Skip to Main Content
You are now in the main content area

Student Diversity Data Centre

The data in this section provides details about the representation of undergraduate and graduate students from six equity-deserving groups: women, racialized people, Black people, First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples, persons with disabilities and 2SLGBTQ+ people.

Please keep in mind that:

  • Self-identification data was voluntarily provided by students who completed the Student Diversity Self-ID. 
  • Students who self-identify as a member of more than one equity-deserving group are counted under each group, and so may be counted more than once.

Sources for the community data and explanations of terminology are detailed on the Glossary page.

Here are some of the ways data has been used to identify and reach targets for improved access from equity-deserving groups:

  • Some programs have used student diversity data to identify goals and initiatives to increase the representation of equity-deserving groups.
  • The Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies used the graduate student data to identify opportunities for additional equity-deserving group-specific funding, recognizing that higher cost is a factor in the lower representation of some equity-deserving groups in graduate studies compared to undergraduate studies.
  • The Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science, together with the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion, used the data on student representation to discuss ways to increase its outreach focus on Black and Indigenous students, as well as women with intersectional identities. 
  • Access TMU used data on students with disabilities to identify goals and strategies to increase the representation of students with disabilities.
  • The Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching worked with the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion to incorporate program-specific student and faculty data into an equity, diversity and inclusion EDI tool for periodic program reviews, using the data for discussion and reflection. This includes increasing the diversity of faculty role models who can encourage students from equity-deserving groups to see themselves in specific programs where they are underrepresented, and how a curriculum that reflects diverse knowledges, perspectives and experiences can attract students from underrepresented equity-deserving groups.
  • The Ted Rogers School of Management used data on faculty co-op students in presentations to potential employers who want to increase the diversity of their workforce, thereby providing additional opportunities for financial support for students, and to gain experience that can help them find work after graduation.

The first Student Diversity Self-ID report showed the diversity of our student population in the 2018-2019 academic year. This was followed with updated data from the 2020-2021 academic year. Now, data from the 2022-2023 academic year has been added, which provides us with an opportunity to track progress over time.  

The data reveals changes in representation from before the COVID-19 pandemic, through the pandemic and post-pandemic, helping us to better understand its impact on student diversity. Emerging patterns or trends can be used to assess the impact of our efforts to embed equity, diversity and inclusion into admissions processes and learning at TMU. The data can further inform student recruitment and retention strategies.  

More than 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students have completed the Student Diversity Self-ID questionnaire for a response rate of 98 per cent, an increase from 96 per cent in 2019. The results continue to provide snapshots of the data gathered from Student Diversity Self-ID responses.

Improvements

Recent data shows that representation of women undergraduate students has remained about the same from 2019 to 2023 and continues to be above the community representation.  

Representation has increased for:

  • racialized undergraduate students (from 48 per cent to 56 per cent) 
  • Black undergraduate students (from 7 per cent to 8 per cent)
  • 2SLGBTQ+ undergraduate students (from 8 per cent to 10 per cent)

These three equity-deserving groups now have representation that reflects the community representation.  

At a graduate studies level, representation has also an increased from 2019 to 2023 for:

  • racialized graduate students (39 per cent to 49 per cent)
  • Black graduate students (4 per cent to 7 per cent) 
  • 2SLGBTQ+ graduate students (7 per cent to 12 per cent) 
  • graduate students with disabilities (6 per cent to 9 per cent)

While the data shows increased or unchanged representation for equity-deserving groups in undergraduate and graduate student populations, representation is not always evenly distributed at the program level. For example, while the overall representation of undergraduate and graduate women students overall is high, it is low in some programs, such as some (historically male-dominated) Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) programs. This highlights the importance of examining faculty and program-specific data. While it may appear as though there have been increases or stability in overall undergraduate or graduate student populations, a deeper look at the faculty- and program-specific data provides trends occuring at a more granular level.

Academic leaders in faculties, departments and schools have the context to understand and act on the data. By collaborating with partners across the institution, such as the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion, including Gdoo-maawnjidimi Mompii Indigenous Student Services, the Registrar’s Office, Student Affairs, Access TMU, the Curriculum Quality Assurance team, and more, we can continue to remove barriers and increase access and success of students from underrepresented equity-deserving groups.

Access to education is an important determinant of social mobility and a critical factor in redressing social inequities. We noted that in the first report and it bears repeating. Barriers can begin early on with child poverty or with the types of toys and activities encouraged and provided to young children. Other barriers in K-12 education have been documented by some school boards, such as disproportionate rates of suspension and expulsion for Black and Indigenous students and students with disabilities.

The pandemic had a disproportionate impact on equity-deserving groups, potentially further exacerbating poverty and educational obstacles.  

Universities must identify new or enhanced academic and non-academic support for students, and this may be different for students from equity-deserving groups. This could include:

  • providing access to social and economic resources
  • alternative ways to measure the knowledge and academic potential of students beyond high school grade averages
  • flexible program delivery for diverse learners seeking meaningful careers, skill enhancement and entrepreneurship

Balancing education with caregiving responsibilities and health and well-being should also be a focus for TMU as it supports a diverse student body with varying backgrounds and circumstances.  

Consider the following factors that may impact equity-deserving students: 

  • First Nations, Inuit and Métis students: TMU is committed to truth and reconciliation and decolonization. Many Indigenous students have family histories marked by intergenerational trauma due to ongoing colonization, oppression and lack of access to education funding. Combined with the rising cost of living, this perpetuates barriers to accessing higher education. Indigenous learners may not want to incur debt through student loans and might work to support themselves and their family. If they live with their Nations and communities in order to be closer to family and social service supports, they may have limited access to larger urban centres.
  • Black students: Many Black students come from communities with histories of oppression, including slavery, racial segregation, stereotypes and biases. These factors continue to impact their opportunities today,  including educational and employment opportunities. This group sees disproportionate representation in foster care, school suspensions and expulsions, arrests and incarceration.
  • Women: Some women may have caregiving responsibilities that limit their ability to participate in full-time programs and/or support themselves and their families while enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs.
  • Persons with disabilities: Some may face a variety of physical, mental health and attitudinal barriers, as well as financial barriers, which may limit their ability to access full-time programs. They may also be dissuaded from careers in particular fields by societal stereotypes and biases.\
  • 2SLGBTQ+: Some people in this group may live in unstable and/or unsafe conditions and may experience bullying and harassment inside and outside of the classroom.

The Diversity Data Centre shares quantitative data from the Student Diversity Self-ID responses, which can be used to assess the current state of diversity at TMU and to discuss and explore issues so that barriers can be identified and removed. The data presented can inform evidence and dialogue-driven action toward enhancing the student experience and increasing student success. It can assist the university in all areas, including recruiting high-calibre students of diverse backgrounds.

Data are artifacts of human experience. Data doesn’t provide the whole story, but provides insights and identifies areas for further exploration. This availability of data has the potential to empower individuals, groups and communities, leading to personal, communal, environmental and even political change as these technologies become tools for reflection, discussion and decision-making.

For data to become meaningful to people, there needs to be a strong and direct connection to personal experiences, activities or situations. Connecting data to personal experiences enables interactions or understandings that leverage the data to create more informed and actionable objectives.

The navigation bar to the left provides links to pages with bar charts:  

  • one providing data on the equity group representation of undergraduate or graduate students by program in a selected academic year, organized by faculty
  • another shows changes in representation over time, by program for undergraduate students and by faculty for graduate students
  • data from the 2018-2019, 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 academic years is available in the bar charts
  • data is only provided for the years programs existed. If the name of a program has changed, the program name for the 2022-2023 academic year is used

In addition to reviewing the data in the bar charts, you can also download the data and convert it to a Google Sheets file, an MS Excel file or CSV file.

Need the data in an alternative format?

Accessibility is an important goal for us. If you have questions or if the data visualization content is not accessible using the features and alternate formats described above, please contact the Research, Planning and Assessment unit in the Office of the Vice-President, Equity and Community Inclusion at diversitydata@torontomu.ca for further assistance.