Promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in academic research
Dr Rebecca Lindner, Principal Research Fellow, UCL Doctoral School
UCL's EDI webpages
“We have an obligation to promote social mobility and break down systemic barriers.”
Success and innovation in academic research thrive under conditions of diversity, inclusion, collaboration, and equality of opportunity. The creation of a diverse and supportive intellectual community, informed by researchers from all backgrounds and the widest possible talent pool, is fundamental to economic, scientific and societal progress.
Why? Because the production of knowledge should be reflective of current society; because we have an obligation to promote social mobility and break down systemic barriers; and because it is the research model that best addresses global challenges.
In recent years a sector-wide focus on improving equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in higher education has seen universities making increasing commitments to charter marks such as Athena SWAN, the Race Equality Charter and Stonewall Workplace Equality Index. The result is significant progress in the form of widening access and participation plans, staff and student support networks, mentoring schemes, and unconscious bias training.
Even so, there is more work to be done to achieve an inclusive and inviting research environment, remove barriers to doctoral education, and address the challenges of access to and progression through academic careers. Such obstacles are experienced disproportionately by women and underrepresented groups.
What is UCL doing to promote EDI in research?
At UCL there have been considerable efforts to promote EDI in research from PhD level through to senior academic appointments.
Programmes have targeted support at women and Black and minority ethnic (BME) individuals:
- A Women in Research programme supports leadership development and career planning for female early career researchers.
- A Research Opportunity Scholarship scheme, in partnership with the Windsor Fellowship, provides targeted funding and skills development for UK-domiciled BME PhD applicants. As a positive action initiative, this represents a significant step forward to address long-term inequities in access to postgraduate research.
- UCL also supports the B-Mentor, Inclusive Advocacy and Stellar HE programmes, which offer career mentorship, leadership training, sponsorship, and network support for BME staff.
Other efforts have embedded EDI in the system:
- Fair Recruitment Specialists are trained to counter implicit bias and ensure diverse representation on staff recruitment panels.
- Part-time and flexible working options, including job-sharing, compressed hours, career breaks and planned remote working, have been introduced to promote work-life balance and support those with caring responsibilities.
These kinds of initiatives have been successful because they involve both collaboration across the institution and the support of senior leadership. The translation of EDI awareness into action is increasingly embedded into the organisational culture.
There is also much to be gained by drawing on the experiences of other universities and, in particular, sharing examples of good EDI practice within and beyond the Russell Group. This has the potential to accelerate improvements to representation in academic research and support the creation of an inclusive research culture.
UCL's EDI Plan for 2020-21
The future of EDI: co-ordinated effort
How can we build on this momentum? It’s time we reward those working hard to promote EDI, while incentivising others to join in. Universities and funders need to work together to drive change here. Universities should consider rewarding contributions to EDI in hiring and promotion criteria and internal funding schemes, while funders could add contributions to EDI as an explicit criterion of assessment in funding applications and awards. Coordinating in this way can drive a culture change that brings us closer to the vision we considered earlier: a diverse and supportive intellectual community, fundamental to economic, scientific and social progress.
Further reading:
Read the Russell Group's report: Realising Our Potential: Backing Talent and Strengthening UK Research Culture and Environment
Read 'Nurturing a positive UK research culture: lessons for funders' by Ben Bleasdale, Wellcome
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