Naser Ezzati-Jivan says scholars risk making equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) an afterthought when questions of fairness and representation aren\u2019t addressed early, and consistently, in the research process.<\/p>\n
The problem is magnified when researchers use artificial intelligence (AI) \u00a0in their workflows, particularly when first starting to make research plans and complete grant applications, says the Associate Professor of Computer Science.<\/p>\n
\u201cEDI is challenging because it needs to be considered across multiple levels of research planning,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen AI enters that process, it can deepen the challenge by introducing generic patterns, hidden assumptions, or biased framing early on, before those decisions have been carefully examined.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ezzati-Jivan is heading up a project to create a bilingual guide and a digital decision-making tool that would allow Canadian scholars to more easily integrate EDI into their research planning, particularly when using AI. The open-access toolkit will be developed in partnership with equity-deserving groups.<\/p>\n
Supporting the team\u2019s work is a $100,000 grant<\/a> from the Government of Canada\u2019s Dimensions Program<\/a>. Administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, these grants support projects that address EDI gaps in Canada\u2019s research ecosystem.<\/p>\n Ezzati-Jivan\u2019s team includes Professor of Information Systems Anteneh Ayanso, Assistant Professor\u00a0of Information Systems Leila Tahmooresnejad and University of Ottawa Assistant Professor Paria Shirani.<\/p>\n The guide\u2019s \u201cEDI-by-design framework\u201d will include clear principles, process maps and role-specific guidance tailored to researchers, research offices and internal review committees, says Ezzati-Jivan.<\/p>\n Built into the framework are key elements of the research process where decisions related to EDI should be made, including research design, methodology, data collection, dataset choices, team formation, partnerships and review practices.<\/p>\n The system also outlines who should be responsible for implementing specific tasks these critical decision-making points along with prompts and examples reflecting how funding agencies interpret and assess EDI expectations.<\/p>\n While the digital decision-making tool will guide users through the framework, providing examples of good practices during the research process, Ezzati-Jivan says the system won\u2019t assess or judge research proposals and will still need human judgment.<\/p>\n Ezzati-Jivan says the team also aims to advance understanding where AI may amplify inequity in research and how it could be used to strengthen EDI in research planning.<\/p>\n \u201cWe would like this project to produce evidence-based guidance, tools and practical resources that help researchers recognize where AI may introduce bias and how that risk can be reduced,\u201d he says. \u201cWe also hope to learn directly from researchers, including Brock researchers, about the challenges they are facing in the era of AI, so that our outputs are grounded in real practice rather than assumptions.\u201d<\/p>\n Vice-President, Research Tim Kenyon says EDI principles and practices are core threads of Brock\u2019s Institutional Strategic Plan 2025\u20132030<\/a> and Research Enterprise Plan for 2025-2030<\/a>, adding the University is also a signatory to the Dimensions Charter<\/a>. Endorsed by Brock in 2019<\/a>, the charter lays out eight principles post-secondary sectors commit to with the aim of fostering a culture of inclusivity, accessibility, reconciliation and decolonization.<\/p>\n \u201cThis new funding further supports our Brock community where all members contribute their ideas, knowledge and insights, creating an ecosystem in which research excellence flourishes and makes a positive difference in our community and beyond,\u201d Kenyon says.<\/p>\n Chris Bittle, Member of Parliament for St. Catharines, says\u00a0the project reflects the Government of Canada\u2019s commitment to fostering a welcoming environment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Brock University community, and particularly the work of Dr. Ezzati-Jivan\u2019s team, provides a great example of how we can build an equitable country where people of all walks of life are valued and their participation included in all spheres of society,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Naser Ezzati-Jivan says scholars risk making equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) an afterthought when questions of fairness and representation aren\u2019t addressed early, and consistently, in the research process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":109622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[41,1,5],"tags":[567,15144,348,11546,1099],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109619"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109619"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109623,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109619\/revisions\/109623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}