boy/man in society. “Trans” can mean transcending beyond, existing between, or crossing over the gender spectrum. It includes but is not limited to people who identify as transgender, transsexual, cross dressers or gender non-conforming (gender variant or gender queer). Trans identities include people whose gender identity is different from the gender associated with their birth-assigned sex. Trans people may or may not undergo medically sup­portive treatments, such as hormone therapy and a range of surgical procedures, to align their bodies with their internally felt gender identity.

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Transphobia:

The aversion to, fear or hatred or intolerance of trans people and communities. Like other prejudices, it is based on stereotypes and misconceptions that are used to justify discrimination, harassment and violence toward trans people.

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Transitioning:

Refers to a host of activities that some trans people may pursue to affirm their gender identity. This may include changes to their name, sex designation, dress, the use of specific pronouns, and possibly medically supportive treatments such as hormone therapy, sex-reassignment surgery or other procedures. There is no checklist or average time for a transition process, and no universal goal or endpoint. Each person will decide what meets their needs.

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Two-Spirit:

The term used by Indigenous people to describe from a cultural perspective people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans or intersex. It is used to capture a concept that exists in many different Indigenous cultures and languages. For some, the term Two-Spirit describes a societal and spiritual role that people played within traditional societies, such as: mediators, keepers of certain ceremonies, transcending accepted roles of men and women, and filling a role as an established middle gender.