The Researcher Academy is the network for researchers, and staff who support them, at the University of Nottingham.
We work together to promote a healthy Research Culture, to cultivate researcher excellence, and to develop creative partnerships that enable researchers to flourish.
Our contribution to the Diversity Festival is an event under the theme "Diversity and Research Culture: Challenges and Opportunities" entitled Equality Diversity and Inclusion: Doing what you can, where you are.
Activity in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in postgraduate research can falter as people wait for a signal for ‘the right thing to do’ from the top, or a specific example of ‘what works’ in their particular area to appear. They worry about getting things wrong, and that anything they do within their small circle of influence won’t make enough of a difference to be worth it.
This workshop will provide a forum to explore the challenges facing those trying to implement EDI initiatives in postgraduate research and to reflect on strategies to deal with those challenges. Using a case study around EDI work on PGR recruitment in the Nottingham BBSRC Doctoral Training Partnership as a starting point, the workshop will allow participants to discuss and consider:
- Cultural, structural and personal barriers that might be in the way of their EDI work and how to approach these
- Countering resistance from colleagues and approaches to managing such resistance
- The value of local-level, smaller scale EDI initiatives and how these can be used to support the development and delivery of more ambitious goals
The aim of the session is to curate a thoughtful, honest and supportive conversation around the difficult bits of ‘doing EDI’ in the postgraduate space, and to empower participants to take ownership of doing what they can, where they are to make a difference.