AcSS & ESRC Project: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Project is a joint programme between The Academy of Social Sciences (AcSS), its member Social Science Societies and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Its purpose is to encourage and facilitate greater awareness of, and actions to support, EDI across member social science societies, by working together to share resources, learning and to maximise the potential to effect real and positive change.
Drawing together good practice from across the Academy, our member societies and other organisations, this hub provides advice and guidance on how to embed and prioritise EDI across six workstreams: governance and leadership, funding, membership, events, publishing and research groups and networking communities.
This month's recommended resource
This report, produced at the request of the Academy’s member social science societies, draws on 2021/22 HESA data and POLAR4 data to present a top-level summary of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) data for the social sciences, for both academic and teaching staff and for student populations in UK higher education. This report is part of the Academy’s programme of EDI work in partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Our EDI workstreams
Use the arrows to scroll through our six workstreams and their resources.
Useful accessibility-related resources
These resources provide advice and guidance on how to ensure design is inclusive and accessible to everyone. They sit across all our workstreams. Use the left column below to change categories. See the right column for a summary and link to each resource.
Digital guide: an introduction to online accessibility
This guide outlines how people with a range of disabilities use online content. It offers advice and resources to help heritage organisations make their digital content accessible to everyone. While its target audience is heritage organisations, the advice and guidance it contains is transferable across sectors.
What is an accessible colour palette?
This website offers accessible colour palette templates, including advice on how to ensure content is accessible to those with colour blindness or sight impairment. The handy FAQ section is packed with useful tips!
Accessibility guide
This guide, from Newcastle University, explores what you can do to create accessible content. This includes information on imagery; hyperlinks; use of colour; language; videos; bullet points; headings and structures; documents; and Microsoft Accessibility Checker.
EDI funding scheme
As part of the EDI Project, we have awarded two rounds of small scale grants, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, to support 12 EDI initiatives and interventions put forward by the Academy’s member social science societies. You can find out more about these projects below.
Round 1
The following projects were awarded funding in 2023.
The British Psychological Society (BPS) and the British Educational Research Association (BERA) received funding to pilot a teaching resource for KS3 and KS4 secondary school students on the history of IQ testing and psychology’s historic contribution to enabling a discriminatory education system in the UK. The collaborative approach taken by both BPS and BERA ensured an expert panel of historians, psychologists and educational experts provided valuable insights in developing the resource.
Sophie O’Reilly, the Archive Manager, said: “We are so grateful to receive this funding that has enabled us to bring an overlooked part of UK history to life for secondary students. We have created an engaging teaching resource, with accompanying intelligence tests from our archive, and teachers and students have given us great feedback. Students have loved learning about a more challenging aspect of our collective history and teachers have appreciated being supported to teach it in a constructive way. Off the back of this pilot, we hope to continue to create resources for varying audiences to bring historically excluded stories to light.”
To find out more, click on the links below:
BPS to produce new resource on history of IQ testing
Read this news article from December 2023 in which BPS announce that the BPS History of Psychology Centre (HOPC) has been awarded funding to produce a resource for secondary school students on the history of IQ testing in the UK education system.
Funding was awarded to the Leisure Studies Association (LSA) to support the research, co-design and initial implementation of a new EDI strategy. With the guidance and expertise of an EDI specialist, the LSA involved their membership in the creation of this strategy through considered communication, engagement opportunities, and participation in decision-making processes. The resulting outcomes, including the strategy development and implementation processes, are to be shared with other learned and membership societies as a model of good practice.
Clare Hearn, Executive Committee of LSA, said: “This funding has enabled and focused attention on how equity, diversity and inclusivity are defined and experienced by our membership. Time has been given and stories have been shared. This generosity and the desire for change has enabled the co-creation of new ways of being for the association, articulated in a policy and plan, but realised by our community.”
To find out more, click on the links below:
Read this news article from May 2024 in which LSA announced details of their Unconference, a series of participant led conversations and opportunities inspired by equity, diversity and inclusivity. This event forms part of the work funded through the EDI small grant.
The Royal Economics Society (RES) received funding to support the need for greater diversity and inclusion within economics. The funding was for their proposed portfolio of four EDI initiatives: a Women’s Committee Mentoring programme; a Consciously Inclusive Mentoring training; a Peer Learning Sets programme; and an Active Bystander programme. As part of this portfolio of work, the RES will provide training and ‘toolkits’ for each programme, which can be utilised in other social science disciplines, or across other protected characteristics.
Marie-Luiza de Menezes, Member Operations Director and Staff Strategic Lead for EDI at RES said: “The grant funding from the AcSS / ESRC is enabling us to make significant progress in 2024 against our key strategic objective of improving diversity and inclusion within economics. To date, we have delivered our Women’s Committee mentoring programme, supporting early career women economists in academia, and have trained over 20 ‘peer learning set facilitators’ to equip women economists with skills to set up their own action-learning groups. Our Consciously Inclusive Mentoring Programme is in progress with over 35 people registered and the live training session took place this autumn; and our Active Bystander training session has likewise been delivered.
“As part of this project, we are delivering knowledge-sharing webinars to other learned societies and have been privileged to bring societies together around a common EDI challenge, sharing our journey and learning. These have provided an excellent opportunity for exchange of ideas and a boost to motivate us all on why this work is important to improve diversity in our disciplines. One participant said, “Thank you, colleagues, for sharing these very helpful resources” and another has added one of our video resources to their online library. We are very grateful to the AcSS and ESRC in funding this important work in breaking down barriers and supporting underrepresented groups.”
To find out more, click on the links below:
Grant funding awarded to RES for EDI initiatives
Read this news article from December 2023 in which RES announce that the Academy of Social Sciences will be supporting their EDI initiatives.
The RES Mentoring Programme, run by the Women’s Committee, provides early career academic women the opportunity to be part of a mentoring programme. This includes those on both research and education tracks. The mentoring programme is part of the EDI grant funded work.
Consciously Inclusive Mentoring
As part of their Diversity Strategy, RES has developed the “Consciously Inclusive Mentoring” short programme. The goal of this programme is to provide mentors with training on inclusive mentoring practices, understanding how conscious and/or unconscious biases affect the mentor-mentee relationship. The Consciously Inclusive Mentoring programme is part of the EDI grant funded work.
Be the Change: Active Bystander Skills for Economists
The RES Active Bystander programme includes an annual online training session, alongside special sessions at their Annual Conference and a suite of resources to equip economists to embed a culture of ‘active bystanding’ in their organisations. Resources include a video, ‘Be the Change’, and presentation materials. The active bystander programme is part of the EDI grant funded work.
UK WEN: Peer Learning Sets (PLS)
RES Peer Learning Sets fall within the UK Women in Economics Network ‘Action’ Initiative. The aim of the ‘action’ initiative is to drive positive change through peer-learning and best practice sharing amongst women. The objective is for peer groups to discuss and implement practical solutions to the shared issue, thus bringing about personal, professional and/or cultural change in economics within and across institutions/sectors. The Peer Learning Sets are part of the EDI grant funded work.
The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) received funding to support a Future Leaders project: a cohort of new members from minority ethnic groups to serve as role models, mentors, and spokespersons for RSS and the statistics and data science professions. The funded cohort have been given access to: (1) training opportunities across the RSS to develop professional skills; (2) invited speaking slots at the RSS Annual Conference; (3) the opportunity to receive media communications training through their Statistical Ambassadors programme. Moreover, this cohort have: (1) developed a special interest group for mentoring and supporting practitioners from underrepresented/underserved groups; (2) volunteered as mentors through the RSS mentoring platform; (3) advised and contributed to the development of RSS’ training and events programmes and shared their experiences through RSS’ publications portfolio.
To find out more, click on the links below:
RSS secures funding for Future Leaders programme
Read this news article from December 2023 in which RSS announce the Academy of Social Sciences will be supporting their Future Leaders programme.
Applications open for RSS Future Leaders programme
Read this news article from February 2024, in which RSS announce they are launching a programme to support data professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds to become “Future Leaders” and put the call out for applicants. This is part of the EDI grant funded work.
RSS Future Leaders programme kicks off with a meet and greet in London
Read this news article from May, in which RSS discuss kicking off the first Future Leaders programme with a meeting in London.
Future leaders programme – How to apply for professional accreditation
Watch this YouTube from October 2024, in which RSS’ Head of Standards & Corporate Relations, Ricky McGowen, and Bridget Azubuike, one of the RSS Future Leaders, provide guidance on how to apply for professional accreditation.
Event report: RSS contributes to the International Day of Women in Statistics and Data Science
Read this news report from October 2024, in which RSS discuss their involvement in the Caucus for Women in Statistics and Data Science third edition of the International Day of Women in Statistics and Data Science (IDWSDS2024), including the involvement of Edith Milanzi and Selina So, two of RSS’ Future Leaders representatives.
The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and their partners received funding to develop a robust, evidence-based understanding of the disparity between the diversity of students that start on institute-accredited courses and those who go on to work in roles requiring institute-accredited qualifications. The initiative builds on existing good practice to improve the collective understanding of retention rates and awarding gaps in education. As part of this, RTPI have committed to sharing progress and learnings from developing and delivering the interventions to Higher Education partners, employers and others within the social sciences and beyond to further help address the awarding gap.
Round 2
The following projects were awarded funding in 2024.
The British Association for Applied Linguistics (BAAL) and UK Association for Language Testing and Assessment (UKALTA) received funding to hold two workshops prior to their annual conferences, which will contextualise and place EDI issues at the heart of academic leadership.
Professor Zhu Hua, Chair of BAAL, and Professor Lynda Taylor, President of UKALTA, said: “We are excited to have been awarded an AcSS ESRC EDI small grant. We are already reaping the benefits of working collaboratively to deliver two EDI Leadership workshops specifically designed for our academic field.”
To find out more, click on the links below:
Successful joint bid of BAAL & UKALTA for AcSS ESRC EDI small grant
Read this news article from July 2024, in which BAAL announce that both they and UKALTA have been awarded funding to hold workshops prior to our respective annual conferences.
To find out more about UKALTA’s work on EDI read their statement on equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility.
UKALTA have a number of Briefing Sheets related to EDI considerations. These Briefing Sheets have been commissioned and created by members of the association. They are designed to be a useful resource not simply for those within the field of linguistics, but also as a short and accessible introduction to a contemporary topic or issue for a much wider audience.
To find out more about BAAL’s work on EDI read their EDI statement.
The British Academy of Management (BAM) received funding to publish and promote a Decolonising the Curriculum (DtC) Guide to provide social science educators with practical information, advice and examples to support their decolonising the curriculum efforts. The accessible guide was prepared by two members of BAM’s Executive with specialist expertise – Professors Martyna Śliwa FAcSS and Stephanie Decker FAcSS – in consultation with scholars interested in postcolonial research and pedagogy from different countries.
The authors explain that the aim of this guide is to provide questions, answers and suggestions for academics teaching across all subjects within business school curricula. It is hoped that this guide becomes a useful resource for educators to facilitate their reflection and review of existing modules and programmes and as they introduce new ones in the UK and internationally. Although the guide was developed with the needs of the Business & Management scholarly community in mind, the advice and resources it contains are applicable to other disciplines.
Professor Emma Parry, Chair of the British Academy of Management, said: “We are delighted to present our new “British Academy of Management Guide to Decolonising the Business School Curriculum” for the benefit of the social science community. EDI and Respect are fundamental values for BAM and, as part of our mission, we seek to use the specialist research expertise within our discipline to help embed them usefully within the academic community and society more broadly.”
To find out more, click on the links below:
Read this news article from July 2024 in which BAM announce they were awarded a grant from the ESRC-AcSS EDI Funding call to publish and promote a Decolonising the Business School Curriculum Guide
The BAM Guide to Decolonising the Business School Curriculum
Here you can read BAM’s Guide to Decolonising the Business School Curriculum, which was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), via a grant awarded through the EDI small grant from AcSS and ESRC.
The British International Studies Association (BISA) were awarded EDI funding to implement two key aspects of their EDI strategy – 1) to improve their website accessibility for all users and 2) to monitor and support the diversity of applications to, and awarding of, BISA prizes and grants.
Juliet Dryden, BISA Director/CEO said: “BISA has placed a strong focus on improving all aspects of EDI over the past few years, and the two project streams funded should drive us forward significantly in the areas of accessibility, equity and diversity. Both projects have transferability and scalability, and we look forward to sharing more resources with the learned society community once the projects are complete.”
To find out more, click on the links below:
BISA awarded Academy of Social Sciences funding to support EDI initiatives
Read this news article from July 2024 in which BISA announce that they have been awarded EDI funding to implement two key aspects of their EDI strategy.
Equity and positive change – improving EDI in funding and prizes
Read the first in a series of articles on BISA’s EDI initiative. This article focuses on BISA’s funded work to ensure that their funding and prize processes reflect their commitment to diversity and equality, by identifying and addressing potential gaps and biases.
The Development Studies Association (DSA) received funding to run workshops with early career academics of colour to better understand their needs and generate a support network; to co-develop active bystander training for managers with the Royal Economic Society addressing structural barriers to progression; and use qualitative methods to understand EDI best practice of DSA members.
DSA Council member, Touseef Mir said: ‘”Thank you so much for your support and funding. This, most definitely, will help us go ahead with our EDI project and enable us to positively inform policy as well as praxis within development and academia in general”.
To find out more, click on the links below:
Read this news article from July 2024, in which the DSA announce they have been awarded funding to address retention and progression of academics of colour.
Diversity and inclusion in development studies
On this webpage, you can find out more about DSA’s vision for development studies to be a vibrant, diverse discipline offering critical thinking from a wide range of views. This includes work they have undertaken on conducting a race audit of development studies within the UK and, based on their learnings from this, how they are now engaging in further work, including the work they are doing with early career researchers of colour.
The Royal Economics Society’s (RES) Discover Economics programme received funding to deliver an in-person event on a university site with 15–17-year-olds from state schools and sixth forms, where economics is often seen as an elitist subject, with the purpose of trying to address the issues that add to the gender and socio-economic disparities within the field of economics.
Sam McLoughlin, Senior Campaign Manager for Discover Economics at RES, said: “Discover Economics is delighted to receive funding to deliver much needed outreach activities to young people in underrepresented locations with the aim of increasing diversity in economics.”
To find out more, click on the links below:
Discover Economics awarded funding for EDI initiatives
Read this news article from August 2024 in which RES announce that the Discover Economics programme has received EDI funding to deliver much needed outreach activities to young people in underrepresented locations.
To find out more about RES Discover Economics programme, visit their dedicated website.
LinkedIn Discover Economics’ Post
Check out this LinkedIn post to find out more about Discover Economics Young Economist of the Year 2024 competition and their trip to Downing Street.
HM Treasury video from Discover Economics Young Economist of the Year 2024 competition
Check out this Instagram post to find out more about Discover Economics Young Economist of the Year 2024 competition and their trip to Downing Street.
The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) received funding to lead a four-month project to understand the barriers to gathering good quality member EDI data, to use the insights collected to present solutions and to report these to the wider community.
Commenting on the project, RSS Chief Executive, Dr Sarah Cumbers, said: “It’s crucial for organisations like ours to understand the diversity of our membership. This project will provide us with a much better understanding of the current barriers to reporting, ensuring efforts around equity, diversity and inclusion are informed by the best possible data.”
To find out more, click on the links below:
RSS secures funding for project on diversity data gaps
Read this news article from July 2024 in which RSS announce that they have received funding for a project aimed at better understanding the barriers that learned societies face in assessing the diversity of their membership.
The Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (SAMS) was awarded funding to undertake a comprehensive scoping exercise so they can gain an accurate picture of the background characteristics of their members and participants. This will permit SAMS to develop an evidence-based EDI strategy, targeted actions, and interventions. More specifically, SAMS are proposing to establish an understanding of the composition of: SAMS Council; Editorial Review Board (ERB) for the Journal of Management Studies (JMS); JMS Strategic Advisory Board (SAB); JMS editorial team; JMS active referees; JMS authors.
Professor Ruth Woodfield, Trustee at SAMS, said: “Our project seeks to better understand our current composition and participation rates, enabling the development of an evidence-based action plan to improve our future EDI profile and practice.”
The AcSS & ESRC Project: Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is kindly supported by
