The University of British Columbia (UBC) is looking to hire a new Quantitative Science professor — on the condition that they belong to one particular race.UBC is looking to fill a quota within its Faculty of Science's "Black Faculty Cohort Hiring Initiative," in which it is looking to hire "an accomplished scholar who self-identifies as black."The school claims this new hire will be "joining four recently hired scholars to the cluster," with the additional new hire making "the total number of UBC black faculty members in the Faculty of Science to eleven."It is offering aspiring candidates a salary range of $120,000 to $150,000 to specialize in research in one of the following departments: Computer Science, Oceans and Fisheries, Environment and Sustainability, Biotechnology, Physics and Astronomy, Mathematics, Statistics, and Zoology..The "Black Faculty Cohort Hiring Initiative" is a recruitment effort that involves hiring 23 black researchers across seven different faculties though 2028.As reported by the Ubyssey, the initiative was recommended by the Scarborough Charter, an organization that has "a national commitment to combat anti-black racism and foster black inclusion in Canadian higher education."UBC pledged to this charter back in 2020 — and according to the school's website, the initiative is a part of its "commitments to support black excellence."The school states in the description of the application process: "pursuant to Section 42 of the BC Human Rights Code, this search will be restricted to qualified black scholars.".Under this section of the BC Human Rights Code, it is "not discrimination" under human rights law to "advertise, adopt or implement an employment equity program that has as its objective the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged individuals or groups." They claim these groups include "indigenous identity, race, colour, ancestry, place of origin, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity or expression."
