A short Guide to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Consideration of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), is an expected component of most grant proposals. It is important to incorporate considerations of EDI throughout a proposal, not just the EDI section, and to embed EDI considerations in the design of the project and the way the programme of work will be operationalized if the proposal is funded.
What is EDI?
Equality and Equity
Equality and equity are principles for allocating opportunity, material resources, attention, support etc. The principle of equality requests that everyone should be allocated the same share. The principle of equity stipulates that allocations should result in fair or just outcomes. Treating people equitably might mean allocating different amounts of opportunity, resources, attention or support to account for the different circumstances people find themselves in.
Diversity
Diversity is a measure of variation. It tells us how many different expressions of a characteristic are present in a group and how prominent each expression is. Diversity is measured for a particular group at a point in time or over a stretch of time.
Inclusion
Inclusion is a perspective focused on experiences. It assesses the degree to which everything we do, individually and collectively, is experienced as open, participative, fair, connecting, empathic, respectful of difference and equitably designed. Inclusion considers our practices, processes, decisions, structures, interactions, relationships, allocations and communications. Because these are dynamic, living and lived aspects, inclusion is never ‘achieved’ but has to be constantly created and re-created.
The Team
Questions to Consider
- Who is on the project team – is the team diverse in terms of gender, race, career stage or any characteristic particularly relevant to your research question/context?
- How will you ensure everyone can contribute their perspectives and have those perspectives incorporated into decision-making?
- Are leadership roles or other “prestigious” positions dominated by individuals with the same characteristics?
- Are your recruitment procedures likely to reduce diversity within the team?
Potential Approaches
- Expand/modify the team membership.
- Create governance structures that promote inclusion, such as:
- Positions on the leadership team for ECRs or students
- Appoint an EDI Champion and include EDI as a standing item on meeting agendas
- Embed mentoring and transition of key leadership roles over the course of the project
- Adopt inclusive recruitment practices, including wording of adverts and incorporating consideration of candidates’ individual contexts.
The Research
Questions to Consider
- What are the gender/sexuality/racial/socioeconomic dynamics at play in your team/research context/research system?
- What specific cultural contexts and relevancies exist for your work?
- What capacity will you have to disaggregate data and analyze differences between and amongst people with different characteristics?
- How will you recruit participants for your research?
- What are the potential implications of your research question for people with different characteristics?
- Are there outcomes/answers to your questions that could exacerbate inequalities?
- How will you mitigate against the potential to exacerbate inequalities?
Potential Approaches
- Incorporate specific EDI-related questions into your research.
- Record gender/sexuality/racial/socioeconomic data for research participants if it’s possible to do so without subjecting them to increased risk (consider the context) and incorporate these data into the analysis of your main questions.
- Offer multiple engagement pathways to increase the diversity of research participants:
- Offer opportunities to participate at different times of day
- Share information about opportunities to participate through different communication pathways – people get information in different ways
- Offer different ways to participate – interviews, online surveys, in-person, virtual
- Monitor participation to check for recruitment biases.
- Train project staff to be aware of and sensitive to inequalities.
Impact
Questions to Consider
- What impact could your findings have on different groups?
- Are your findings like to ameliorate or exacerbate existing inequalities?
- Who will you be sharing your findings with?
- How will you be sharing your findings?
Potential Approaches
- Consider diverse dissemination pathways for sharing information.
- Draw on knowledge of the local context to assess the best way to get your findings to the appropriate audiences.
- Adopt Monitoring and Evaluation approaches that will capture different kinds of impact.
Final things to keep in mind...
- Be specific rather than generic – referring to institutional EDI policies and processes may be helpful but is not sufficient.
- If there are risks or potential negative consequences, develop mitigation strategies and flag these in your proposal.
- Elements of your proposal addressing EDI should be appropriately resourced in your budget – put your money where your mouth is.
- Safety - consider EDI in training and risk assessments.
Additional Resources
| Crash Course in Gender Equality - a 40-minute presentation that provides an overview of Gender Equality and how to incorporate Gender Equality considerations into your research and research proposals. | |
| Going Global Gender Equality Partnerships Gender and Inclusion Guidance Note - an overview of gender and inclusion in the context of ODA funding from the British Council, including issues that applicants are expected to consider. | Link to the Guidance Note |
| Embedding inclusion in climate action Lessons from the UK PACT Green Recovery Challenge Fund Portfolio - an overview of Gender Equality and Social Inclusion in this programme, including exemplar case studies. | Link to the Learning Paper |
| Mainstreaming gender equality in Scottish Government funded international development projects and programmes: guidance note - A guidance note on mainstreaming gender equality for applications and bids for Scottish Government funded international development projects and/or programmes. The note outlines our minimum criteria for scoring, aligned with the OECD DAC Gender Equality Policy Marker. | Link to the Guidance Note |
| Code of Conduct for Ethical Fieldwork. Developed by the School of Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, this is a short set of principles and questions, accompanied by a toolkit of resources, to aid reflection on ethical and equity-related fieldwork challenges. Based on a systematic global review of fieldwork guidelines, it addresses potential gaps in ethics review processes such as working across cultures, conflicts of interest and safeguarding field research staff. | Link to the Guidance Document |
| British Council approach to empowering women and girls. This Guide and the accompanying annex is a collection of information, resources and activities that aim to support British Council staff to advance women’s rights and gender equality through their work. It is designed to provide practical solutions for embedding gender into our projects and programmes. | Link to the Guide and Annexes |
| UKRI Guidance for equality, diversity and inclusion. Our principles for promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, with links to useful sources of information and guidance on supporting diverse and inclusive research and innovation. | Link to the Resource Hub |
| Gender Equality in Research and Innovation Official Development Assistance (ODA). This document details BEIS’ policy on gender equality in the context of Research and Innovation Official Development Assistance (R&I ODA) and sets out how it is implemented through the delivery of R&I ODA funded activities. | Link to the Document |