The survey will be presented to you when you enrol in your courses.

Yes, the format of all the Census questions are WCAG AA/508 accessible.

Inclusion is extremely important to York University, and our commitment to a more inclusive community is reflected in our core values and in the University Academic Plan. The Census is critical, because it will allow York University to learn more about the diversity of its students and the responses are a step towards informing and creating a more inclusive future by helping York to reduce barriers to access, and create targeted services, supports and resources for you to enjoy.

This is the second census of its kind at York University. The University is planning for an annual Student Census during enrolment each Fall.

Excellence flourishes in an environment that embraces the broadest range of people and reflects local communities. The YorkU Student Equity & Diversity Census will support our commitment to creating inclusive working and learning environments through better understanding the characteristics of our student body.

The Census is 10 short questions and should take minutes to complete.

Each question has a prefer not to answer option available every time.

Responses are not anonymous, but the data collected will be kept strictly confidential. Any published Student Equity & Diversity Census results will be summarized into broad categories with personal identifying information removed to protect your privacy.

The Census will be presented to undergraduate and graduate students on the registration and course enrolment module on an annual basis. Student input will inform our policies, practices, programs and services from an access and inclusion perspective. It will also allow us to communicate directly about services and opportunities designed specifically for specific student populations.

Once you complete all questions and submit the full Census, your responses on will be recorded as complete for 2022. If your circumstances change, you will be able to provide new Census responses in 2023.

The information we collect will be used to develop, assess, and maintain programs and initiatives that respond to the needs of our students. Through connections with other student-related information, we will increase our ability to understand and improve the experience of our students. This information will also help us to strengthen student recruitment efforts, access to university education and success strategies to address and eliminate barriers within our processes.

It is critical to the success of our students to ensure the University addresses and eliminates barriers to access to university education, retention across all years of study and degree completion, and to build a strong sense of community and belonging.

York has many programs to support identified populations including our mature students, Black students, Indigenous students, undocumented students and students with accessibility needs. It is through these targeted services that we help enable student success.

This information will support a better understanding of the factors that potentially contribute or reinforce or underline systemic racial inequalities in outcomes. The sociodemographic information students share will provide the opportunity to better understand where we need to improve and set goals to measure our progress.

The information we gather will help us see who’s here and who isn’t – at the University in general, and in specific faculties and programs. It will let us know whether we’re adequately engaging and supporting students from diverse backgrounds, particularly those who are historically and currently underrepresented in postsecondary education. It will enable us to better understand the experience of students and how this might be impacted by the intersections of the various aspects of their identity.

Examples of action may include:

• Assessment of the effectiveness of student support programming and services.
• Increasing support for underrepresented student communities at the outreach, recruitment, and admissions stages, and throughout their time at the University.

The Census is gathering a broad range of demographic information – this includes information about gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, Indigeneity, race and ethnicity, language and educational attainment of guardians. This data will help us understand our student community and identify any gaps in representation and effectiveness of student support programming and services.

The people involved in the development of the Student Equity & Diversity Census worked hard to obtain feedback about language from multiple stakeholders around the York University community, as well as other external sources that address sociodemographic topics.

The primary goal of this Census is to gain a deeper understanding of the composition of our student community. The data we collect will help us to learn more about who isn't currently represented in our community, but it will also show us how to provide better supports to our current student population. Your personal participation in the Census is a way to be part of our collective action towards advancing equity for students.

No. The data you share won’t affect your academic record in any way. It will not have any impact on your eligibility for admission or registration to any York program. No instructor, teaching assistant or Academic Advisor will have access to the personal information gathered.

No, in fact it is an important first step towards equity and inclusion to know who is here and who isn't. If we don't know what the problems are, we can't fix them.

It would be great if that were true. However, some people have advantages and some people have disadvantages. It is like a video game where some players get more and better tools with fewer and easier obstacles, and some players get less and weaker tools with more difficulty and a greater number of obstacles. If both players can get the same number of points for completing the same tasks, then the player with the better tools, and fewer and easier obstacles, is more likely to get a higher score. That doesn't mean, however, that they are a better player.

If university admission is comparable to getting a high score, then students with fewer resources and more obstacles are disadvantaged and their academic ability may not be fully recognized.