About this submission

This submission is made by Chris Sims, Deputy Director of the University of Nottingham Institute for Policy and Engagement, on behalf of the University of Nottingham, and draws on both our research expertise and our experience as a major employer in the STEM sector. More details about the University’s approach to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion can be found on our EDI webpages.

We would like to highlight two relevant University of Nottingham initiatives:

Our STEMM-Change Programme, a multi-disciplinary research programme that aims to enable a step change in approaches to equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace. STEMM-Change is a consortium-based project funded by the UKRI’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s Inclusion Matters portfolio, a £5.5 million national investment to increase equality, diversity and inclusion across industry and academia. Key insights from STEMM-Change are highlighted in the response below.
Our EDI Resource Bank, a new, open-access database which brings together materials to help those engaging in equality, diversity and inclusion work in Higher Education.

If required, the University would be happy to provide oral evidence to the committee members to explore the issues presented here in more depth.

Responses to specific questions

1. The nature or extent to which women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds are underrepresented in STEM in academia and industry

Our answer here relates to the workforce at the University of Nottingham. The University produces annual Diversity Data Reports for both its staff and student populations and collects faculty-specific data. The figures here are taken from the most recent iteration of this data, published in 2020.

Key points

In terms of gender, women are under-represented in Science and (particularly) Engineering, but well-represented in Medicine & Health Sciences. Women continue to be underrepresented at senior levels, though this is improving.
In terms of ethnicity, there is a complex picture with significant variation between specific ethnic groups. Generally, there is under-representation of Black and Black British people across all STEM areas and especially at senior levels.
In terms of disability, the University workforce has a lower proportion of people with declared disabilities than the population at large, and this is somewhat lower still in the main STEM faculties. There are relatively few staff with disabilities in clinical and medical roles in particular. The University is taking steps to address this, including its recently-launched Toolkit for Supporting Disabled Staff and the Reasonable Adjustments Passport.

2. The reasons why these groups are underrepresented

A combination of factors causes these groups to be underrepresented including, but not limited to, discrimination, the lack of part-time and or flexible working arrangements, prevalence of health conditions including mental health and inadequate support to overcome the barriers they present, as well and communication barriers in recruitment and more broadly.

Research Evidence: Exclusion in Recruitment

A recent STEMM-Change research project, Changing the Language of Exclusion in STEMM Recruitment, led by the University of Nottingham, focused on improving communications in recruitment materials in STEMM. The research identified systemic barriers to diversity and inclusion in recruitment, which cause significant knock-on effects when attempting to recruit diverse and inclusive STEMM workforces. Its key recommendations for recruiters are as follows:

Place diversity & inclusion content throughout all parts of recruitment materials, especially in places where these are not seen currently (e.g., essential criteria, person specifications). It is crucial to avoid just putting these in the final lines of any advertisement or recruitment text to avoid tokenism.
Avoid relying on statements of legal compliance for D&I to avoid tokenism, and instead include more statements of encouragement and statements of role criteria.
With statements of affiliation, improve their effectiveness by creating versions which convey explicit acknowledgement that workforce diversity leads to more productive environments, has economic advantages, and/or improves quality of service offered. For example:
With statements of encouragement, use them to target prospective applicants that would fill diversity gaps in existing workforce.
Include more statements of role criteria which clearly include an explicit commitment to D&I as an essential part of the role
Build on existing D&I language by including modifications to improve inclusiveness.
Essential criteria should be communicated in the most unbiased way, whilst still specifying the key skills needed to perform the role with maximum effect. These criteria should be conveyed:

Without vagueness
Without hyperbole
Without the use of stereotypical metaphors
Without the inclusion of any dominant worldviews

Technical staff, diversity and inclusion

Technical staff are a key group within the STEM sector whose needs and experiences are not always considered. Recent research from the STEMM-Change Programme explored technical staff’s experiences during the pandemic and drew out six key areas where the pandemic had exposed EDI issues that are especially acute for technical staff:

Flexibility and work-life balance. Most participants reported working from home at least part-time during the pandemic, particularly during the first lockdown. They also reported that they had worked flexibly, often working non-core hours around other commitments. Benefits have included improved work-life balance, better mental health and increased work productivity. While the majority were keen to return to site, many hope to continue working from home at certain times during the week/where possible and/or expressed the desire to work more flexible hours, based on their positive experiences since March 2020.
Communication. Workplace communication practices changed suddenly without opportunities for planning or consultation during the pandemic, with significantly increased use of digital technology. Just over half of participants in the data reported feeling excluded or marginalised by communication problems. These have included the following issues: changes in team interactions, sometimes leading to miscommunication and a lack of information from those in positions of authority; breaks in chains that typically allowed key information to ‘trickle down’; changes in working relationships have led to some technicians feeling more valued, whilst others have had negative experiences regarding the way they have been spoken to, particularly by academics.
Ethnicity. Five participants observed increased Sinophobia towards people from Chinese ethnic backgrounds, as a direct consequence of the pandemic, witnessed in public spaces and at times on campuses. Another five participants raised concerns about return-to-work risk assessments of people from BAME communities.
Mental health. Numerous participants were impressed by employers’ efforts to support the mental health of the staff community both before and during the pandemic. Just over half of all participants reported mental health problems principally relating to social isolation, changed working practices, guilt about not being able to work effectively and anxiety about return to work and possible job losses. 12 respondents reported frustrations that the available institutional support was not filtering down through senior and middle management to help them.
Parenting. Whilst only six participants in our data sample reported long-standing parenting issues prior to the pandemic, school and nursery closures led to 36 participants observing that parents were struggling to balance work and childcare responsibilities. Several women reported that they have shouldered the greatest burden of childcare and home-schooling during lockdown, often because they have a male partner whose workplace was self-described as being less flexible.
Disability. A third of respondents noted that colleagues were absent from site due to shielding requirements. There were concerns that staff have experienced a loss of privacy as their medical conditions had become more widely known. Seven participants reported that they or their colleagues felt they had been unfairly excluded from the workplace when employers prevented them from working on-site because of perceived risks to their health. Six participants also reported negative attitudes amongst some line managers and colleagues towards those who were shielding.

The impact of Covid-19 on EDI in the Higher Education sector

In April, our then Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, Professor Sarah Sharples, contributed to the Women & Equalities Committee’s Inquiry on the impact of Covid-19 on people with protected characteristics. As this submission focused on the impact on the workforce in Higher Education, we include here a summary of its key findings with regards to specific protected characteristics.

Gender and Care responsibilities: The rapid move to home working, alongside the closure of schools, nursery and respite care, places a particular challenge on staff and students who have care responsibilities, who are disproportionately women. The short-term impact of this is stress, anxiety and mental health, as parents must balance delivery of work tasks and care/schooling for children. This is particularly acute for those who are single parents, whose partners are key workers, or who have disabilities. Whilst the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) did allow for those with care responsibilities to request to be furloughed, many staff within the HE sector are paid through public funds, and are therefore were ineligible for the CJRS. Therefore, those with care responsibilities will be less able to produce key outputs that aid career progression in Higher Education, or proposals to obtain research funding. This will be reflected in slowed progress in closing the gender pay gap within academia. Students with care responsibilities may be less able to focus on their studies, resulting in poorer performance in degree outcomes, and lower success in the job market.
Race and Ethnicity: Key issues include the increased likelihood of BAME students and staff living in crowded homes, making it harder to identify a quiet space to work or study, and rates of poverty amongst BAME communities that are double that of white people. We are already aware that there is a significant BAME degree awarding gap and there is an increased spotlight on the ethnicity pay gap. Progress in closing both of these gaps may well be slowed as a result of Covid-19. We will also slow progress in representation of BAME staff in senior roles in Universities.
Religion: Religion provides a key social and support function for many staff and students, particularly those who are international and away from their friends and families. At UoN our faith space also provides an important place of retreat and reflection for all students and staff, of any faith, and no faith. Staff and students from religious backgrounds have had challenges in engaging in key annual festivals, such as Passover, Easter and Iftar since the onset of the pandemic. Whilst many religious groups are showing great innovation through delivery of online worship and faith, the absence of physical gatherings and community associated with faith organisations will bring a negative impact on mental health and wellbeing.
LGBTQ+: A key factor in supporting LGBTQ+ staff and students is to enable them to be able to bring their ‘whole self’ to work and study – to feel comfortable being open about their identity and relationships and be able to play a full part in University life. LGBTQ+ staff and student colleagues may be more likely to experience isolation, and challenges with their mental health. This may particularly be the case for staff and students who are from cultures or background which are less accepting of LGBTQ+ people, where individuals may feel that they need to conceal their sexual orientation. The impact of this will be likely to be reflected in performance in work and study, as well as personal impact on health and wellbeing.
Disability and Temporary impairment: Whilst for some with disabilities, the move to home working has actually alleviated some of the challenges that are normally associated with full engagement in University work and life, for others, specific challenges are faced. This may include lack of access to specialist equipment or teams who normally support their work or study, along with an increased feeling of isolation, particularly if their disability affects their ability to engage with online communications. In addition, disabled individuals may be more likely to be required to shield, and thus may be unable to fully participate in University life for a longer period than those who do not hold disabilities. They may also be finding it harder than usual to access support from health and social care, which could have a short- and long-term impact on their health and wellbeing.
Socio-economic background: Those from a less affluent socio-economic background will find it harder to find a quiet space to work or study at home and will have less effective access to digital technologies and broadband, which may make them less able to engage fully in work. This will be reflected in slower academic progression for those from disadvantaged households and low participation neighbourhoods and may also present challenges for access to University from these groups, as students with less ability to study remotely may feel anxious about progressing to Higher Education under the current circumstances.

3. The implications of these groups being underrepresented in STEM roles in academia and industry

The research investigations of the STEMM Change project team, led by the University of Nottingham, found that both academia and industry are missing out on a significant talent pool by their failure to diversify their workforces in STEM. McKinsey & Co (2021) have consistently reported that organisations across sectors, including STEM, are more profitable and have much greater staff retention and increased levels of staff well-being, also leading to economic savings through fewer workdays lost, than those organisations which do not have diverse workplace groups. The lack of diversity in STEMM thus results in an inability to take advantage of increased economic productivity that more diverse teams bring. Under-representation of groups and an inability to commit to producing more inclusive workplace groups and cultures results in a loss of innovative ideas and creativity.

The STEMM Change research, along with the views of members of the public taken from social media interactions, show that the prototypical view of a ‘scientist’ is of a white middle-class man. Women, particularly those from non-traditional ethnic groups and lower socio-economic backgrounds, are subject to damaging negative evaluation and judgement, with their scientific authority consistently questioned and their views and presence marginalised, both within their own workplaces and also in more prominent public spaces, such as the mass media. This under-representation and lack of inclusive workplace groups also means that there are not enough mentors or role models in place to help others successfully break through into inhospitable workplace cultures, as well as making it more difficult to provide a more diverse pipeline of university graduates. Those that do make it through and establish themselves in STEM careers are often seen as ‘interlopers’, as not legitimately belonging to a workplace culture that continues to reproduce itself by appointing and promoting people that are most like the dominant group.

Excluding these groups limits their individual opportunities as well as depriving academia and industry of the contributions they could make.. A diversity of views, life experiences and approaches enrich decision-making throughout an organisation. Without a workforce reflective of the society in which we live, outcomes across the board will suffer as well as the opportunities for career development that are taken from the excluded individuals.

4. What has been done to address underrepresentation of particular groups in STEM roles?

Actions by the University of Nottingham

The University also research initiatives which specifically target underrepresented groups in STEM roles, such as the Anne McLaren Fellowships. Within our promotions processes we use several interventions to ensure that all staff can progress. Firstly, we ensure that we provide a clear framework to guide applications, highlighting the importance of commitment to academic service and collegiality, as well as the activities relating to teaching and to research. We also ask all applicants to specifically report any factors which should be considered when reviewing their application, for all aspects of EDI. This includes consideration of impact of care responsibilities and part time working, limitations on travel for LGBTQ+ colleagues, and impact of disability on work activities.

5. What could and should be done by the UK Government, UK Research and Innovation, other funding bodies, industry and academia to address the issues identified?

We have three key recommendations:

Recruitment

Based on the recommendations outlined above for recruitment language in STEMM, we believe there is a strong case to develop a sector-wide set of evidence-based communication principles around recruitment issues.

Reverse mentoring

The STEMM Change project is also contributing to the understanding of reverse mentoring for inclusion. We believe this offers a model for the wider STEM sector. Our definition of reverse mentoring is when a person with less (perceived) power, in a more disadvantaged position, from an underrepresented, marginalised or oppressed group mentors someone in a more powerful, less disadvantaged position/group.

In this project, STEMM staff with a range of protected characteristics and staff who are underrepresented in STEMM in HE are reverse mentoring University STEM leaders. Early lessons from the evaluation of the first two cohorts suggest that these relationships are enhancing the cultural competence and cultural humility of University leaders. The impact has been organisational action by leaders and managers such as re-visiting and challenging structures, policies, procedures and behaviours that might be perpetuating the lack of diversity in STEMM.

Our findings suggest that this is driving staff and leaders to partner to reset culture in STEMM Schools. Previously, reverse mentoring for inclusion and antidiscrimination has been under-theorised and under-researched. Our project is adding to the body of knowledge and practice on reverse mentoring for inclusion.

In addition to supporting other HE institutions to implement reverse mentoring, University of Nottingham staff have supported 23 NHS and Social care providers and arms-length bodies to initiate revere mentoring programmes, demonstrating further impact of this project through diffusion and knowledge exchange beyond the HE sector.

More information on reverse mentoring is available here.

Pandemic response

There will be staff and students whose career trajectories have been significantly impacted by the disruption due to Covid. To ensure that efforts towards ensuring diversity in STEM stay on track, we would encourage research funders to consider how best funding can be provided to support those who have significantly affected. Example interventions could include an uplift to funding for fellowships, which provide a strong foundation for early career researchers, or a specific scheme for all career stages which is targeted at those who have been significantly impacted.

One key finding from our research into technical staff experiences during the pandemic is that the ability to genuinely work flexibly can make a significant difference to diversifying workforces.

This is one of the positive lessons of Covid-19. Many staff who have been previously denied the opportunity to work flexible hours and/or work from home were suddenly forced to do so. This would have taken years to implement as a cultural change, but Covid-19 forced this to happen overnight.

The long-term Diversity and Inclusion impacts have the potential to be positive here, especially in terms of diversifying gender in the STEMM workplace.

(January 2022)