DiverseCity Counts is a three-year research project conducted by Ryerson’s Diversity Institute to study diversity in leadership in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The research focuses on the municipalities with the highest proportions of visible minorities: Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Markham and Richmond Hill. Together they account for just under four million people or 72.5% of the GTA’s population, of which 49.5% are visible minorities.
Year 2 -DiverseCity Counts report
The second DiverseCity Counts report tracks 3,348 leaders across the corporate, public, elected, education and nonprofit sectors. Findings show that just 14% of leaders are visible minorities, up from last year’s 13.5%.
This year, researchers at the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University dug deeper into the data to better understand the extent to which some organizations have made diversity a priority. There is some encouraging news. They found that:
- 21.9% of all the organizations examined have more than 20% of their leadership who are visible minorities;
- 80% of university boards of governors and 83.3% of college boards of governors have more than 20% visible minorities; and
- Most municipalities are represented by at least one representative who is a visible minority.
However, in other sectors, a majority of organizations have no visible minority representation at all. For example, 76.9% of corporate boards and 69.2% of corporate sector executive teams have no visible minorities. In the voluntary sector, 61.5% of charities and 80% of foundations have executive teams without any visible minorities.
They also took a special look at the news media that are most consumed by GTA residents. Media organizations are important institutions because they play a role in defining who is a leader in society and can shape the ambitions of those who wish to be leaders. As in the corporate sector generally, visible minorities are under-represented on boards and among senior executives of large media corporations.
The research also revealed that visible minorities are under-represented among columnists, experts and even stock background photographs in newspapers. Visible minorities are also under-represented as hosts, experts and in the background of stories on the supper time broadcast news.
Upcoming expert webinar
On September 8 at 12:00-1:00 p.m. EST, join Wendy Cukier, co-author of this year’s DiverseCity Counts report, to discuss diversity in leadership. To register, contact: policyinfocus@maytree.com.
Downloads
Download the full 2010 DiverseCity Counts report.
Download the digest version of the report.
DiverseCity Counts Report – Summaries
DiverseCity Counts Report – by sectors
- Elected Officials
- Public Sector Leaders
- Corporate Sector Leaders
- Voluntary Sector Leaders
- Education Sector Leaders
- Provincial and Municipal Agencies, Boards, and Commissions
- Observations and New Findings
- Diverse Leadership in the Media
Video Links
Wendy Cukier, Associate Dean, Ted Rogers School of Management & Founder, Diversity Institute, Ryerson University, presents the 2010 DiverseCity Counts report at Toronto’s Design Exchange
In conversation with Wendy Cukier (co-author of this year’s report)
Associate Dean, Ted Rogers School of Management & Founder, Diversity Institute, Ryerson University
In conversation with John Miller (co-author of this year’s report)
Professor Emeritus, School of Journalism, Ryerson University
Diversity as an Opportunity for Mainstream Media: The success story of CBC Radio One Metro Morning
In conversation with Nick Davis, Senior Producer, Metro Morning
In conversation with Gary Pieters (DiverseCity Voices spokesperson)
Vice-Principal, Toronto District School Board
In conversation with Ravi Jain (DiverseCity Voices spokesperson)
Founder & Artistic Director, Why Not Theatre
In conversation with Jennifer Chan (DiverseCity Voices spokesperson)
Founder, Exhibit Change
Media
June 10, 2010
- Toronto Star: Visible minorities lag in corridors of power, report finds
- Globe and Mail: Private sector lags public on hiring visible minorities: report
- CBC: Few visible minority leaders in GTA: report
June 11, 2010
- Canadian HR Reporter: Canada’s immigrant integration challenge
June 14, 2010
- Globe and Mail: Canada’s immigrant integration challenge
June 18, 2010
For more information, please email counts@diversecitytoronto.ca.
The first year: 2009
DiverseCity Counts is a three-year research project conducted by Ryerson’s Diversity Institute to study diversity in leadership in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
The research focuses on the municipalities with the highest proportions of visible minorities: Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Markham and Richmond Hill. Together they account for just under 4 million people or 72.5% of the GTA’s population, of which 49.5% are visible minorities.
On Wednesday, May 27, together with the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University we released the inaugural DiverseCity Counts Report, highlighting the number of visible minorities in senior leadership roles in the GTA (download the presentation).
For the 2009 report, we analyzed a total of 3257 leaders in the GTA including elected officials, public sector executives, members of agencies, boards and commissions, as well as a sample of the largest voluntary and business organizations as determined by revenue. The goal was to take a snapshot of the senior-most positions in the most influential organizations. Subsequent studies will expand to include more organizations and more sectors.
The results indicate that, as of March 2009, visible minorities are under-represented in the senior-most leadership positions in the GTA. Just 13% of leaders we analyzed are visible minorities. The education sector was the most diverse, and the corporate sector was the least diverse. The research also found that in all sectors except the corporate sector, boards are more diverse than executives.
High performing organizations tend to have made diversity a strategic priority and make a point of tracking and reporting on their results. What gets measured, gets done.
Download the full 2009 DiverseCity Counts report.
Download the digest version of the report.
DiverseCity Counts Webinar
On June 22, 2009, Dr. Wendy Cukier, Associate Dean, Ted Rogers School of Management & Founder, Diversity Institute, Ryerson University, held a webinar on Diversity in Leadership.
Click here to watch the Webinar Recording online.
You are welcome to share this resource with your networks.
DiverseCity Counts Report – Summaries
DiverseCity Counts Report – by sectors
- Elected Officials
- Public Sector Leaders
- Corporate Sector Leaders
- Voluntary Sector Leaders
- Education Sector Leaders
- Provincial and Municipal Agencies, Boards, and Commissions
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For more information, please email counts@diversecitytoronto.ca.
