Welcome back to GEEC Speak! for a conversation between GEEC’s directors! In this instalment, incoming director Mary Miedema invites outgoing director and founder Stephanie Fernandez to share their thoughts on promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion at the graduate student and postdoctoral level.
You’ve been the director of GEEC from the beginning (as the Chemical Engineering Equity & Diversity Committee), but you were also a driving force behind its creation. What motivated you to get involved in equity work?
From a personal angle, it’s important for me to engage in volunteer work or side projects that feel meaningful and reflect my core values. Fairness, justice, and compassion are some of my strongest drivers, so starting on the path of equity work was a natural fit. And then it was easy to stay motivated because I felt like I was making an immediate positive impact on the people around me.
With respect to GEEC (originally chEDC), my initial intention wasn’t to form a committee, it was merely to open up a conversation between grad students and our supervisors. In a nutshell, I felt there was a disconnect between the attitudes of our professors and the realities of our students. It’s not really surprising because McGill’s faculty and leadership is a long way from reflecting the diversity of our students and postdocs, which is a big barrier to appreciating and responding to our needs. I think a lot of highly privileged people have a vague notion of equity, diversity, and inclusion as generally good things that we should encourage, but they have a hard time grasping their practical relevance in our everyday personal and professional lives.
Back in 2016, I requested a meeting with my co-supervisors to address some specific attitudes within our department that students were finding problematic. Honestly, it was terrifying, but the meeting went really well! (Although, I surprised myself by bursting into tears with relief when it was over—the student-supervisor power dynamic is daunting!) I remember I ended up sharing my personal experiences with racial microaggressions at scientific conferences. It was kind of funny because my supervisors were shocked, and I was shocked that they were shocked—I took it for granted that this kind of stuff was common knowledge. So many people like myself are desensitized to microaggressions because they occur frequently, while others can go decades without having a clue these things happen. My co-supervisor actually thanked me for educating him and strongly encouraged me to put together a seminar to share student experiences with a larger audience. So that’s where GEEC was first conceptualized!
The story you’ve shared illustrates that diverse perspectives, often tied to personal experiences with inequity, can be difficult to share within the power structures of academia. The first GEEC event I attended was a workshop examining the power dynamics between students and their supervisors — I found it unique to participate in a discussion that centred that graduate student experience in the context of equity. Why do you think it’s important for grad students (and postdocs) like us to engage with concepts like equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI)?
I think EDI falls under the category of “life skills and knowledge not typically taught in schools, but much needed for general success”. It overlaps a lot with emotional intelligence, which is critical for effective communication and leadership. My hope is that we can eventually normalize EDI and emotional education as a regular part of the academic experience. If we become aware and actively engage with these concepts, we have the opportunity to become better engineers and colleagues (not to mention healthier friends and community members).
In the context of technical engineering applications, EDI principles can help us consider the impact of our work. From where are we gathering information? Who are we affecting? Who can access our products? Did we include diverse creative input? To me, even beyond the humanitarian or moral aspect of it, the application of EDI principles is simply necessary to perform good science.
And then, of course, a fluency in EDI concepts and resources can vastly improve our experiences as grad students and postdocs because it provides tools that allow us to better connect with our diverse community. I think that’s super important because we’re so prone to feeling isolated in our environment.
Definitely! One of the things I’ve enjoyed most as part of my work with GEEC so far has been the chance to connect with other students, faculty, and staff across the McGill community who are engaging with these same ideas. What have you found most rewarding about your work as director over the past few years?
For sure, it’s been amazing to connect with people in all different positions across campus! I’m also proud that GEEC has been such a collaborative organization. All the relationships we’ve forged with other equity-related groups have truly enriched my time at McGill. There are so many lovely and dedicated people working hard to advance EDI out there! I appreciated those opportunities to exchange ideas, support, and resources with them.
I think the most rewarding thing about directing GEEC has been seeing our impact and growth over the years. To go from a 5-person team in Chemical Engineering to a 15-person Faculty-wide team in 3 years is a pretty remarkable trajectory and it illustrates how broadly equity initiatives are needed. Each time a student thanked us for sharing a useful resource or teaching them a new skill, or each time a professor was eager to learn about an EDI topic or receive student feedback, it reinforced why GEEC was created in the first place—to fill that gap in social education and cross-communication between our student, staff, and faculty populations.
On a personal level, having my vision for GEEC validated by such a positive community response has been incredible and empowering. When GEEC was first conceptualized, I never thought of myself as a leader or someone with any entrepreneurial spirit. My journey with GEEC definitely taught me a lot about myself and helped me recognize and confidently express my own capabilities. That’s invaluable, and I’ll carry those lessons a long way forward in my life.
I’d like to close by thanking you again for all the passion and hard work you’ve demonstrated and inspired during your time as the director of GEEC. As we say goodbye, what are your hopes for GEEC going forward?
First off, I hope that GEEC continues to be an action-oriented organization. We’re in a unique position to provide grad student and postdoc input on the McGill Engineering culture, curriculum, and academic structures. With the renewed momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement this past summer, so many people have been frustrated with the silence and passivity of our leaders, including those at McGill. I was grateful to have GEEC as a platform where I could channel my frustration into productivity both internally, applying pressure to our Faculty’s leadership, and externally, through GEEC’s own public events. Even though GEEC is still putting down its roots as a young organization, we can do a lot with the resources we have to support our most vulnerable populations.
Additionally, my fingers are crossed for GEEC advancing its outreach plans within the larger Tio’tia:ke/Montreal community. I think it’s important for us to consider not only our present situation, but also how EDI issues impact us at different points along the career pipeline. If GEEC can establish outreach relationships with both grade-level schools and industry professionals, it’s a chance to both inspire and be inspired, and to develop stronger tools and support networks for tackling EDI challenges in STEMM. I’m really excited at the prospect of these community engagement experiences for our grad students and postdocs!
Lastly, thank you so much for this opportunity to share my thoughts! I hope that GEEC continues to receive lots of support and increases its visibility as an Engineering equity resource. This is the first time GEEC has transitioned to a new director and I’m thrilled to see what that brings! It’s so important to have new energy, fresh ideas, and a fresh vision to keep the organization growing. I’m confident the team is in good hands!