To unpack Black Canadian undergraduate STEMM experiences, one must first explore how Blackness as a onto-epistemology (e.g., Boveda & Bhattacharya, 2019) exists within the structural-political domains of Canada. Attending to the structural-political domain presents the opportunity for unpacking how sociocultural experiences manifesting through the macrosystem (i.e., society) situate the subsequent layers of the STEMM learning environment. This includes how these beliefs and practices inform disciplinary, university/college, department/major, and classroom/research lab experiences (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1Blackness in the Canadian/North American Structural-Political Context

To analyze Blackness in the Canadian structural-political context, I draw from data and reports curated by the Canadian Black Justice Strategy. Such information comes from Canada’s Black Justice Strategy: Framework (Owusu-Bempah & Jones, 2023a), Roadmap for Transformative Change: Canada’s Black Justice Strategy (Owusu-Bempah & Jones, 2023b), and the curated historical facts sheets (Canadian Black Justice Strategy, 2023). From these resources, I attend to the laws and policies enacted that specifically impacted Black people’s presence and way of life. Black people, in this instance, encompass African people and people of African descent who were based in Canada, those who were brought to Canada during the transatlantic slave trade, those who fled to Canada from the USA during chattel slavery, and those who migrated to Canada post the abolishment of slavery in North America.

From 1604 (one of the first documentations of Black life in Canada) to the 1760s, Canada, as a French-turned-British territory, actively participated in the transatlantic slave trade (Canadian Black Justice Strategy, 2023). It was not until after the American Revolutionary War that legislation was introduced that outlawed the bringing of new people to be enslaved in Ontario. This legislation, the Act to Prevent the Further Introduction of Slaves and to Limit the Term of Contracts for Servitude (Henry-Dixson, 2022a), did not free those who were currently enslaved in those lands but prevented the enslaving of new people entering those lands (Henry-Dixson, 2022b). As a result of this legislation, anti-slavery abolitionist movements grew, establishing Canada (the north) as a place for freedom for those escaping from the USA. Though slavery in Canada was not abolished until 1833, between 1800 and 1865, over 30,000 Black people came to Canada via the Underground Railroad (Canadian Black Justice Strategy, 2023).

For almost a century, Canada was positioned as a haven for Black people escaping either enslavement from the USA (during the 1800 s–1860 s) or racial discrimination during the Reconstruction Era (Canadian Black Justice Strategy, 2023). As an extension of the existing immigration control policies that regulated access to Canada by race that primarily impacted people from Asian countries (i.e., the Chinese Immigration Act of 1885, Gentleman’s Agreement of 1908, the Continuous Journey Agreement of 1908), the Immigration Act of 1910 furthered policies designed that regulated immigration by enduing executive branch officers with the sole, discretionary power to determine who could and could not reside in Canada (Van Dyk, n.d.). This act set precedence for targeted campaigns against Black people, leading to the passing of an Order-In-Council P.C. 1911–1324 in 1911 banning “any immigrants belonging to the Negro race, which is deemed unsuitable to the climate and requirements of Canada” (Van Dyk, n.d.). As noted, the basis for deciding who could and could not reside in Canada was based on the presumed “climate stability” of the nation, where climate, in this instance, referred to the social-cultural-political context.

It is worth noting that scholars did not find any evidence of this ordinance being officially adopted into the Immigration Act. However, following this ordinance, Black people in Canada endured overt forms of racism from governmental policies and practices through the 1970s. Some of the more noted examples include the arrest of Viola Desmond in 1946, a Black businesswoman in Halifax who refused to move from her seat in a “whites-only” section of a movie theatre (Canadian Black Justice Strategy, 2023), and the decimation of Africville by the City of Halifax in 1962 (Tattrie, 2024).

Africville was founded in 1749 by enslaved Africans (Tattrie, 2024). Black people owned land there and established banks, churches, and their own schools. It was often regarded as a respite for Black people from the continuous bouts with overt racism experiences in other parts of Nova Scotia (Tattrie, 2024). From the mid-1800s to the 1950s, documents show the multiple ways in which the City of Halifax exploited these people by taxing them without providing any public services (e.g., running water, sewage disposal, paved roads, streetlights). These documents also show the City of Halifax’s intentions to convert Africville into an industrial waste site as the city placed a fertilizer plant, slaughterhouse, human waste, and an infectious disease hospital all in Africville with no concern for the health and vitality of the community. In 1962, the City of Halifax, under the guise of urban renewal, decided to tear down Africville and displace its inhabitants, where this process occurred through 1970. Many of those who were displaced were not appropriately compensated, lacking adequate housing and jobs, thereby leading to their dependency on public welfare (Tattrie, 2024).

The late 1980 s laid the foundation for a shift in policies impacting Black Canadians as the 1989 report of the Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr. Prosecution revealed the presence of systemic racism in the criminal justice system of Nova Scotia (Canadian Black Justice Strategy, 2023). The 2010 s prompted more forthright acknowledgements and attempts at reconciliation for systemic racism. In 2010, then Mayor of Halifax, Peter Kelly apologized for the demolishment of Africville. As well, in 2010, the Government of Nova Scotia issued an apology and posthumous pardon to Viola Desmond. In 2014, Canadian courts began to leverage the Impact of Race and Culture Assessments (IRCAs) to account for the implications of systemic anti-Black racism in the sentencing of Black people (Bystrzycki, 2022; Dugas, 2020). These assessments provide insight into how systemic anti-Black racism has impacted the individual being charged, including insight into the “historic and intergenerational trauma and understanding of the individual’s community” (African Canadian Civic Engagement Council, n.d.). These reports not only offer deeper insights into the plausible reasons for the actions of the individual, but they also provide alternative solutions to incarceration that are meant to better support the rehabilitation and integration of those charged (Eizadirad & Leslie, 2024).

Additional structural-political factors to consider include the Canadian government’s formal endorsement of the United Nation’s International Decade for People of African Descent. This endorsement occurred in 2018 even though the UN declaration was made in 2013 for the 2015–2024 time period. And in 2021, there were two major cases in the Court of Appeals, R v Anderson, 2021 NSCA 62 and R v Morris, 2021 ONCA 680 (Mann, 2022). In both cases, systemic anti-Black racism was acknowledged and accounted for in the reconsiderations of the accused parties’ sentencing (Mann, 2022).

Black Canadian Undergraduate STEMM Experiences

Explorations of Black Canadian undergraduate STEMM experiences are currently limited. This body of research appears to be emerging as there are but a couple of pieces that speak either directly to this population (Turner, 2022) or indirectly to this population via explorations of STEMM faculty experiences and professional school practices (Burke et al., 2021; Saddler et al., 2021). There does exist a broader body of scholarship exploring Blackness and STEMM in Canadian contexts that includes research on early childhood, primary, and secondary contexts (e.g., Akyea & Radakovicm, 2024; Codjoe, 2001; Copeland Solas & Kamalodeen, 2022; James et al., 2017; Nxumalo & ross, 2019). Across this body of research, scholars acknowledge the racially charged experiences that Black STEMM students face at the hands of non-Black peers (Burke et al., 2021; Turner, 2022) and STEMM structures (Akyea & Radakovicm, 2024; Saddler et al., 2021). These experiences—being in classroom and virtual environments—resulted in Black students having to manage their identities in relation to stereotypes (Turner, 2022) as well as engage in various forms of self-advocacy (Burke et al., 2021). These experiences, also being structural in nature, have also impacted Black students’ ability to access and successfully navigate graduate professional health education (Saddler et al., 2021).

A CRT-PVEST Analysis of Black Canadian STEMM Experiences

Utilizing CRT-PVEST, I unpack the experiences of Black Canadians in STEMM, attending to how systemic and structural racism perpetuates anti-Black social and material realities that inform Black Canadian STEMM students’ decision-making processes and outcomes.

Racial Realism

Representing the idea that racism is permanent, endemic, and structural to western societies given their founding and basis, racial realism situates the overarching analysis of Black Canadian STEMM experiences. As evident through the laws, policies, and social-cultural practices instantiated from 1604 to the present in Canada, systemic and structural racism exists and continues to impact the lived experiences of Black people in Canada (Gintova, 2023; Maynard, 2017; Noorishad et al., 2023). Policies and practices that supported the refusal to free those enslaved in Canada, the attempts to prevent Black people from entering Canada, the decimation of Black towns, and the displacement of Black people all signify the presence of systemic and structural racism. Implications of these decisions include changes in the sociocultural nature of Canada, thereby sustaining beliefs and values that question and even criticize Black people’s presence and position within the country. This sustained belief manifests from the ever-present structural racism that set into motion the practices of racial hierarchies and discrimination.

The permeance and endemic nature of structural racism shows through the country’s attempt to mitigate the impact of racism in the criminal justice system via the IRCAs. Policies and practices put forward to mitigate racism first admit that racism is present and has an impact on the lived experiences of everyone. We can also see the sustained presence of structural racism through other attempts to mitigate its impact. For example, the various apologies provided as responses to the atrocities committed against Black people and Black communities demonstrate the awareness of racism and how it continues to govern the lived experiences of Black people well beyond specific acts of hate (e.g., Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, 2022; Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 2024a, 2024b).

Overall, it is important to note that the policies and practices of the past carry forward and have implications for the present and future. The associated beliefs and practices that formulate the acknowledged racist stereotypes and discriminatory practices that exist within the criminal justice system also exist in other places because they exist within society. Through a nested ecosystem lens, for these beliefs and practices to exist on the macrosystem across time, they, therefore, permeate and influence all other systems (i.e., exo-, meso-, micro), being present within all social institutions affiliated with society, including postsecondary education and STEMM.

Critique of Liberalism

Core to CRT is the notion that liberalism, as an ideology that purports individualism, bootstrapping, and meritocracy as means towards an equal society, must be challenged given the presence and impact of structural and systemic racism that negates the actualization of these beliefs for all people (Gotanda, 1991). Having indicated the presence of racism via the examples provided, the critique of liberalism supports a critical analysis of the existence of neutrality in everyday practices. When applied to Black student experiences in postsecondary STEMM, this perspective presents the opportunity to raise questions about the role of institutional and disciplinary policies and cultural norms, values, beliefs, and practices on Black student representation within STEMM.

Often presented as being race-neutral or neutral, institutional and disciplinary policies and practices that regulate access to STEMM learning contexts influence who can meaningfully engage within those spaces. In noting that race neutrality does not exist because of the presence and impact of systemic and structural racism, all policies and practices that are not race-conscious will perpetuate and reinforce racist ideologies. For example, gatekeeping access to STEMM behind policies and cultural practices that demand a specific admission average, grade point average (GPA), letters of recommendation from “worthy” and “valued” people, and “credible” experience perpetuates racist ideologies as Black people, Black experiences, and Black social institutions are often deemed second-class in Canada given the sociocultural implications of systemic structural racism (Codjoe, 2001). These factors are shown to have negative implications on Black students’ access to STEMM spaces in Canada (Leduc et al., 2021; Turner, 2022) as well as the ability to meaningfully engage in these spaces without the constraints of racism (Burke et al., 2021).

Given the deeply embedded sociocultural practices of having “like-minded” individuals within our STEMM spaces, mirror-tocracy, as opposed to meritocracy, drives decisions for who can access and meaningfully engage in STEMM spaces. Being first introduced in professional spaces associated with Silicon Valley (e.g., Asay, 2011; Hodder, 2015), mirror-tocracy reflects having the power and privilege to reward, select, engage, and support those who share a similar background, experience, identities, and ideologies as yourself. Mirror-tocracy has been used to explain how professional spaces continuously lack diversity despite espoused commitments to meritocracy and initiatives put in place to increase diversity (George, 2019; Mokhtech et al., 2022). In extending these conversations, I apply the critique of liberalism to Canadian STEMM spaces to raise questions on how mirror-tocracy functions to hinder Black students’ access and meaningful engagement in postsecondary and professional STEMM spaces. This includes how mirror-tocracy functions to support or hinder access to STEMM research experiences, internships, awards, and graduate and professional school, as well as job opportunities, given that within current sociopolitical structures, the person’s value and ability to gain access often reflects their social capital (e.g., recognized previous institution, recognized notoriety of a mentor) more so than their merit.

Whiteness as Property

Whiteness as property details the way racial identity, social status, and economics were intertwined to create and perpetuate a conception of normality and a standard for living that continuously centres, validates, and emboldens white people—their collective thoughts, needs, beliefs, standard of living, and values (Harris, 1993). This standard for living was codified through law as founding legal documents and subsequent laws made it illegal and, therefore, impossible for those not recognized and embraced as white by society to fully access and enjoy the rights and privileges that come with being a human being. Revisiting the laws and policies previously shared, whiteness as property reveals the underlying intentions and mental logic (schemas) for the creation, adoption, or proposed ordinances and policies.

Legislation to regulate and prevent the immigration of Black people to Canada, control their resources, limit their rights, and destroy their communities occurred, given the presumption of their inhumanity as supported by whiteness. Intimately related to this idea is the assumption that white Canadians had the moral right to present their self-determined interests as THE sociocultural-geopolitical foundation of Canada, thereby making their interest universal, the presumed standard, and pure. And given the presumption that their country was pure, they had the right to protect its purity from those they deemed to be impure. Whiteness, thus, is something that is possessed, and it can be weaponized in any way necessary, as determined by those who possess it to protect its (their) interests. The weaponization of whiteness can range, including offering it to one group as opposed to another to maintain superiority and power (as seen through the immigration acts). It can also include using presumably race-neutral practices like taxation and property annexation to target and decimate Black life under the guise of advancing a “collective public good.”

Applying whiteness as property with PVEST to Black Canadian STEMM student experiences helps explain why Black people face hostility, toxicity, and discrimination in STEMM, as STEMM, being presented on the world stage as a highly valued and notable space, is seen as a white space. Western, Eurocentric ideologies perpetuated through STEMM content, STEMM teaching practices, and STEMM cultural capital position all other ways of knowing, doing, being, and understanding within the material as incorrect. Because STEMM as a white space (White & Morton, 2024) facilitates the presence of overt and covert forms of racism within it, Black students are forced to engage in coping mechanisms to protect their perceived worth and value while navigating Canadian STEMM spaces (e.g., Burke et al., 2021; Turner, 2022).