Reimagining Recruitment
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bath
Department Name: Vice Chancellor's Office
Abstract
Ask a typical eight-year-old to describe a scientist and they will likely repeat the stereotype of the lone genius: a middle-aged white man in a lab coat. We know that in fact the best research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics is produced by collaborative teams of diverse membership who each contribute different skills and perspectives. Nonetheless, the stereotypes remembered from childhood are sadly persistent and research shows they can influence important decisions, especially in recruitment. The vision of this proposal is to reimagine academic recruitment, providing alternative routes for academic research candidates to demonstrate their skills.
To embed real cultural change, it is necessary not just to tell people that they would be better off working with a more diverse team, but to show them. We propose to achieve this by implementing and directing a programme of "incubator" events - academic research workshops in which senior academics work alongside postgraduate students and other early-career academics, potentially with industrial partners, in an accessible and inclusive environment for a period of 3-5 days.
At the same time, we will conduct an interlinked programme of research into the experiences of early-career researchers in STEM subjects and the efficacy of alternative recruitment strategies in academia. This will enable the development and communication of evidence based policy to drive cultural change in science and technology higher education and more widely.
To embed real cultural change, it is necessary not just to tell people that they would be better off working with a more diverse team, but to show them. We propose to achieve this by implementing and directing a programme of "incubator" events - academic research workshops in which senior academics work alongside postgraduate students and other early-career academics, potentially with industrial partners, in an accessible and inclusive environment for a period of 3-5 days.
At the same time, we will conduct an interlinked programme of research into the experiences of early-career researchers in STEM subjects and the efficacy of alternative recruitment strategies in academia. This will enable the development and communication of evidence based policy to drive cultural change in science and technology higher education and more widely.
Planned Impact
The beneficiaries of this project will be:
- Early career academics, especially those from currently underrepresented groups.
STEM subjects unfortunately suffer from outdated and unhelpful clichés of individual genius that are known to correlate with inequality of representation. The incubators will give senior academics and any associated non-academic partners the opportunity to discover the talents of those who may not have made it through a traditional CV sift. Working collaboratively in situ will provide a different and more informative view than the traditional interview/presentation experience that will lead to a broader range of people being considered for postdoctoral positions and permanent academic posts.
- HE institutions and STEM employers.
The cutting-edge research undertaken in STEM subjects is highly collaborative in nature, and across the sector there is generally recognition within management that diversity is beneficial to performance. However, the pace of culture change has been slower than desired for many employers. Breaking the cultural barriers to the creation of diverse teams must start with recruitment - our two work packages will together identify and communicate improved recruitment practices, and implement activities that ensure greater diversity of candidates for junior positions.
- Early career academics, especially those from currently underrepresented groups.
STEM subjects unfortunately suffer from outdated and unhelpful clichés of individual genius that are known to correlate with inequality of representation. The incubators will give senior academics and any associated non-academic partners the opportunity to discover the talents of those who may not have made it through a traditional CV sift. Working collaboratively in situ will provide a different and more informative view than the traditional interview/presentation experience that will lead to a broader range of people being considered for postdoctoral positions and permanent academic posts.
- HE institutions and STEM employers.
The cutting-edge research undertaken in STEM subjects is highly collaborative in nature, and across the sector there is generally recognition within management that diversity is beneficial to performance. However, the pace of culture change has been slower than desired for many employers. Breaking the cultural barriers to the creation of diverse teams must start with recruitment - our two work packages will together identify and communicate improved recruitment practices, and implement activities that ensure greater diversity of candidates for junior positions.
Organisations
- University of Bath (Lead Research Organisation)
- OXFORD BROOKES UNIVERSITY (Collaboration)
- University College London (Collaboration)
- University of Ulster (Collaboration)
- University of Bath (Collaboration)
- Heriot-Watt University (Collaboration)
- University of Hertfordshire (Collaboration)
- Bath and North East Somerset Council (Collaboration)
- University of Bristol (Collaboration)
| Description | The key take-home messages from this research are that efforts to retain ECRs in STEM academia need to focus on: a. improve employment contracts to provide security and ability to plan; b. embed ECRs in wider systems of support to provide minority group members with multiple opportunities for positive experiences and mentorship; c. address negative experiences and perceptions of organisational climate, associated with institutional failures on bullying and harassment; d. provide encouragement and support for the evaluation of interventions, to improve the evidence-base for what works. |
| Exploitation Route | Through the published outcomes being implemented. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Chemicals,Construction,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics,Energy,Environment,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Security and Diplomacy,Transport |
| Description | This was a co-creation project with impact built in. Changes in attitudes and expectation have been monitored through the project. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Beyond the car: Future mobility in Bath |
| Organisation | Bath and North East Somerset Council |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | We collaborated with Bath and North East Somerset Council (B&NES) to run a 3 day incubator looking at future mobility options for Bath. This event was attended by approx 45 people - 15 stakeholders from the local community i.e. B&NES policy makers, Royal United Hospital, public health and local Councillors. We organised and ran the event, recruited participants and led the sessions. The event was run as a collaborative incubator using the guidelines developed through the Re imagining Recruitment programme. |
| Collaborator Contribution | B&NES worked with us to develop the workshop and helped identify the problems that we would present. The provided lists of participants to attend and gave talks during the event. B&NES also provided the venue for us to hold the event and contributed to the catering costs. |
| Impact | The collaboration led to a 3 day multidisciplinary workshop attended by 45 people. The workshop was run as a collaborative incubator and the feedback from the participants was generally really positive and met the project goals of running an inclusive event. The workshop identified a number of short and medium term projects that could form the basis for on-going collaboration between the University of Bath and the various stakeholders. The event was multi-disciplinary - the workshop was attended by policy makers from various organisations and researchers working in mathematics, statistics, engineering, psychology and policy. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Enhancing the Future of Transport and Urban Infrastructure: How to engineer smart, sustainable and healthy cities? |
| Organisation | Oxford Brookes University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are partnering with Oxford to to run a 3 day virtual incubator. This incubator will bring together a diverse mix of PhD, Postdoc and more senior academics. We provided funding for the incubator via the Reimagining Recruitment project, guidelines for how it should be run, on-going support to the incubator organisers to help them run the incubator. The project team also attended the event. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The incubator will be run by in accordance with our guidelines. Oxford Brookes are recruiting a diverse mix of participants to attend the event and organised the speakers and the problems. They provided information about the participants attending for our research and facilitate access to the participants that are being interviewed as part of the wider study. |
| Impact | This virtual collaborative incubator workshop offers a three-day, hands-on event exploring real world problems in the research area of transport and urban infrastructure for smart, sustainable and healthy cities. It brings together a broad range of participants from academic, public policy and industry bodies to identify the barriers and opportunities in three main thematic areas, namely urban emissions, public transport and urban green spaces. Expert guest speakers will present the current state of the art and research gaps in subject areas such as ICE vehicle emissions, electric vehicles and battery technology, emission related health concerns and green city planning. Participants will collaborate to generate ideas that have potential to bridge gaps and improve the wellbeing of city inhabitants. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Growth and division in mathematics and medicine |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We partnered with UCL to run a 3 day collaborative incubator in mathematics and medicine. This incubator brought together a diverse mix of PhD, Postdoc and more senior academics. We provided funding for the incubator via the Reimagining Recruitment project, guidelines for how it should be run, on-going support to the incubator organisers to help them run the incubator. The project team also attended the event. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The incubator was run by UCL in accordance with our guidelines. They recruited a diverse mix of participants to attend the event and organised the speakers and the problems. They provided information about the participants attending for our research and facilitate access to the participants that are being interviewed as part of the wider study. |
| Impact | The collaboration led to a 3 day multidisciplinary workshop attended by 35 people. The workshop was run as a collaborative incubator and the feedback from the participants was generally really positive and met the project goals of running an inclusive event. The collaboration was multi-disciplinary - the workshop was attended by biologists, computer scientists, mathematicians and statisticians. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Light@Bath |
| Organisation | University of Bath |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We ran a two day incubator with the Physics department for researchers who work in photonics with those who use light in their research in order to exchange ideas, solve problems, and generate new research projects. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The incubator was run in accordance with our guidelines. They recruited a diverse mix of participants to attend the event and organised the speakers and the problems. They provided information about the participants attending for our research and facilitate access to the participants that are being interviewed as part of the wider study. |
| Impact | The output was a 2 day collaborative incubator attended by a diverse mix of around 30 participants. Proposals for short research projects were developed at the work shop. These resulted in 4 small grants being awarded as seed funding for a 12 month period. These grants are: 1) The FluoroFlex:Open, 3D printed fluorescence microscopy for cell imaging £3,000. 2) Hyperspectral endoscopy. £2,500. 3) Non-invasive assessment of topical bioavailability of dermatological drugs using optical fibres and Raman spectroscopy - £2,500. 4) Exeter Bath optical metamaterial knowledge transfer - £1000. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Mental Health Datathon |
| Organisation | Ulster University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are running a virtual Datathon with the School of Computing, Engineering and Intelligent Systems at Ulster University on the subject of mental health from 22-24 March 2021. This event will bring together academics at various career stages to work on problems associated with mental health and COVID-19, using the power of data science. The datathon is organised by experts in the fields of data science, computer science, engineering and psychology. We have provided grant funding of £15,000. We have provided guidance and support to the team organising the Datathon and will attend the event to provide support as needed. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Ulster have organised the event, including recruiting speakers and participants and will run the Datathon. |
| Impact | The collaboration is multi-disciplinary - computer science, maths and psychology. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | Microalgae and microtechnologies |
| Organisation | Heriot-Watt University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We are partnering with Heriott Watt to run a 3 day online collaborative incubator in Microalgae and microtechnologies. This incubator should take place in May 2021 and will bring together a diverse mix of PhD, Postdoc and more senior academics. We provided funding for the incubator via the Reimagining Recruitment project, on-going support and guidance for the incubator organiser, guidelines for how it should be run, on-going support to the incubator organisers to help them run the incubator. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The incubator will be organised by Heriott Watt including recruiting a diverse mix of participants to attend the event and organising the speakers and the problems. They will provide information about the participants attending for our research and facilitate access to the participants that are being interviewed as part of the wider study. |
| Impact | None yet. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Neuroscience Data Challenge |
| Organisation | University of Bristol |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We partnered with University of Bristol to run a 5 day collaborative incubator in neuroscience. This incubator brought together a diverse mix of PhD, Postdoc and more senior academics. We provided funding for the incubator via the Reimagining Recruitment project, guidelines for how it should be run, on-going support to the incubator organisers to help them run the incubator. The project team also attended the event. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The incubator was run by the University of Bristol. They recruited a diverse mix of participants to attend the event and organised the data challenges. They provided information about the participants attending for our research and facilitate access to the participants that are being interviewed as part of the wider study. |
| Impact | The collaboration led to a 5 day multidisciplinary workshop attended by 40 people. The workshop was run as a collaborative incubator and the feedback from the participants was generally really positive and met the project goals of running an inclusive event. The workshop lead reported that he will run similar events next year if he can get the funding as he saw real benefits for the PhD students in particular. The collaboration was multi-disciplinary - the workshop was attended by experimental neurosciences, computational neurosciences, mathematicians and statisticians. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Open hardware from academia |
| Organisation | University of Bath |
| Department | Department of Physics |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We partnered with University of Bath Physics department to run a 3 day collaborative incubator. The workshop brought together academics that already make their equipment designs Open Access, and others who are interested in learning more about the implications. The workshop was designed to encourage new collaborative hardware projects, and to foster a discussion about how to improve the academic impact of open science hardware. This incubator brought together a diverse mix of PhD, Postdoc and more senior academics, along with with legal and industry experts. We provided funding for the incubator via the Reimagining Recruitment project, guidelines for how it should be run to create a diverse and inclusive event, on-going support to the incubator organisers to help them run the incubator. The project team also attended the event. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The incubator was run by the physics department in accordance with our guidelines. They recruited a diverse mix of participants to attend the event and organised the speakers and the problems. They provided information about the participants attending for our research and facilitate access to the participants that are being interviewed as part of the wider study. |
| Impact | The University of Bath hosted "Open Hardware from Academia", an international workshop looking at open source hardware developed within academic institutes. The event brought together academics from all career stages alongside legal and industry experts to discuss topics in an inclusive environment. The workshop was run as an "incubator", with panel discussions to set the scene, and the majority of time in collaborative discussion sessions on topics identified by the participants. During the event, a number of topics were discussed including the legal aspects how hardware designs can be shared openly while still allowing companies to commercialise the results and build on the innovations, to the open source toolchain needed to make open source designs accessible to all. These discussions are ongoing and will form the basis for future collaborations. The workshop also had panel discussions to focus some of the discussion with participation from: • Javier Serrano - leader of the hardware and timing group at CERN • Adrian Bowyer MBE - founder of the RepRap project • Jenny Molloy - Shuttleworth fellow at the University of Cambridge • Alison Parker - Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars • Andrew Katz - Moorcrofts Corporate Law • David Beet - Commercialisation Officer, University of Bath The workshop was organised by the Bath Open Source Hardware group, including Dr Julian Stirling, Dr Joel Collins, and Dr Richard Bowman from Physics, and Dr Jérémy Bonvoisin, Rafaella Antoniou and Dr Pen-Yuan Hsing from Mechanical Engineering. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Probability meets biology |
| Organisation | University of Bath |
| Department | Department of Mathematical Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We ran a 5 day trailblazer collaborative incubator with the department of Mathematical Sciences at the University of Bath that explored issues at the interface between probability theory and biology. Participants worked in groups to formulate and solve problems. The workshop was attended by 45 academics at all career stages, who either work in probability theory and are interested in biological applications, or have interests in biological models that could have stochastic elements. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The incubator was run in accordance with our guidelines. They recruited a diverse mix of participants to attend the event and organised the speakers and the problems. They provided information about the participants attending for our research and facilitate access to the participants that are being interviewed as part of the wider study. |
| Impact | This was a multidisciplinary collaboration between mathematics, statistics and biology. The output was a 5 day collaborative incubator attended by a diverse mix of 45 participants. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Star formation across the universe |
| Organisation | University of Hertfordshire |
| Department | Centre for Astrophysics Research (CAR) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We partnered with University of Hertfordshire to run a 3 day collaborative incubator. This incubator brought together a diverse mix of PhD, Postdoc and more senior academics from largely separate research fields of galactic and extragalactic star formation, including observers and theorists. We provided funding for the incubator via the Reimagining Recruitment project, guidelines for how it should be run, on-going support to the incubator organisers to help them run the incubator. The project team also attended the event. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The incubator was run by the University of Hertfordshire in accordance with our guidelines. They recruited a diverse mix of participants to attend the event and organised the speakers and the problems. They provided information about the participants attending for our research and facilitate access to the participants that are being interviewed as part of the wider study. |
| Impact | The collaboration led to a 3 day multidisciplinary workshop attended by 60 people. The workshop was run as a collaborative incubator and the feedback from the participants was generally really positive and met the project goals of running an inclusive event. The collaboration was multi-disciplinary: the workshop was attended by researchers working in the largely separate research fields of galactic and extragalactic star formation, including observers and theorists. |
| Start Year | 2020 |
| Description | THE |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | We published a piece online with Times Higher Education discussing the finings of our research and pointing to our guidance documents. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.timeshighereducation.com/career/academic-workshops-how-we-build-back-better |