Student and Alum Experience Themes

In their analysis of the student and alum findings, Anima identified seven main themes. For each theme, Anima made practical recommendations for Branksome Hall to consider implementing in the interest of supporting DEI at the school as it is currently structured. These recommendations are outlined in the Appendix (p. 31).

Perception of Branksome Hall as a DEI Leader in the Independent School Sector

The first theme Anima observed was the extent to which Branksome Hall is engaging in DEI as a catalyst for profound organizational change. Nearly every department within the school community has been impacted by the prioritization of DEI principles, in particular the DEI Working Group. The attitudes of current students and alums reflect an overall consensus that the school is moving forward with regard to DEI. There is also a general consensus that this is new territory for the school and that community stakeholders are engaged in a process that has really just begun.

Anima auditors were sincerely impressed by the DEI programming that was consciously intersectional, centred on a variety of voices, and signaled that significant work has already been accomplished at Branksome Hall to advance DEI principles. The school is encouraged to sustain ongoing efforts to prioritize DEI within the organizational and school culture. It is also clear that regular, sustained training is needed to equip all members of the school community to effectively recognize biased words and actions, and intervene appropriately.

The Complexities of Lived-Experience and DEI Expertise

DEI is a rapidly growing field where there is widespread confusion in every sector about what is or is not DEI. Branksome Hall reflects this contemporary social context where students with one or more marginalized identities navigate DEI differently to students belonging to dominant identities (those who have identified as wealthier, white, Christian or Catholic, heterosexual, cisgender and ablebodied). Specifically, those with more dominant identities have a harder time noticing when exclusion occurs. Anima auditors invite the school to prioritize the study of systemic discrimination and how it manifests in daily life, both within and outside the school context.

Several experiences shared by students revealed that a lack of subject-matter expertise has resulted in wellintentioned but misguided attempts at being inclusive. These anecdotes reflected the need for training and practical tools to facilitate open conversations and build relationships across differences, including comfort in naming and addressing instances of microaggression (forms of subtle ‘everyday’ discrimination that are often considered harmless by those in the dominant social group). Anima also sees an opportunity here to bring on additional DEI subject-matter experts, and encourage school leaders to adopt a 360-hour training benchmark for developing literacy in DEI issues, to develop a more nuanced understanding of current and future students.

Low-Trust Environment Nurtured by DEI Inexperience

While there was widespread acknowledgement that Branksome Hall has prioritized DEI principles in an unprecedented way for the school, the institution’s inexperience with this type of work fostered a low-trust environment. The current political climate encourages a public rhetoric of shame and blame when it comes to organizations addressing systemic racism. Attitudes of cynicism, distrust, online shaming and a lack of willingness to buy in are widespread challenges in the field that extend far beyond the Branksome Hall context. It is inevitable that any initiative to change organizational culture regarding DEI will be met with some level of cynicism and distrust in the early stages. Tackling a lowtrust environment requires self-aware, authentic leaders versed in equity, as well as transparent accountability structures that support the DEI journey.

Mental Wellness Considered Distinct from DEI

It is clear that the school has significantly improved the cultural climate for mental health awareness in recent years. Students at Branksome Hall expressed confidence in discussing and identifying mental health concerns and spoke about the ways the school encourages students to be aware of their mental health and take steps to increase well-being.

Like many institutions, however, it was noted that at the time of review, Branksome Hall’s extensive mental health programming did not directly focus on the implications of systemic discrimination such as racism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism or sexism on well-being. Managing and mitigating the impacts of systemic exclusion are necessary to support robust mental health. At the time of review, there was an opportunity to broaden the demographics of mental health service providers at the school—whether in part-time or full-time capacity—as well as increase DEI expertise within the well-being and student support department overall. As of the 2022-23 academic year, Branksome Hall restructured its student counselling and support team. The team now includes three social workers in addition to the Director of WellBeing and School Counselling, and brings foundational DEI and social justice expertise as part of their training.

The Need for Further Integration of Boarding and Day Students

Students and alums referred to a clear and distinct separation between boarding and day students; nearly everyone reported feelings of anxiety about crossing the social divide to get to know the other side better. Within the population of boarding students, racial identity contributed substantially to students’ perceptions of belonging.

Opportunities for DEI Within the Alum Community

Alums spoke highly of the DEI-focused direction Branksome Hall has been taking in recent years. However, many alums who participated in the DEI audit described a reticence to participate in the Alumnae Association events, particularly among those under 45 years of age who wanted more welcoming spaces. Anima sees an opportunity for Branksome Hall to invest more time into programming for younger alums and DEI work that generates further participation.

Anti-Black Racism and Black Student Experience

Anti-Black racism is an under-acknowledged reality of Canadian society. Anima Leadership has developed a framework for recognizing and addressing anti-Black racism in organizations, which names three key patterns of anti-Black bias, each of which was apparent in feedback from students:

1. Black students recounted multiple experiences of exclusion, naming specific instances that made them feel alienated by both students and teachers.

2. Personal accounts of over-surveillance included having work graded more critically and less favourably compared to white peers, despite equal proficiency (i.e., submitting identical work for a group project, but a white classmate received a significantly higher mark).

3. Lack of advancement examples were tied to exclusion and favouritism, such as being first to raise their hand in class, but the last person to be called upon—if invited to contribute at all.

Work is required to:

• acknowledge and address Black students’ negative experiences, which detract from feeling welcome and included at school;

• build strengthened and sustained trust with Black students and to uphold commitments to anti-Black racism initiatives.

Black students made clear their desire for student involvement in reconciliation and revision of disciplinary practices. Such inclusion in these processes can embolden and empower Branksome students.

Educational Excellence and Redefining the Branksome Girl

The audit found that the community was proud of Branksome Hall’s longtime standards of excellence and strong reputation as a leading girls’ school. For example, many students and alums emphasized the importance of learning in an environment distinct from cisgender boys. While these notions were regularly cited as powerful strengths, they also represent a limitation on the school’s ability to integrate DEI as a strategic value.

Specifically, the historical notion of the “Branksome Girl” and the attendant expectations around speech, appearance and behaviour was raised as an example of how Branksome Hall’s reputation could be perceived as in conflict with inclusive practices. Students and alums described the school’s culture whereby idealized notions of heterosexuality, femininity, appearance, ability and behaviour were informally codified in the myth of the “Branksome Girl.” In this context, Anima heard some of the challenges faced by non-binary and trans students, as well as students with individualized learning needs, who expressed feeling ashamed or looked down upon for being accommodated.

While many of the customs that alums recalled are no longer practised at the school, it is worthwhile for Branksome to consider how historical conceptions of the “Branksome Girl” may still echo today in subtle ways across the institution.

To address this issue, Anima auditors encourage Branksome Hall to ask, “How does the school want to define the ‘Branksome Girl’ in the future?” To answer this question, we must consider the past, current and aspirational perceptions of our students within and outside the Branksome Hall community in order to validate and refine what it means to be a Branksome Hall student. Further, within the answer to this question is the guidance needed not only to embed DEI across the organization, but also how it can extend its identity as an institution with historical roots in inclusion, building on its history of being a non-denominational girls’ independent school when it was not the norm in Toronto.

Correlation Between Social Privilege and Feelings of Belonging

A consistent finding across all subcategories of demographic data for both students and alums was that strong feelings of belonging were correlated to socially dominant identities.

Non-white students consistently described feelings of isolation and confusion about why there were so few teachers and administrators of colour. Junior School parents reported verbal bullying taking place between students on the basis of appearance, body hair, access to cell phones and family wealth. Sexual and gender minority students described a lack of access to information about, and familiarity regarding their identities from teachers and other school officials. There was an overwhelming perception shared by both students and alums that the opinions of those with the greatest economic and social privilege were prioritized by the school.

Anima auditors note that the key question to ask is, “What forms of social inequity does Branksome want to work to eliminate, and which forms cannot be fully addressed?”

This has implications for the scope and depth of DEI integration within the organization.