Several opinion pieces have been published in the newspapers concerning the evaluation criteria for merit scholarship applications to the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ). However, nuances are necessary to offer another perspective of the situation.
Traditionally, these evaluation criteria deal first with the academic record, then with the proposed research project.
By taking a critical look at the traditional evaluation criteria of academic excellence, can we say that they are neutral? Traditional assessment criteria may exclude high potential candidates and are therefore not neutral.
These criteria take into account the transcript of records, recognition obtained, scientific achievements as well as, at the doctoral level, leadership. Their evaluation by the scholarship allocation committee may include biases towards an atypical or non-linear path (eg, pregnancy, caregiver, illness, return to school), the ethnocultural origin and the gender of the person evaluated. , the composition of the supervision teams or the level of prestige of the training institution.
And what about the traditional assessment of the quality of the proposed research project?
The traditional evaluation criteria, namely the methodology, the impact of the research and its innovative aspect, seem neutral. However, sometimes their application is not.
Indeed, science itself is tainted in different ways. One of them is whether or not the diversity of the population is taken into account in the research methodology. Many examples exist. Among other things, in artificial intelligence, facial recognition systems until recently discriminated people according to their gender, their skin color and their intersection. This type of bias comes from the models used, the algorithms programmed, and the data used to train them.
Diversity
It can thus be seen that it can be difficult to assess the quality of a research project if the way of taking into account the diversity of the population is not directly addressed in its description.
There’s no need to go out of your way to integrate diversity into a project. If it is not necessary to take this into account, it suffices to explain it in the description of the project. However, it is important to think about it to avoid any blind spot.
Sometimes the impact on the population can surprise us. For example, infrastructure design may seem purely technical. However, the Ministère des Transports du Québec considers differences, particularly between genders, in mobility practices when managing and planning transport. Indeed, the different realities of men and women (eg, salary, type of job, family responsibilities) create disparities in travel habits.
Should we aspire to do better when it comes to evaluating the excellence of candidates?
The FRQ has a duty to improve the evaluation of excellence in research, in particular because it uses public funds. This is why, in 2021, he could not stick to the traditional criteria to support student succession knowing that they had flaws. In a process of continuous improvement, he incorporated equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) into the evaluation criteria. Then, following feedback from the members of the evaluation committees, the new criteria that appeared in 2021 were revisited in 2022. For example, for master’s and doctoral scholarships, the social mobilization criterion was removed.
Finally, is taking EDI into account a moral imposition and an attack on academic freedom?
Taking EDI into account improves the evaluation of excellence. Opinion pieces associated taking EDI into account with a moral requirement imposed by the FRQ and mentioned an attack on academic freedom. In this text, it has been argued that the traditional evaluation criteria for scholarships may exclude high potential applications and may not be optimal for assessing the quality of projects. When scholarships come from public funds, is there anything other than aiming for a fair evaluation process?
In closing, let’s talk together, with the FRQ, rather than confronting each other to continue improving our processes. The Quebec Interuniversity Network for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion is organizing a forum in the spring where everyone is welcome to take part in the discussion.
And, even if tradition is reassuring, let’s show creativity and openness to novelty.