Past Event! Note: this event has already taken place.
| When: | Tuesday, November 9th, 2021 |
| Time: | 12:00 pm — 1:00 pm |
| Location: | Zoom |
| Audience: | Anyone |
“You have a disability – you can’t do science!”
We have all heard this sentiment – and, some of us (educators, parents, employers), if we are really honest with ourselves, have either thought it or outright said it. Attitudes are the most challenging barrier to remove when working toward accessibility in the sciences; at the root of many of our attitudes are unconscious biases. These may take the form of personal or professional bias; bias about how we teach science, how we learn science, or how we do science.
This session will take us the participants on a tour of unconscious biases: Where they come from, how to recognize them, how to manage their consequences, and how to counter them, both in others, and in ourselves. We will use two case studies to illustrate the power and danger of unconscious biases, and how to work through them in educators and peers.
About the Speaker
Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai, Head of Research and Chief Accessibility Officer
Dr. Mahadeo Sukhai is the world’s first congenitally blind biomedical research scientist. Mahadeo is the Head of Research and Chief Accessibility Officer for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). Dr. Sukhai is the Principal Investigator for and co-author of “Creating a Culture of Accessibility in the Sciences” a book based on his groundbreaking work on access to science within higher education, published on accessiblecampus.ca, and serves as the principal investigator for national projects to understand the student experience for persons with disabilities, and to examine the landscape of accessibility within Canadian post-secondary education.