Northern Power: Making Engineering and Physical Sciences Research a Domain for All in the North of England
Lead Research Organisation:
Durham University
Department Name: Vice Chancellor's Office
Abstract
Our vision, as a consortium of nine Universities and six Industrial Partners, is to shape an actively inclusive culture in the Engineering and Physical Sciences (EPS) community that supports, drives and sustains greater equality for all, including traditionally under-represented groups (e.g., women, disabled people, LGBT+, and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) researchers). Having identified seven critical challenges to this vision (lack of role models; a leaky pipeline; inequity in opportunities; lack of synergy in initiatives; lack of understanding of barriers by some senior leaders; poor data; and poor analysis of progress), we outline six activities designed to address them: shared-characteristic mentoring; reverse mentoring; an on-line networking platform; leadership and networking development; collaboration with industry; better data capture; and better analysis. The critical feature of this bid is that we will pool opportunities and experience across our consortium to better meet the needs of groups underrepresented in EPS. As a result of this inclusive culture, a wider pool of talented individuals will be able to successfully progress within the EPS community and these resulting diverse perspectives will ultimately produce better science to address complex and important global challenges.
HEI partners: Durham University, Lancaster University, Leeds Beckett University, Newcastle University, Northumbria University, Teesside University, University of Huddersfield, University of Hull, and Leeds University.
Industrial Partners: Atom Bank, Stanley Black and Decker, IBM, GTN Ltd., Northumbrian Water Ltd. and SAGE.
Our consortium of nine HEIs, from a wide base but all based in the North of England, and six industrial partners, from a range of EPS-facing domains, are all committed to continuous improvement with regard to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in EPS. Our aim is to take a collaborative approach, drawing together resources, opportunities, experience and best practice to build a consolidated arena within which to influence change. By pooling our resources we will be able to meet the needs of groups under-represented in EPS more effectively.
By the end of the project we will have:
- a better understanding and awareness of the barriers and challenges facing under-represented groups within the EPS community.
- an assessment of interventions which aim to improve the representation of groups, currently under-represented within EPS. Critically this will also include a robust evaluation to understand the conditions under which things work well and don't work well for different communities.
- Our proposal is that these interventions will result in groups under-represented in EPS having: a greater willingness to act as mentors; a greater motivation to apply for promotion and grants; a desire to take on leadership roles; a great awareness of role models; a stronger sense of belonging within the North of England's EPS community, and the EPS community in general; and better links with industry.
- established and shared best practice with regard to developing inclusive EPS communities from HEIs and industry (and beyond) with HEIs, research councils, industry and policy makers through seminars, publications and an online platform.
- This will result in HEIs and industries sharing, changing and introducing policies to adopt this best practice.
Longer term legacy impact will be seen in: changes to practices (such as training) and policies within the consortium and beyond; establishment of best practice which will be disseminated so that other key stakeholders adopt it; a more inclusive environment within the EPS community, demonstrated by a more diverse staff and student base including within senior roles; and adoption of this best practice beyond the EPS community.
HEI partners: Durham University, Lancaster University, Leeds Beckett University, Newcastle University, Northumbria University, Teesside University, University of Huddersfield, University of Hull, and Leeds University.
Industrial Partners: Atom Bank, Stanley Black and Decker, IBM, GTN Ltd., Northumbrian Water Ltd. and SAGE.
Our consortium of nine HEIs, from a wide base but all based in the North of England, and six industrial partners, from a range of EPS-facing domains, are all committed to continuous improvement with regard to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in EPS. Our aim is to take a collaborative approach, drawing together resources, opportunities, experience and best practice to build a consolidated arena within which to influence change. By pooling our resources we will be able to meet the needs of groups under-represented in EPS more effectively.
By the end of the project we will have:
- a better understanding and awareness of the barriers and challenges facing under-represented groups within the EPS community.
- an assessment of interventions which aim to improve the representation of groups, currently under-represented within EPS. Critically this will also include a robust evaluation to understand the conditions under which things work well and don't work well for different communities.
- Our proposal is that these interventions will result in groups under-represented in EPS having: a greater willingness to act as mentors; a greater motivation to apply for promotion and grants; a desire to take on leadership roles; a great awareness of role models; a stronger sense of belonging within the North of England's EPS community, and the EPS community in general; and better links with industry.
- established and shared best practice with regard to developing inclusive EPS communities from HEIs and industry (and beyond) with HEIs, research councils, industry and policy makers through seminars, publications and an online platform.
- This will result in HEIs and industries sharing, changing and introducing policies to adopt this best practice.
Longer term legacy impact will be seen in: changes to practices (such as training) and policies within the consortium and beyond; establishment of best practice which will be disseminated so that other key stakeholders adopt it; a more inclusive environment within the EPS community, demonstrated by a more diverse staff and student base including within senior roles; and adoption of this best practice beyond the EPS community.
Planned Impact
The proposed initiative will have a significant impact across the engineering and physical sciences community and beyond. The proposed impact can be articulated as follows:
- Increased collaboration outside of one's institution: Dissemination and sharing of best practice through joint Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives. Established network of institutions and industry, as well as a programme of events and networking.
- Increased awareness of the challenges and opportunities faced by groups under-represented in EPS within the region: This will be achieved through cross-institutional networking, mentoring and through the dissemination and sharing of best practice.
- Increased proportion of female, BAME, disabled people and LGBT+ promotions: During this programme we will seek to increase the number of females and people from these wider under-represented groups willing to take on senior academic and leadership positions across the engineering and physical sciences (EPS) community.
- Increased opportunities: The online network will offer an inclusive platform which will provide for, and engage with, people with different learning preferences, highlighting opportunities across institutions, including EPS-focused seminars and support for collaborative funding bids.
- Diverse staff and student community: This initiative will provide a supportive and inclusive environment through mentoring where staff will be empowered, by promoting innovation and leadership.
- Culture change: We will aim to shape an actively inclusive culture in the EPS community (academic and beyond) through a consolidated arena within which to influence change. We will measure this activity and provide a detailed report that will be published, outlining what impact each element of this initiative has had on improving EDI within the EPS. Successful pilots delivered within this could be rolled out to wider EDI work across UKRI.
It is critical that this short-term investment has a legacy which supports long-term cultural change most notably for the HEIs and Industrial Partners involved in this bid, but also beyond. We intend to do this by joining with the other successful bids within the EPSRC's Inclusion Matters Call, along with the EPSRC itself. Having this capacity of work across the 'Inclusion Matters' Call which supports the EDI strategic objectives allows for an effective engagement with significant stakeholders including: learned societies, other research councils and funders, other industrial partners, and policy makers.
Longer term legacy impact will be seen in: changes to practices (such as training) and policies within the consortium and beyond; establishment of best practice which will be disseminated through a variety of methods, so that other key stakeholders will be able to adopt it; a more inclusive environment within the EPS community, demonstrated by a more diverse staff and student base including within senior roles, grant capture across a diverse community, and adoption of this best practice beyond the EPS community.
- Increased collaboration outside of one's institution: Dissemination and sharing of best practice through joint Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives. Established network of institutions and industry, as well as a programme of events and networking.
- Increased awareness of the challenges and opportunities faced by groups under-represented in EPS within the region: This will be achieved through cross-institutional networking, mentoring and through the dissemination and sharing of best practice.
- Increased proportion of female, BAME, disabled people and LGBT+ promotions: During this programme we will seek to increase the number of females and people from these wider under-represented groups willing to take on senior academic and leadership positions across the engineering and physical sciences (EPS) community.
- Increased opportunities: The online network will offer an inclusive platform which will provide for, and engage with, people with different learning preferences, highlighting opportunities across institutions, including EPS-focused seminars and support for collaborative funding bids.
- Diverse staff and student community: This initiative will provide a supportive and inclusive environment through mentoring where staff will be empowered, by promoting innovation and leadership.
- Culture change: We will aim to shape an actively inclusive culture in the EPS community (academic and beyond) through a consolidated arena within which to influence change. We will measure this activity and provide a detailed report that will be published, outlining what impact each element of this initiative has had on improving EDI within the EPS. Successful pilots delivered within this could be rolled out to wider EDI work across UKRI.
It is critical that this short-term investment has a legacy which supports long-term cultural change most notably for the HEIs and Industrial Partners involved in this bid, but also beyond. We intend to do this by joining with the other successful bids within the EPSRC's Inclusion Matters Call, along with the EPSRC itself. Having this capacity of work across the 'Inclusion Matters' Call which supports the EDI strategic objectives allows for an effective engagement with significant stakeholders including: learned societies, other research councils and funders, other industrial partners, and policy makers.
Longer term legacy impact will be seen in: changes to practices (such as training) and policies within the consortium and beyond; establishment of best practice which will be disseminated through a variety of methods, so that other key stakeholders will be able to adopt it; a more inclusive environment within the EPS community, demonstrated by a more diverse staff and student base including within senior roles, grant capture across a diverse community, and adoption of this best practice beyond the EPS community.
Publications
Robert Adams
(2019)
Platform Administration User Guide
Work Package 6 - Evaluation Team
(2019)
Northern Power: Making Engineering and Physical Sciences Research a Domain for All in the North of England: Best Practice Literature Review
Title | WP1 - Mentoring Training Course |
Description | Online mentoring course comprising 12 training videos 1 mentoring guide handbook, taxonomy, quizzes, resource links and 12 self assessment activities |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Impact | currently in sue to be reviewed at the end of the project. |
URL | https://northernpowerinclusion.com/course/view.php?id=3 |
Description | Overview 1. The Northern Power Inclusion Matters programme took place between September 2019 and June 2021 and included six strands of activities within the time period of the evaluation (which completed data collection in February 2021). These activities included: Shared Characteristics Mentoring; Reciprocal Mentoring; Online Platform; Academic Networking; and two University-Industry Collaboration activities. A Leadership Development activity was also scheduled for after the end of the evaluation period. Full details of the activities can be found in the Northern Power Inclusion Matters Practitioner Toolkit (https://doi.org/10.15128/r1gf06g267h). An interactive version of the Toolkit can be found at https://northernpowerinclusiontoolkit.org. 2. One-hundred and seven applications were received to the Northern Power Inclusion Matters programme with 102 participants being offered a place on the programme. By the end of the evaluation period, 78 people had participated on one or more activities on the programme. Staff from all but one partner HEI took part in the programme, along with participation from staff at five industry partners. Two-thirds of participants took part in one activity on the programme with a third participating in two or more activities. 3. The programme aimed to work with early career scientists and engineers, seeking to support, drive and sustain greater equality for all, including traditionally under-represented groups (e.g., women, disabled people, LGBT+, and black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) researchers). The project met this aim, with participants from a broad range of under-represented backgrounds taking part and 70% of participants providing information on their personal characteristics. 4. Participants' reasons for wishing to take part were varied but aligned with the aims of the programme. Participants were interested in hearing from colleagues in similar situations relating to balancing work with caring responsibilities; staff with a disability wanted to understand and seek advice in relation to progression and promotion; many staff were aiming to increase their confidence; others wished to share their own experience or to drive change in relation to EDI; and several indicated that they wished to help others by passing on information or being a role model. In addition, participants also stated their desire to take part in the specific activities being offered by the programme. Impact for participants from taking part in the Northern Power Inclusion Matters programme 5. Due to the overall timescale of the project and the postponement of several activities until later in the programme timeline, it was too early for many of the participants to have been able to enact advice they received to support submission of applications for promotion, senior leadership or grants. It will therefore be necessary to wait to see whether the activity supports successful applications for promotion, senior leadership positions and grants in the future. 6. Participants described barriers or challenges they had encountered in being able to participate in activities or to act on advice they received during the programme. Time and Covid-19 (especially relating to workload, home working, limited social interaction and recruitment freezes) were the main challenges described by participants. 7. Of the 27 participants that responded to the end of programme survey question (and for whom submitting an application for promotion was relevant), 14 considered that participating in the programme had already, or would help them in the preparation of an application/nomination for promotion in the future. Fifteen out of the 31 participants that completed the end of programme survey question (and for whom applying for promotion was applicable) reported that participating in the programme had increased their confidence to apply for promotion, with a further 15 reporting it had led to no change in their confidence. It is important to note that these are self-reported responses in the end of programme survey and are not an independent measure of confidence change. 8. Overall, of the 28 participants that responded to the end of programme survey question (and for whom submitting an application was relevant), 17 considered that participating in the programme had already, or would help them in the submission of an application for senior leadership in the future. Sixteen of the 31 participants that that had completed the end of programme survey question (and for whom applying for a senior leadership position was relevant) felt that the programme had increased their confidence to submit an application for a senior leadership with 14 participants feeling that it had led to no change. 9. Of the 30 participants that responded to the end of programme survey question (and for whom submitting a funding application was relevant), 14 considered that participating in the programme had already, or would help them in the submission of an application for a grant/fellowship/scholarship/award where they were Principal Investigator (PI) in the future. Thirteen of the 29 participants that responded to the end of programme survey question (and for whom the question was relevant) reported that they felt their participation in the programme had increased their confidence to submit a funding application as PI in the next year, with 16 participants reporting that it had made no change to their confidence. In relation to submitting an application as a Co-I in the next year, 15 participants reported that it had increased their confidence to submit an application as a Co-I, with 14 reporting no change. 10. Although participants on the programme reported their intentions to change their own practice to be more aware of EDI issues and to actively improve their practice in this area, Early Career Participants (ECPs) did not consider that they could change wider practice within their institution. Perceived barriers to being able to do this included: organisational resistance and reluctance to change; large organisations being hard to change; the scale of the changes required; and the position of the ECPs not being one which had influence. Senior mentors on the Reciprocal Mentoring activity considered that Reciprocal Mentoring may be a useful mechanism to include within their organisations to gather the views and experiences of ECPs. This may therefore, be one mechanism to enable ECPs to have more influence at an institutional level. Impact for HEIs from taking part in the Northern Power Inclusion Matters programme 11. Participating HEIs reported that the project had already led to changes in practices within their institutions. These changes included modifications and additions to training provision, reviews of practice within the institution and collaborative bidding for research funding and doctoral training programmes. The changes in practice focussed on areas where senior leaders involved with the project had influence and the ability to implement change. HEIs reported that participation in the project had not yet reached a stage of impacting on policy. Where policies had changed during the period of the project, these changes were already in the pipeline before the start of the project. This finding is not unexpected, as it usually takes several years to change policies within HEIs. |
Exploitation Route | Durham - IAA funding Mentoring Scheme - mentoring scheme designed from outputs of Inclusion Matters Practitioner Toolkit OfS BAME PGR Students grant (£800k awarded 4 year regional project) - Mentoring schemes bid designed from outputs of Inclusion Matters Practitioner Toolkit. Supergen work on adopting mentoring schemes within their network. Assets registered here https://www.edi-resourcebank.co.uk/ |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Education |
URL | https://collections.durham.ac.uk/files/r1j098zb14w#.YjINu4_P0sU |
Description | The findings of this research have contributed to the design of other projects with 2 having successfully bid for and secured funding. |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Education |
Title | Privacy Notices, Participant Information Sheets and Agreements - all workstream activities |
Description | Participant documentation for each workstream activity. Privacy Notices, Participant information Sheets, Participant Agreements. |
Type Of Material | Data handling & control |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | This project involves collection of personal and special category data. The documentation ensures GDPR compliance and ensures that participants are fully informed when giving agreement to participate. Documents are accessible online in the project website. |
URL | https://northernpowerinclusion.org/shared-characteristics-mentoring/ |
Description | Collaboration Meeting 06 February with STEM Equals |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | STEM Equals / Northern Power collaboration and partnership engagement 6th February 2o20 identify collaboration opportunities, to capture, exchange practice between institutions and projects, facilitate partnership working to embed good practice across institutions |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Inclusion Matters workpackage 5 - on-line coaching sessions, Communicating with industry to initiate collaboration |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Series of on-line coaching sessions (2 x 90 mins per participant) for 36 participants from EDI groups exploring and developing participants strategies for initiating engagment with potential industrial collaborators. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Inclusion Matters Workshop 1 - 20 March 2019 Swindon |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Other audiences |
Results and Impact | Wider dissemination of the project with other EPSRC projects - Poster and engagement sessions with stakeholders (led by Rachel Archbold) to discuss projects aims, identify shared interests and establish networks and collaborations on shared activity (Reciprocal mentoring) to maximise impact. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Inclusion Matters Workshop 2 - 13.2.2020 Edgbaston Birmingham |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Wider dissemination of project with stakeholders, presentation on project progression, engagement with partners through break out sessions to facilitate information sharing across institutions on activities including web platform, industrial collaboration and Reciprocal Mentoring |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Inclusion Matters work package 5; EDI in Engineering & Physical Sciences Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Attendees; 19 study participants plus 9 industrial collaborators Outline content; Personal Stories, Imposter Syndrome, EDI Data, Role of Privilege, Active Bystander. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Inclusion Matters work package 5; Understanding Personal Branding for Academics Workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Attendees; 16, inc four non-academic speakers Outline; Understanding Personal Branding for Academics Workshop Personal Branding, Branding as a Component of Career Adaptability, Presenting a Brand and Branding a Research Profile. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Inclusion Matters workpackage 5 online workshop - Collaborating with Industry, Experience, strategy and guidance |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Facilitated workshop for researchers from underrepresented EDI groups where the lived experiences of an established researcher from an underreprested group were used to illustrate strategy and give guidance. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
Description | Inclusion, Diversity and Equality; Advancing a culture of excellence in Higher Education - 08 February 2019 Huddersfield |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Presentation on the Project by Claire Warwick. EDI event. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.evensi.uk/inclusion-diversity-equity-advancing-culture-excellence-higher-education-unive... |
Description | Launch Event - 24 September 2019 (HEI and Industy partners) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | The event was staged to formally launch participant recruitment to the project and drive engagement across all the University and Industry partners. Around 65 participants attended, including project participants from under-represented groups, and people in leadership roles and Equality and Diversity leads across the piece. Advisory Board members were also in attendance. There were presentations from key speakers around EDI in HEIs and Industry. and an exhibition area where workpackage leads showcased the various activities in the project and encouraged sign up from the various participant groups. The event was hosted at Siemens Gamesa in Newcastle. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.dur.ac.uk/equality.diversity/inclusionmatters/imlaunchevent/ |
Description | Monthly Project Newsletters - electronic circulation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Monthly project Newsletters. These are a communication channel to all involved in the project and for wider circulation across partner organisations. Content includes project progress reports from all workstreams, publicising upcoming events, features on Workstream teams, need to know information. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
Description | Online Networking Platform |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Development of the Online Platform for the project which acts as a hub and supports the delivery of the 'Online Networking' objective in the project. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
URL | https://northernpowerinclusion.com/login/index.php |
Description | Project Website |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
Results and Impact | Project website promoting the activities and providing a link to the Online Survey Registration. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://northernpowerinclusion.org/ |
Description | STEMM Change - Annual Conference. 14 November 2019, London |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Royal Society of Chemistry London - presentation on Northern Power activity, focus on Reciprocal Mentoring activity and approach. Dissemination of information to partners and wider representatives from across EPSRC community and associated research institutions. Demonstration of the Project Platform. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
URL | https://www.stemm-change.co.uk/events/ |