Considerations

What is a preferential hiring?

Preferential hiring will give preference for a first round of review to all applicants who self-identify as part of the preferred group(s) for that hire. This may include Indigenous Peoples, Black people, people with disabilities/disabled persons, racialized people or people of colour, and women and gender diverse peoples. Candidates from these groups who wish to qualify for preferential consideration must self-identify in their application. If a candidate that meets the criteria is not hired, the committee will review all the other applications of those who did not self-identify in the preferred group(s).

What is a limited hire?

Limited hiring means that the committee will only review applications by candidates who self-identify as a member of the listed group(s) for an available position. The group(s) that can be identified for limited hiring are Indigenous Peoples, Black people, people with disabilities/disabled persons, racialized people or people of colour, and women and gender diverse peoples. If a successful candidate is not found, then a new search process needs to be initiated.

Why should we consider preferential or limited hiring?

Despite of efforts to hire fairly, some groups of employees continue to be underrepresented among UVic’s workforce. This underrepresentation is a loss of valuable people and perspectives for our university, and unfair for those people who are denied opportunities because of biases or unintended barriers. Preferential and limited hiring enables us to actively close these gaps in representation and bring in the qualified people we need to grow.

Some common reasons to do so are to:

• Fill gaps in knowledge, skills or workload
• Add specialized knowledge
• Increase diversity of the unit
• Fill representation gaps within the unit/discipline/field of work
• Add employees who can act as mentors or work with particular populations

Foundational work required

Preferential and limited hiring are not substitutes for meaningful engagement with equity.

• If a unit/department does not build an inclusive culture and have a clear plan and ongoing action to advance equity, they will not be a welcoming environment for a new hire
• Someone hired in this way may leave owing to hostile climate or simply lack of appropriate support
• This hiring should only be done in conjunction with overall commitment to and action on equity, diversity and inclusion
• Consider preferential and limited hiring as one piece to a larger commitment units have to make if they truly want to advance equity and retain diversity

Review the Preferential or Limited Hiring Policy for more details around the process.