Case Study: SAIT EDI Micro-Credential

Sharing and Growing Perspective

Engage

The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) is a leader in applied education, world-renowned for its training expertise and for providing skilled employees to industry. SAIT is full of innovators and change-makers dedicated to providing thought-provoking educational programming. The institution is also committed to supporting equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) within the faculty and student body.

SAIT saw an opportunity to better serve their community and the broader Canadian workforce with a better understanding of EDI principles. The Centre for Continuing Education and Professional Studies was tasked with developing a micro-credential to create base-level awareness with a particular focus on new Canadians and SAIT alumni.

Educate

To further advance EDI within the organization and in the community, SAIT organized the development of an eight-hour micro-credential on the topic. To ensure a well-rounded perspective, SAIT engaged its own internal course developers, Xpan Interactive, and external specialists focused on supporting under-represented groups. The course follows an asynchronous delivery model with cohorts of 200 students completing the course together. 

The modules in this micro-credential include:

• Workplace Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Bias, Stereotypes, and Microaggressions

• Intersectionality and Inclusion at work

• Understanding Ableism

• Queer Essentials

• Turning Allyship into Action

• Decolonizing Business

• Moving Towards Anti-Racism

The specialists involved in the course development included Litzy Baeza, an expert in diversity, Jyoti Grewal, who brought her expertise in anti-racism, Dana Marsh, who brought in a queer lens from the 2SLGBTQI+ community; and the Indigenous LIFT Collective who brought an Indigenous perspective to the material. This diverse group was brought together by SAIT to ensure a comprehensive approach to the topic. SAIT’s internal Instructional Design team began the project by developing the baseline materials through consultation with the team of external specialists.

As a company dedicated to fostering a culture of equity, diversity, and inclusivity, we recognize that education is required to help increase awareness of the challenges people from marginalized communities face and what can be done about it. We deeply appreciate our partnership with SAIT in co-creating an impactful training program that will drive meaningful change and promote a more inclusive society for all.

Ron Thiele, Xpan President

Xpan was selected to finalize and present the content using best practices in adult education. This included organizing and filling in the final elements of the educational content and developing the courses in the Articulate RISE software. Custom animated videos were produced using Adobe’s Character Animator program to provide meaningful demonstrations and present scenarios that were relevant to the material.

Empower

The course, PERS 020: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Starter Pack, has been offered at no charge and was published in June 2023. The first 200-seat cohort filled quickly, followed by full cohorts for September and October offerings. SAIT continues to offer the program at no charge to encourage thoughtful engagement, empathy, and respect for the people and communities they serve.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion aren't just corporate buzzwords; they are the heartbeats of a progressive workplace, where every voice is heard, every face is seen, and every idea is valued, creating a culture of innovation and belonging.

Becki McleanProduct Strategist, Health & Wellness, Media, Social Innovation & Change Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT)

Learners who achieve a final grade of A- (80% or higher) are awarded a shareable digital badge to demonstrate their achievement. The success of this first awareness-level program has shown the potential for further additions, and SAIT continues to explore how this program can be complemented with more modules containing specialized content delving deeper into these important subjects.

Register for the next cohort online.

Learner Feedback Summary

“I started the class last week as I thought it would be a quick 8 hours, but I should have started much sooner to get more out of this. I've made lots of notes and intend to keep researching to develop my understanding in this area. Thanks so much for putting together such a well-developed, insightful and educational program. I really enjoyed it.”

“Very valuable course, providing a thorough introduction into EDI topics and issues”

“I am recommending it to my colleagues. I've taken a lot of online EDI courses and this is on the top of my list so far.”

“This course was a great first step into understanding EDI and decolonized concepts from a Canadian perspective!”