Interview Methodology
- Letter from President Dr. Mohamed Lachemi
- Foreword from Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion Dr. Denise O’Neil Green
- Executive Summary
- Interview Methodology
- The Student Experience and Recommendations
- Staff and Recommendations
- Faculty and Recommendations
- Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion
- Conclusion
In March 2019, students, faculty and staff from Toronto Metropolitan University were invited to share their experiences of anti-Black racism on campus. Thirty-five students, 20 staff and 13 faculty participated, with all details of their interviews having been anonymized.
Focus group discussions were coordinated along with some one-on-one interviews conducted from March to June 2019. The majority of participants were students, faculty and staff who identified as Black, supported by additional interviews with non-Black individuals who provided their perception of acts of anti-Black racism at TMU. The interview questions were open-ended and constructed so that participants would define their experience rather than the interviewer assuming the experience from the outset.
Interviews were conducted in a focus group setting for most students and staff, with some participants from those two groups opting for individual interviews. There were over 35 students interviewed in multiple focus groups and a few students interviewed individually (these were students who showed up outside of scheduled interview hours). Twenty staff members were also interviewed mostly in focus group settings, with some individuals having requested one-on-one interviews. Faculty interviews were completed individually with 13 tenure-stream, tenured and contract faculty.
The interviews conducted constitute the basis of this report and the recommendations made herein articulate avenues of redress for the three constituencies. These recommendations are also drawn from the participants’ suggestions of how to make the TMU experience more positive for all.
(Photo by Amanda Kuo)