Department: Faculty of Community Services - CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing
Position supervisor: Dr. Karen Soldatic
Work location: On site, Toronto campus
Contract length: Until December 1, 2025
Hours of work per week: 14.5
Position type: Research Assistant
Rate of pay: $25/hr
About Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University)
At the intersection of mind and action, Toronto Metropolitan University is on a transformative path to become Canada’s leading comprehensive innovation university. Integral to this path is the placement of equity, diversity and inclusion as fundamental to our institutional culture. Our current academic plan outlines each as core values and we work to embed them in all that we do.
Toronto Metropolitan University welcomes those who have demonstrated a commitment to upholding the values of equity, diversity, and inclusion and will assist us to expand our capacity for diversity in the broadest sense. In addition, to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment in Canada, we encourage applications from members of groups that have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples, Indigenous peoples of North America, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, and those who identify as women and/or 2SLGBTQ+. Please note that all qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, applications from Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.
As an employer, we are working towards a people first culture and are proud to have been selected as one of Canada’s Best Diversity Employers and a Greater Toronto’s Top Employer for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
About the team
The Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing, led by Dr. Karen Soldatic, is a transformative research initiative that employs an engaged community partnership approach to expand our understanding, practice and delivery of health outcomes for all members of our communities. Collaborating with healthcare institutions, service providers and civil society organizations, the CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing aims for a paradigm shift – one that challenges a siloed, expert-driven approach to health and well-being and moves, instead, towards a community engaged, preventative model of wellbeing. Uniquely applying a critical disability lens, the research program aims to not only reduce health disparities that are inextricable from their social contexts but to embed community knowledge into health-care institutions, systems and models of delivery.
Learn more about the CERC here: https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity/
The opportunity
We are seeking a dedicated Research Assistant to join a vital research project titled “Assessing Primary Care and Access of Women with Disabilities’ in Low and Middle-Income Countries”.
Disabled women and girls represent a significant part of the world’s population, and are impacted in both High-Income Countries (HIC) and Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMIC). These individuals have unique intersectional experiences and needs which have historically been overlooked in the greater medical and research context. In primary care settings, this population continues to face attitudinal, physical and informational barriers.
We will be conducting an international survey project to evaluate primary healthcare access for women and girls with disabilities, modelled after a Canadian survey that has been co-designed with women with disabilities. This survey will be conducted on the REDCap platform, and will need to be designed in a culturally appropriate, inclusive and accessible manner, also considering the various culturally and linguistically diverse populations within each country of interest.
The successful candidate will be working with a large international team from across six (6) countries and therefore, require a strong commitment to culturally respective communication alongside a capacity to work across time zones, as and when required.

Responsibilities include:

• Coordinate and assist with study co-design activities, including development of inclusive and culturally appropriate survey question bank
• Format and co-design multiple country-specific, appropriate and accessible REDCap Surveys
• Support in final distribution of survey internationally as needed
• Provide technical support to those completing the survey online as and when required
• Organise meetings with diverse international teams involving researchers and civil society partners to plan, schedule and attend online meetings
• Coordinate inclusive and accessibility requirements for team members as and when required across international time zones

Qualifications

The ideal candidate will have:

• Experience with developing research-related REDCap surveys, with in-depth knowledge of branching logic, action tags, use of alert/notification, embedding fields, multi-language management and data quality checks for fraudulent participants.
• An applied understanding of EDI + A principles and co-design.
• Knowledge about the socio-structural determinants of health and wellbeing.
• Experience working across GMT zones and attending and minuting online meetings
• Capacity to communicate in both English and French, or English and Spanish

How to apply
Interested applicants should submit their resume and cover letter to opportunity.cerchecw@torontomu.ca , with the subject line: ‘Application - Research Assistant Internship’

Toronto Metropolitan University’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion

• We encourage all First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples or Indigenous peoples of North America, to self-identify in their applications. If you are an Indigenous applicant and require support during the recruitment process, please reach out to James McKay, Indigenous HR Lead at james13@torontomu.ca.
• Toronto Metropolitan University is committed to the principles of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), and aims to ensure that independence, dignity, integration and equality of opportunity are embedded in all aspects of the university culture.
• We will provide an accessible experience for applicants, students, employees, and members of the Toronto Metropolitan University community. We are committed to providing an inclusive and barrier-free work environment, starting with the recruitment process. If you have restrictions that need to be accommodated to fully participate in any phase of the recruitment process,please reach out to Human Resources:
• Current employees can contact HR by logging into AskHR to submit a request.
• External candidates who do not have TMU login credentials can contact HR by visiting torontomu.ca/human-resources/askhr/.
• All information received in relation to accommodation will be kept confidential.

• Coordinate and assist with study co-design activities, including development of inclusive and culturally appropriate survey question bank
• Format and co-design multiple country-specific, appropriate and accessible REDCap Surveys
• Support in final distribution of survey internationally as needed
• Provide technical support to those completing the survey online as and when required
• Organise meetings with diverse international teams involving researchers and civil society partners to plan, schedule and attend online meetings
• Coordinate inclusive and accessibility requirements for team members as and when required across international time zone