Diversity Awareness in Academic Integrity

Owned by Darlene Edgar
Last updated: Nov 23, 2023
2 min read

Summary: "New Priorities for Academic Integrity: Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Decolonization and Indigenization" (Eaton, 2022)

  • Indigenization and Colonization:

    • Indigenization is the work of indigenous people, while colonization involves everyone.

    • Calls for redefining academic integrity through indigenous values and traditions.

  • Indigenous Ways and Western Constructs:

    • Indigenous ways of knowing complement existing frameworks; they don't compete.

    • Academic integrity is often presented as a Western construct.

  • Acknowledging Indigenous Knowledge:

    • Suggests integrating indigenous knowledge into referencing practices alongside existing style guides.

  • Diverse Perspectives in Research:

    • Acknowledges a lack of diversity in academic integrity research, with a need for more international and indigenous perspectives.

  • Inclusion in Leadership and Research:

    • Calls for the inclusion of indigenous and international groups in leadership roles, research, projects, and working groups.

  • Call to Action:

    • Advocates for self-education on equity issues; it's the responsibility of individuals from dominant groups to understand.

    • Recommends reading "Indigenization and Decolonization in Canadian Student Affairs" by CACUSS 2018.

    • Encourages becoming an academic integrity ally and activist.

  • Dismantling Systematic Barriers:

    • Urges identifying and challenging systemic barriers to student success.

    • Promotes rectifying systems that contribute to overrepresentation of reporting among specific student groups.

  • Amplifying Voices:

    • Calls for elevating and amplifying the work of individuals from equity deserving groups in academic integrity presentations, workshops, and publications.

    • Advocates reviewing reference lists to ensure inclusion of work from diverse groups.

  • Social Media Advocacy:

    • Encourages celebrating and amplifying voices from equity deserving groups in academic integrity and student services on social media.

  • Creating Opportunities:

    • Recommends creating meaningful opportunities for individuals from equity deserving groups.

    • Calls for inviting equity deserving groups to serve in positions of senior leadership.

  • Conference Diversity:

    • Urges ensuring diversity in keynote and plenary speakers at conferences, including those who are not white or for whom English is not a first language.

  • Resisting Colonial Norms:

    • Encourages resisting norms in citing, referencing, and writing styles that perpetuate colonialism.

    • Advocates against taking ownership.

  • Policy Revision and Academic Imperative:

    • Calls for revising policy and practice documents with an equity focus.

    • Urges making equity, diversity, inclusion, decolonization, and indigenization an academic imperative.

  • Advocacy in Academic Integrity:

    • Emphasizes the responsibility of those in academic integrity to advocate for equity, including decolonization.

  • Equity-Focused Approach to Plagiarism:

    • Proposes a fourth approach to plagiarism, with equity as its focus, overlapping with moral, policy, and teaching and learning issues.

  • Resource Allocation:

    • Institutions should allocate sufficient resources, including time, staffing, and professional job classifications with appropriate salaries, for academic integrity work.