Inclusion in the time of COVID : 14 ways to seize the moment for change

Cebula, Carla and Nicoll Baines, Katie and Thijssen, Job H.J. and Lido, Catherine and Halliday, Karen and Hedge, Nicki and Mulvana, Helen and Gauchotte Lindsay, Caroline (2021) Inclusion in the time of COVID : 14 ways to seize the moment for change. Nature Index. (https://www.natureindex.com/news-blog/inclusion-ti...)

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Abstract

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, evidence suggests a widening of inequalities in academic science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) careers affecting people who are already marginalized within these fields. Here we propose ways in which the UK higher education sector could utilise the current state of flux in the system, including the move to remote collaboration and changes to publication and grant application processes, to create new and better opportunities for marginalized groups in STEMM. We are running two Inclusion Matters projects funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), called visNET and Evidence Base. Their goal is to design interventions, informed and evaluated by a combination of qualitative and quantitative research, to affect meaningful changes in reducing inequalities in academic research culture. Based on our observations of the challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 crisis, we present our 14 recommendations for how institutions could improve equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).

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