UM demographics and diversity

No, you do not have to participate. Your participation is completely voluntary. In addition, each question includes a “prefer not to answer” option, which will allow you to refuse to answer any individual question you wish.

When you select “prefer not to answer”, your response will be recorded, your name will still be present in the data file, and you will have still participated (i.e., you will be counted). If you decide not to participate at all, your name will be missing from the data file (i.e., you will not be counted at all).

If you decide not to participate, you will not be counted in the data file. You will not experience any direct negative consequences if you decline. Your participation is voluntary.

However, we encourage all UM community members to share their information because high participation increases data quality, and good quality data supports good decision-making. The more responses we receive, the more we’ll learn about our community.

If you are not comfortable sharing your personal information, you also have the option to enter the questionnaire and select “prefer not to answer” for any question you wish. When you select “prefer not to answer”, your response will be recorded, your name will still be present in the data file, and you will have still participated (i.e., you will be counted).

UM administrative data tells us who is present in our university community and holds us accountable for addressing systemic inequities and marginalization.

The collection and analysis of self-identification demographic data in pursuit of equity goals is also recommended by:

• The President’s Task Force on EDI (University of Manitoba)
• Scarborough Charter
• Statistics Canada

The use of this data will be guided by data justice principles that place data collection, governance, and analysis in the context of social practices, knowledge frameworks, and power relations.

Data justice aligns data collection with a human rights purpose, data governance frameworks that are rooted in respectful relationships, the recognition of Indigenous sovereignty, and the structural and systemic conditions that inform how we think about, collect, steward, and use data. Data justice advocates for data that identifies systemic inequities and supports actions to narrow gaps, and addresses potential harms caused to marginalized people.

These data will be used for evidence-based decision-making and internal and external reporting, including, for example Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) and employment equity dashboards (see U of Toronto example)

Students and employees must log-in to access the questions, so technically you will not be anonymous. However, the data will be treated as confidential information, and your privacy will be protected.

The data will be analyzed and reported in aggregate (i.e., at the group level). No individual data will be reported. There would need to be at least five other participants with the same characteristic(s) as you before we would report any information to guard against you being identified. Depending on the combination of characteristics, this minimum number may also be increased to further protect against indirect identification.

The data is securely stored within the University of Manitoba tenant of the Microsoft Cloud in Canada, under contract and in accordance with relevant privacy legislation (e.g., PIDEDA, FIPPA). The data is furthermore stored within its own Data Environment, separate from the rest of the UM Data Environments, where access is tightly controlled through custom security groups. The secured database includes additional column-level security controls that further restrict access to sensitive fields.

As long as you are an active UM student or employee, you will have access to your data and be able to change or remove it.

In addition, the database manager (IT administrator within the Centre for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning) and data analysts (Office of Institutional Analysis) will have access to your responses prior to aggregation (i.e., grouping). These individuals are trained in data security to ensure your data is kept confidential and your privacy is protected.

The data will be analyzed and reported in aggregate (i.e., at the group level). No individual data will be reported. There would need to be at least five other participants with the same characteristic(s) as you before we would report any information to guard against you being identified. Depending on the combination of characteristics, this minimum number may also be increased to further protect against indirect identification.

Yes, you can change your responses at any time by logging back into the questionnaire.

Yes, you can remove your personal data by accessing the application and selecting “delete my response”, the button to delete the previously submitted response. Note, if you have submitted as both student and staff this must be done for both roles.

If you are no longer an active UM student or employee, contact the UM Service Desk (srvdesk@umanitoba.ca) to request the removal of your information from the Socio-demographic data application.

Yes. You can switch between “student” and “staff” within the application to complete the questions for both student and employee roles.

If you wish to change or remove your student and employee responses, you also need to make these changes for both roles.

If you change positions at UM (but do not have a break in employment), you do not have to answer the questions again. Any data you have already provided will remain in the database.

However, if there is a break in your employment (i.e., a period of time when you are not an active UM employee), then you would need to answer the questions again once your UM employment resumes.