Integrating EDI in Research

Agile published our Diversity and Inclusion Plan in March 2024. Since then, we have been hard at work to integrate equality, diversity and inclusion across our programme activities and Sprint research projects. I am pleased to report that all of the actions identified in the plan are underway.

We are now mid-way through the year, which offers a valuable opportunity to pause and reflect. Since launching the Diversity and Inclusion Plan, we have changed our approach. Instead of creating EDI-specific frameworks and deliverables, we are embedding EDI in the programme operations and Sprint research. This is helping us to make EDI a foundational part of everything that we do in the Agile Initiative.

The integration of EDI in research is of growing importance at the University of Oxford, and we are proud to have had the opportunity to contribute by trialling and testing a number of initiatives. We want to share with you what we’ve learnt, so here’s what we have been working on for the last six months:

EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENTS FOR RESEARCH

Equality Impact Assessments (EIAs) are a tool to assess the potential impact of a research project on different groups based on their protected characteristics. Agile is using EIAs with Sprint research teams to ensure that EDI and impact are considered from the outset of the project. Completing this process at the beginning of a research Sprint helps identify mitigations to reduce negative impact and actions to promote positive impact.

TRAINING

Accessibility isn’t always obvious or instinctive. We believe it is responsible to provide training to ensure that the accessibility of documents, presentations, events and meetings is tailored to the work at hand.

The Agile Initiative’s programme team, Sprint researchers, and other members of the community recently completed training with CIPR and the AbilityNet. We are putting this training into action by developing new internal guidance materials for accessible communications.

CALLS FOR FUNDING AND ASSESSMENTS

We are improving inclusion and accessibility in our calls for proposals and assessment processes by trialling recommendations from the Equity and Inclusivity in Research Funding report. For example, we provide reviewers with guidance on how to fairly account for career breaks in CVs, assess presentation, language, and communications, and address unintended bias in review panel discussions. Our latest call for Sprints will allow us to further test whether we are making progress.

OXFORD UNIVERSITY’S EDI COMMUNITY

We are proud of what the EDI community are achieving at the University, and pleased to be able to participate in the EDI Community of Practice and other strategic, high-level meetings. These conversations are helping us to continuously improve our EDI activities so that we can further advance University and funder strategies, such as NERC’s diversity and inclusion living action plan.

I also had the opportunity to present on our Equality Impact Assessment process alongside Dr. Joanna Kemp (EDU) and Laura Jones (EDU) during the EDI Community of Practice Training Conference in September 2024.

The Agile team is both excited about our progress and keenly aware that there is more work to be done to improve diversity and inclusion in the environmental sciences. We look forward to continuing this work and we are curious about where we will get to in the remaining years of the programme.

If you want to learn more, you can read our Review of Progress on the Agile Diversity and Inclusion Plan. And if you have any questions or comments, please get in touch: stephanie.perrin@oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk