The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) has provided funding to the Academy for Social Sciences to support fostering inclusivity in the social sciences community. This is the second phase of the Academy’s work on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI).
The joint programme between the Academy and ESRC aims to encourage and facilitate greater action to support inclusivity across member social science societies and their higher education communities. We do this by working together to share resources, learning and to maximise the potential to innovate and effect real and positive change.
Outputs from the programme to date include:
- a summary EDI data report for higher education academic staff and student populations in the social sciences
- a website hub featuring over 100 freely accessible resources sharing good practice
- 14 knowledge sharing events
- 13 inclusivity initiatives funded through a small grants programme
Second phase
The second phase of the project will build on the outcomes of the first. It will focus on:
- fostering inclusivity in research, training and innovation
- encouraging collaboration within and beyond, social science societies and their communities
This will be achieved through continued development of the Academy’s freely available EDI Hub and events programme. In addition it will create an archive of ‘what works’ good practice and lessons learned from a wide range of inclusivity initiatives in recent years relating to social science in UK higher education. We will also extend the reach of the archive to humanities and STEM subjects to foster meaningful cross disciplinary dialogue and knowledge sharing.
The project will continue its highly successful small grants programme, which will have a strong focus on research, training and innovation. It will also encourage collaboration between social science learned societies to facilitate inclusivity in their higher education communities.
This phase will also see the continuation of inclusivity data monitoring and reporting. This will deepen our understanding of where changes have occurred for the social sciences higher education staff and student communities, and to pinpoint areas that continue to require attention.