Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+)
Section 1: Institutional GBA Plus Capacity
NSERC’s Implementation of GBA Plus through the Tri-agency EDI Action Plan
In 2021-22, NSERC continued to work with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to implement the 2018-25 Tri-Agency EDI Action Plan, which was publicly released in April 2021. The Action Plan outlines measures to increase fair access to agency funding opportunities and promote equitable and inclusive participation in the Canadian post-secondary research system. As part of implementation, NSERC commits to integrating GBA Plus/EDI considerations into its policies, plans, programs and processes, indicators of research excellence, evaluation criteria, and departmental decision-making processes in order to eliminate systemic biases that hinder equitable access to its programs.
NSERC ensures that GBA Plus/EDI is integrated into agency decision-making and processes. GBA Plus/EDI has been a key consideration in development of a new strategic plan, NSERC 2030 , which will reflect Canada's priorities for the funding of natural sciences and engineering over the next decade. More specifically, GBA Plus/EDI was applied to inform each stage of the development process, including internal and external surveys, consultations with thought-leaders, targeted interviews, and targeted discussions with researchers from equity seeking groups and Indigenous communities. A GBA Plus/EDI lens was also applied to activities such as an environmental scan and the development of discussion papers.
Advancing GBA Plus Capacity
Training
Since 2019-20, agency staff are required to complete the Introduction to GBA Plus online course as well as training on Diversity and Inclusion. Recent training completion rates for staff are as follows:
Training |
Completion rates 2021-22 |
|---|---|
Introduction to GBA Plus |
75% |
Diversity and Inclusion |
66.04% |
Additionally, peer reviewers are strongly encouraged to complete an Unconscious bias training module, as are program delivery staff. Staff who use or access raw EDI data are required to take EDI Data and Privacy Protection training. NSERC also encourages all staff to participate in other training activities supporting their GBA Plus/EDI capacity (including reconciliation).
Data Collection and Reporting
In support of NSERC’s GBA Plus capacity, the agency has been collecting self-identification data from stakeholders engaging in NSERC funding opportunities since 2018 (gender, age, whether they identify as a member of a visible minority group, as Indigenous, and/or as a person with a disability). In 2021-22, NSERC implemented the revised and expanded self-identification questionnaire, to expand data collection regarding diversity in applications received, awards granted and among committee members. This data enables NSERC to undertake GBA Plus and other EDI-focused analyses, including intersectional analyses to help identify inequities in research funding and in the broader Canadian research ecosystem, and inform policy and programmatic decisions.
Section 2: Gender and Diversity Impacts, by Program
Core Responsibility: Funding Natural Sciences and Engineering Research and Training
Program Name: Discovery Research Program
Target Population: All Canadians
Distribution of Benefits:
First group |
Second group |
Third group |
Fourth group |
Fifth group |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
By gender |
Men |
❌ | Women |
Key Program impacts on Gender and diversity
| Statistics | Observed Results* | Data Source | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Indigenous peoples” |
n/a | Self-identification questionnaire | Sample size not sufficient for reporting due to privacy guidelines |
| Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Women” | 26.4% | Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
| Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Persons with disabilities” | 2.0% | Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Visible minorities” |
28.4% | Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
Other Key Program impacts on gender and diversity
- To report on competition results, Discovery Grants (DG), Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) and Subatomic Physics Grants (SAP) application rates and competition results are shared publicly in dynamic dashboards on the NSERC website. Data are disaggregated by applicant category (early career researcher, established researcher returning and established researcher not holding a grant), based on responses from the Tri-agency self-identification questionnaire (gender, visible minority status, Indigenous identity, disability status, age), and institution size.
- A questionnaire is sent to committee members for feedback and a post-mortem is held with competition staff on the competition. The questionnaire sent following competition 2021 and 2022 included questions on evaluating the EDI component of the contributions to HQP training criterion, awareness of unconscious bias, as well as the DG approach to delays.
- For the 2022 competition, DG kept the changes implemented in CY2021 with regard to the treatment of eligible delays in research and allowable leave periods with some additional improvements based on feedback from Evaluation Group Chairs, Evaluation Group members and staff.
- Several guidance materials for researchers and reviewers to support inclusion of EDI considerations in research and related activities were developed in 2021-22; this includes the guidance of EDI considerations at each stage of the research process, released in Summer 2021, as well as the guidelines on the assessment of contributions to research, training, and mentoring and the guidance on EDI considerations for research teams (to be published early in the next financial year). Together, these guidelines aim to promote NSERC’s support of research excellence in Canada and incorporate the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) and the Tri-agency EDI action plan.
- Based on the results of the Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) gender-based analysis Plus, the excellence of the researcher was no longer part of the assessment in 2022 competition to reduce potential barriers in the RTI program selection criteria. Applicants are now instructed to highlight their relevant experience or their plan to gain relevant experience to fully use the requested equipment.
Supplementary Information Sources
- Canada Research Coordinating Committee 2020-21 Progress Report (2021-22 Progress Report is not yet published)
- Discovery Grants Competition Results
GBA Plus Data Collection Plan
Applicants to funding opportunities falling under the Discovery Research program are required to complete the funding agencies revised (2020) self-identification questionnaire, providing the agency with more information regarding applicants’ identity characteristics.
The GBA Plus for the Research Tools and Instruments (RTI) program has an implementation and monitoring plan that will unfold over several years. Most recommendations, such as program policies affecting potential measures to increase diversity in applicants and awardees, also address early career researchers and small institutions. Recommendations on EDI instructions for applicants as well as those related to the selection and training of committee members were implemented for competition years 2021 and 2022.
Program Name: Research Training and Talent Development
Target Population: All Canadians
Distribution of Benefits:
First group |
Second group |
Third group |
Fourth group |
Fifth group |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
By gender |
Men |
❌ | Women |
Key Program impacts on Gender and diversity
| Statistics | Observed Results* | Data Source | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Indigenous peoples” |
3.0% | Self-identification questionnaire | Sample size not sufficient for reporting due to privacy guidelines |
Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Women” |
48.5% | Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
| Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Persons with disabilities” | 4.3% | Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Visible minorities” |
32.0% | Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
* 2021-22
Other Key Program impacts on gender and diversity
- NSERC, along with CIHR and SSHRC have established a limited-time Special Response Fund for Trainees (Ukraine) on March 28, 2022, or SRFT-Ukraine, to initiate or maintain the employment or financial support—via stipend or salary—of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers who are directly impacted by the crisis in Ukraine.
- NSERC Prizes (Herzberg, Polanyi, Brockhouse) GBA Plus analysis has been completed. Several recommendations have already been implemented, including an expanded communications plan aimed at increasing diversity of nominations.
- NSERC continued to deliver PromoScience grants, with a sustained focus on underrepresented groups such as girls and Indigenous youth to provide them access to innovative STEM programs.
- To report on competition results according to EDI data, dynamic dashboards are under development for Scholarships & Fellowhips programs.
- NSERC partnered with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada to offer discipline-specific scholarship supplements which are granted preferentially to underrepresented groups.
- An evaluation of the Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering (CWSE) program took place in 2020-21 and the report was published July 2021. Based on stakeholder consultations indicating the need for a redesign of the CWSE program to address underrepresented groups in science and engineering more broadly, a two-year pilot program, the Chairs for Inclusion in Science and Engineering (CISE) Program, has been developed to be launched in Summer 2022 in the Atlantic region to replace the outgoing Atlantic CWSE chairholder.
- The equalization of the application to the award rates for Indigenous and women applicants was achieved for the PDF competition, and the PGS D competition by prioritizing meritorious Indigenous and women applicants within the same merit category, where required as well as providing additional offers to meritorious Indigenous and women applicants.
Supplementary Information Sources
- Canada Research Coordinating Committee 2020-21 Progress Report (2021-22 Progress Report is not yet published)
GBA Plus Data Collection Plan
Applicants to funding opportunities falling under the Research Training and Talent Development program are required to complete the funding agencies revised (2020) self-identification questionnaire, providing the agency with more information regarding applicants’ identity characteristics.
Program Name: Research Partnerships
Target Population: All Canadians
Distribution of Benefits:
First group |
Second group |
Third group |
Fourth group |
Fifth group |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
By gender |
Men |
❌ | Women |
Key Program impacts on Gender and diversity
| Statistics | Observed Results* | Data Source | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Indigenous peoples” | n/a |
Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
| Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Women” | 18.3% |
Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
| Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Persons with disabilities” | 2.2% |
Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
Percentage of newly funded recipients who self-identify as “Visible minorities” |
38.4% |
Self-identification questionnaire | Target: year over year improvement. |
* 2021-22
Other Key Program impacts on gender and diversity
- In 2021, the Synergy Awards for Innovation (Synergy Awards) underwent a GBA Plus analysis in tandem with a program re-design. The analysis identified 21 options for addressing potential issues in the existing design, eligibility, communication, literature, nomination process, and review process. Eighteen of these options were at least partially incorporated into the program re-design.
- The College and Community Innovation program implemented expanded collection of self-identification data that now extends to members of any application’s proposed research team in addition to the administrating officers.
- In Cooperation with IT Services, the collection of self-identification data from external reviewers was prepared for launch. Collection will be implemented in 2022-2023.
Supplementary Information Sources:
- Canada Research Coordinating Committee 2020-21 Progress Report (2021-22 Progress Report is not yet published)
GBA Plus Data Collection Plan:
Applicants to funding opportunities falling under the Research Partnerships program are required to complete the funding agencies revised (2020) self-identification questionnaire, providing the agency with more information regarding applicants’ identity characteristics
Definitions
Target Population : See Finance Canada definition of Target Group in the User Instructions for the GBA Plus Departmental Summary)
Gender Scale:
- First group: Predominantly men (e.g. 80 per cent or more men)
- Second group: 60 per cent - 79 per cent men
- Third group: Broadly gender-balanced
- Forth group: 60 per cent - 79 per cent women
- Fifth group: Predominantly women (e.g. 80 per cent or more women)
Income Level Scale:
- First group: Strongly benefits low income individuals (Strongly progressive)
- Second group: Somewhat benefits low income individuals (Somewhat progressive)
- Third group: No significant distributional impacts
- Forth group: Somewhat benefits high income individuals (Somewhat regressive)
- Fifth group: Strongly benefits high income individuals (Strongly regressive)
Age Group Scale :
- First group: Primarily benefits youth, children and/or future generations
- Second group: No significant inter-generational impacts or impacts generation between youth and seniors
- Third group: Primarily benefits seniors or the baby boom generation
