Written Evidence Submitted by

The School of Life Sciences and Warwick Medical School, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine, University of Warwick

(DIV0067)

Contributors:

School of Life Science (SLS)1: Beatriz Lagunas, Leanne Williams, Philip Young, Johannes Boltze2

Warwick Medical School (WMS)1: Ramat Ayoola (UG3,4), George Bouliotis, Emily Chick (UG3), Paramjit Gill, Sarah Hilman, Adele Kenny, Jane Hodge, Kate Owen, Kate Seers, Charlotte Simms (UG3), Olanrewaju Sorinola4, Claire McDonald, Kirstie Haywood2

Note: 1. All authors are presented alphabetically; 2. Boltze and Haywood are Chairs of the SLS and WMS ED&I/Athena SWAN committees, respectively; 3. UG – Student representatives (WMS MBChB) and chairs of the BME (Ayoola), Disability (Chick), and MBChB Athena SWAN sub-groups (Simms); 4. Sorinola and Ayoola are co-chairs of the Attainment Gap Committee.

Summary:

This document provides comprehensive joint feedback in response to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Diversity in STEM inquiry from the School of Life Sciences and Warwick Medical School, both within the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, University of Warwick. We conducted an analysis of student and staff populations in both schools and had a closer look at disparities and potential reasons for those among both schools. We also collected individual feedback from staff.

Our investigation shows that there is indeed disparity in gender and ethnicity representation, in particular in senior roles (e.g., on the professorial level). Although some improvement was seen in recent years for which we could rely on existing data, a significant disparity remains for both gender and ethnicity. Interestingly, this disparity is larger than the representation of females or ethnic minorities in student populations may suggest. This suggests that factors contributing to disparity come into effect at later stages of the career, for instance the postdoctoral level or at more senior clinical levels and may require specific action. We also need to improve support for some underrepresented student subgroups as there are minor yet statistically significant differences in attainment. We finally collected examples for actions aiming to reduce any representation disparity in both schools, and identified gaps for future actions on school, university, and nation-wide level, and discussed their potential impact along with suggestions how they could be implemented. Those activities should address the following main points:

• lowering entrance hurdles for all students, including those from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds, and providing tailored support for underrepresented ethnic minority groups
• increasing the representation of women and people from ethnic minorities in senior academic roles to decrease disparity and to provide a more diverse role model and mentor population for students
• identification of additional measures to support women, people form ethnic minorities and those people with caring responsibilities to progress into senior academic roles

Although our data may include specifics related to the nature of the science conducted and education being provided in both departments and could differ significantly from data obtained, for instance in schools of engineering or physics, we are happy to provide comprehensive feedback. More detailed analyses are required in the future to investigate additional aspects that may contribute to representation disparities in STEM subjects. Both local (university-driven) and nation-wide programs are needed to overcome such disparities.    

0. Preamble

This document provides joint feedback to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee from the School of Life Science (SLS) and the Warwick Medical School (WMS) at the University of Warwick. Both departments belong to the University of Warwick Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine and are jointly situated on the university’s Gibbet Hill Campus. SLS and WMS have a comparable structure and a similar composition of staff and student populations. The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) committees of both departments therefore decided to work together to share resources and to achieve optimal impact of its action promoting, improving, and maintaining EDI activities.

Given the relative short time available for the feedback and the temporal vicinity of the Christmas break period, both EDI committees decided to work together on this activity to provide a well-rounded and multi-facetted feedback. This comprises quantitative data as well as individual, anecdotal feedback we received from our communities. It should be noted that not all analyses could be executed to the optimal depth and detail due to the limited time being available. Nevertheless, we hope that this feedback is valuable for the work of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. We are more than happy to answer any question arising from our feedback, at any time.

1. Introduction

In December 2021, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee published a call for evidence from UK universities. The call noted that there is evidence suggesting that women, people from certain ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and those from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds are underrepresented in education, training and employment related to STEM. This problem must be tackled because diversity is needed among the research community to maintain the UK’s position as a leading global player in research and development.

Thus, the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee is seeking feedback from the community addressing any or all of the following topics / 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;  
2. the reasons why these groups are under-represented;  
3. the implications of these groups being under-represented in STEM roles in academia and industry;  
4. what has been done to address under-representation of particular groups in STEM roles; and  
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.  

2. Methodology

2.1 Student undergraduate attainment analysis

Data have been derived from a continuous running attainment analysis SLS’ and WMS’ MBChB undergraduate (UG) student community. Of note, WMS is the largest graduate-entry medical school in the UK. Our four-year intensive medical degree programme is strategically important in addressing the current shortfall of medical doctors, providing an alternative route into medicine. As a graduate entry school, we also have larger numbers of students with parental and other caring responsibilities. We are aware that many of these students have significant financial hardship. The NHS bursary has not increased for the several years and many students need to work alongside a full-time medical degree. This has significant impact on mental health and students may need to take time out of the course to allow them to finance further years of study. 

Data represents student attainment (SLS: final grade; WMS: graduating with MBChB +/- award of honours) when graduating in the years 2018 to 2021. Final grade has been analysed regarding gender (please note: only binary information, female/male, was available at the time point of analysis), existence of a registered disability, and ethnicity (please note: only data on the following ethnical backgrounds were available: white, South Asian, East Asian, black).

• For SLS: The analysed readout was the final grade, presented as a percentage. An upper second (2.1) starts at 62%. Data from 793 students form all degree streams (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/lifesci/study/ug/courses/) were available.

• For WMS MBChB: Graduating students receive a Bachelors of Medicine and Surgery. The final degree is unclassified. Awards with honours are based on a criteria determined by the Board of Examiners. https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/study/ugr/why/courseinfo/structure/elements/assessment/

2.2 Staff structure analysis

Composition of staff structure with respect to role and gender, limited to binary female/non-female analysis, was performed on anonymised staff data representing staff structure on July 31st, for the years 2018 to 2021. A basic analysis of ethnicity was performed, limited to binary white/non-white classification. Although more diverse data is available, the binary analysis was required to strictly maintain the anonymous character of the data analysis as the small size of some included groups on the school level may otherwise have allowed conclusions about individuals’ identity. For SLS analyses, comparable data was obtained for the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine to which SLS, and WMS belong. For WMS, comparison was made with HESA data.

2.3 SLS and WMS community feedback

In addition, anecdotal evidence has been collected from the SLS and WMS communities and is presented separately. It comprises anonymised personal opinions from academic staff.

3. Results

3.1 School of Life Sciences (SLS)

3.1.1 SLS Student UG attainment analysis

This data provides a basic insight into student attainment (final grade) when graduating for the University of Warwick SLS during the period of 2018 to 2021. It is of particular relevance for questions 1 and, partly 3 and 5 of the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. Data is summarised in Figure 1.

There were substantially more female (n=534) than male students (n=269) graduating in the assessed years. Female students graduated slightly better than male students (p<0.0005; Fig. 1A).  There was no difference between students without (n=705) and with registered disabilities (n=88, p=0.85; Fig. 1B) in this analysis. A slight yet statistically significant difference was seen between final grades of white students (n=487) versus East Asian (n=61, p<0.0001), South Asian (n=168, p=0.006) and black students (n=77, p=0.0005).

3.1.2 SLS Staff structure analysis

The results of the SLS staff structure analysis are provided in Tables 1 to 2. Table 1 summarises the analysis regarding gender, Table 2 provides data regarding ethnicity.

At SLS, no conclusions could be made at the apprentice level (n=0) although a disparity in female versus non-female people became evident in this group. Despite a slight increase, >85% of people were still non-female in 2021. There was a better representation of females in professional services (levels 1a to 5), with 60.7% of female members in this group in SLS in 2021 (58.1% at Faculty level). There was also an increase compared to 2020. An increase of female members in professional services (levels 6 to 9) from 2020 to 2021 was observed, to 50.8% of females in 2021. Although an increase was also observed at the faculty level, just 44.1% of members in this category were female. When the job categories at professional services levels 6 to 9 are split by level, a drop between the postdoc and the PI level is observed: from 50% female representation to 20% (data  not shown).

Table 1. SLS and Faculty staff analysis regarding gender (binary only)

Non-white members of staff were clearly underrepresented in all roles both at the school (SLS) and Faculty level. In non-apprentice roles, the proportion of non-white staff members remained almost constant at Faculty levels between 2020 and 2021, but there was a sharp drop in professional services in levels 6 to 9 (8.2% in 2020 versus 3.8% in 2021) at SLS.

Table 1. SLS and Faculty staff analysis regarding ethnicity (binary only)

3.2 Warwick Medical School (WMS)

WMS is international, with staff and students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds – a diversity that is represented in the senior academic team (25% female; 38% ethnic minority). With the exception of Clinical Academics (20/21 data: male 60.3%; female 39.7%) and Research/Teaching roles (20/21 data: male 60%; female 40%), women predominate in all staff (Research-focused; Teaching-focused; Professional Support Services) and student groups (MBChB, Undergraduate, Post-graduate Taught; Post-graduate Research) (total WMS staff population 2020/21 n=518; female 317 (61%); male 201 (39%); total student population 2020/21 n=886: female 577 (65%); male 309 (35%)).

Our intersectionality data suggest a gradual and sustained increase in ethnic minority staff (20/21 n=131 (25% of total staff); female n=69 (21.3% of total staff); male n=62 (31% of total staff)) and students (20/21 n=903 (31.2% of undergraduate student population); female n=199 (34.5%); male n=114 (36.0%)).

A small proportion of staff report disabilities (approximating 4% across the reporting period (2017/2018 to 2020/21)), with proportionally more females than males. A gradual increase in and a greater proportion of students report disabilities (approximately 24%), with gender parity across years.

3.2.1 MBChB Students at WMS

WMS provides learning and teaching opportunities for undergraduate, post-graduate taught, and post-graduate research students. However, the focus of this analysis is on the MBChB student cohort.

We are committed to promoting access to the MBChB degree and are proud of the social diversity evident in our students. When compared to the national statistics for Medicine [HESA data], a greater proportion of our students have been state schooled (59.6% vs 51.4%), fewer have parents classified as having higher managerial, administrative, or professional occupations (58% vs 75.3% nationally), with more from the lowest socioeconomic groups, and many (36% vs 29% nationally) are the first in their family to attend university.

Journey from application to graduation: Our data (captured annually 2017/18-2021/22) shows:

-          A greater proportion of women, reflecting a nationwide trend [selection-alliance-2019-report.pdf (medschools.ac.uk)]

-          A gradual and sustained increase in the proportions of women applying/receiving offers/accepting/enrolling onto the course (mean proportion of females: applications 64.7%; offers 64.5%; accepting 63.9%; enrolling 73.0%) (England figures 20/21 63% female) (OfS data https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/funding-for-providers/health-education-funding/medical-and-dental-intakes/)

-          A gradual and sustained increase in the proportion of ethnic minority students applying/enrolling onto the course (primarily driven by an increase in the number of Asian and Black students). The mean is 28.5% (range from 23.1% to 35.3%).

-          A gradual increase in the number of students with disabilities enrolling onto the course (23%; mean 59 per year; range 49 to 70 since 2017/2018; 10.7% receive DSA compared to 4.8% nationally).

Strong liaison with student cohorts and response to student feedback continues to improve study support/guidance – for example, including structured revision blocks; case-based learning; student-led networking groups (including, for example, student-led BME, Disability, LGBT); highlighting role models. Our data shows:

-          A gradual and sustained improvement in course progression with improved gender balance ((mean) overall 98.9%; female 99.4%; male 98.5%)

-          A sustained improvement in the progression of ethnic minority students ((mean) overall 99.25%; female 99.6%; male 98.9%)

-          A gradual increase in the progression of students with disabilities ((mean) overall 98.4%; female 98.2%; male 98.6)

-          A gradual and sustained improvement in numbers graduating with MBChB, with an improved gender balance for graduands (53.9% of women graduated with MBChB (HESA benchmark 55.8%)). A sustained improvement in the awarding of medical honours, with an improved gender balance (20/21 female 14.4%; male 13.3%).

-          In 2018/19 and 2019/20 a higher proportion of ethnic minority male graduands were awarded an MBChB when compared to ethnic minority females, with a result that approaches gender parity. For other years, and for white students, a higher proportion of female graduands is evident.

-          An attainment gap between ethnic minority students and white students in honours, merits and distinctions awarded. Internal analysis of student performance data has shown a consistent trend over the last ten years with a merit/distinction awarding gap of 15.3% during summative phase exams, and a 12.1% gap in graduating with MBChB Honours (rather than Pass) between BAME and white students.

-          Proportionally more women in the disabled category receive honours awards in comparison to non-disabled females. This is consistent over time (but numbers are low).

-          A gradual and sustained reduction in women and male non-completers. Numbers of non-completers is low, and gender balanced (mean number (proportion) of non-completers: female 5 (0.72%); male 7 (2.7%)).

3.2.2 Staff at WMS

Our data suggests:

-          Across all academic staff (clinical and non-clinical), a consistent gender split which approaches equity (favours females – for example, 20/21: females 52.6%; males 47.4%).

-          Whilst the gender split for clinical grades (females range 37-40%), research-only (females range 55-57%), and teaching-only (females range 64-69%) posts have remained relatively static over the reporting period, there has been a slight improvement in female representation in research and teaching roles (from 35% in 2018 to 40% in 2021).

-          Proportionally more women than men are employed at lower academic grades (FA5 to FA8) (range FA5 63.4% to FA6 and 7 60%).

-          Despite a gradual increase in the number of women at senior grades, reflecting our supportive development activities, proportionally more men are employed at higher grades (FA9 57.1%). In 2021, just 34.4% of Professorial roles were held by women (65.6% men).

-          Similarly, there are more women employed at the lower clinical grades (2021: below consultant level – females 58%; males 42%) and more men at the consultant level (2021: clinical consultant – females 29%: males 71%).

-          The gender split for professional and support services (PSS) staff has remained heavily dominated by women over the reporting period (for example, 20/21: females 76%; males 24%) and across all grades. However, at the higher grades this starts to reduce (but numbers are small).

Integrated Academic Training (IAT)

WMS hosts trainee doctors on the NIHR Integrated Academic Training (IAT) programme. This serves to support the pipeline of clinical academics by providing dedicated research time alongside their clinical training. Recruitment is managed by the deanery. Data since 2018 shows:

-          Gender parity of programme participants

-          Since 2019, an equitable number of males and females continuing their academic career at Academic Clinical Fellow level (6 males: 5 females).

-          Since 2019, more females transitioned directly to academic roles following the programme than males (7:2).

3.3 SLS and WMS community feedback

Individual, anecdotal perspectives were reported back. Those comprise opinions, reports about personal experience as well as suggestions about how the overall situation can be improved. Due to their prospective nature, the latter were included in the discussion and outlook sections. Staff from SLS have reported that it is still difficult to find female role models in high ranking positions with whom to relate, with a large imbalance with respect to family caring responsibilities of females and males, that puts non-workload pressure specifically on females. However, more than 80% of responders to a recent WMS staff survey confirmed the presence of both positive female and male role models. Fewer responders confirmed the visibility of positive role models from ethnic minorities (67%), who were parents or carers (54%), with disabilities (30%) or for the LGBT community (25%).

It is still reported conversationally and therefore anecdotally from both departments that female staff still suffer direct and indirect sexist and misogynistic comments from male colleagues. Individuals of the LGBTQ+ community often feel excluded from social conversation/interactions. Black staff and students report feeling underrepresented/supported owing to absence of role models and mentors with shared lived experience. This indicates there are more challenging sociological and cultural factors that can inhibit underrepresented groups to feel as supported and/or see success reflected back at them by those holding position in levels 6-9.

Professional Services Staff career progression: It has been clear for some time through the University’s PULSE survey and WMS survey results that a high proportion of Professional Services Staff (PSS) are frustrated by the lack of career progression available to them within WMS and the wider university. The frustrations are largely driven by the lack of comparability with the structured promotion process available to academic staff. Whilst academic colleagues are encouraged to build their careers in one place, such opportunities for progression are not readily available to PSS staff. In response, a PSS staff networking group (under the auspices of our Athena SWAN activities) will host an inaugural WMS Professional Services Staff Development workshop in February 2022. This will support a skills gap analysis and highlight opportunities for skill development, including enhanced sign-posting of secondment and shadowing opportunities across the University.

4. Discussion and interpretation

4.0 General limitations

Important limitations of the data arise from the following aspects. Student data was only available for years 2018 to 2021. Thus, it included data of final grades from the years of the SARS-Covid 19 pandemic. To date, we do not know have final data available reporting to which extent the pandemic affected student attainment, but preliminary evidence suggests that most students felt they were not able to reach their full perceived potential due to the restrictions and difficulties experienced throughout the pandemic. The complexities of the pandemic phenomenon are multifaceted and respective analyses are still ongoing. We also do not know how these circumstances may have affected attainment of students with different ethnic backgrounds, making a reasonable and solid interpretation of data presented (for example, in Figure 1C) very difficult. Another limitation is that only binary information regarding gender were available, and that analysis of student ethnical background was only possible on four categories, preventing a more detailed insight. Finally, data only covers final grades from 4 years (2017/2018, 2018/2019, 2019/2020, and 2020/2021). Thus, the provided statistics are primarily descriptive, any interpretation must be considered as preliminary and should be conducted with maximum care.

The simple binary categorisation for the analysis of staff structure regarding gender and ethnicity is clearly insufficient. More diverse data has been available but reporting a more detailed analysis may have allowed conclusions about individuals’ identity at school level. Here, we see a clear conflict between the necessities of reporting strictly anonymised data on one hand, and adequately detailed data on the other.

Staff feedback has been invaluable for the requested feedback, but it is anecdotal. This must be considered when interpreting the feedback.

4.1 Student UG attainment analysis

Female students were better represented and performed slightly better than male students in the analysed student population from both the SLS and WMS MBChB programmes. This shows that, at least in our communities, any underrepresentation of females among further career academic roles in life sciences and medicine may not be explained by an underrepresentation of female students or their performance. Thus, any reasons helping to explain such disparity should be suspected at later career stages.

Students with registered disabilities were performing as well as students without. This indicates that, at least in our populations, the existence of a registered disability may not explain any under-representation for people with registered disabilities in STEM. Any reason for such underrepresentation should be considered to come into effect at later career stages.

Interpretation of the attainment data with respect to ethnical background is very difficult and unreliable. Overall differences between ethnical groups were minor, but statistically significant with white students performing slightly better than students from other backgrounds. However, no solid conclusion can be drawn from that data as any information regarding potential confounding factors is missing. At this stage, for instance, no data is available regarding socio-economical status of the respective students, any potential language difficulties at least in the initial years (the population includes student from overseas), non-registered disabilities or learning difficulties, or the amount of family and peer support available to individual students. The relatively wide scatter of data may indicate that individual factors are far more important that ethnical background when explaining the slight differences in attainment.  

This data, however, indicates that further surveillance of student attainment regarding ethnicity and background should be performed to offer tailored support for these students. This should comprise actions throughout the entire degree, not just in the final year. We will also need to find out leading reasons and potential ‘early predictors’ of student performance to offer such tailored support, ultimately enabling all students to work according to their full academic potential.

4.2 Staff structure analysis regarding gender and ethnicity

Although limited by the binary categorisation of data, for SLS, female representation in professional service roles in levels 1a to 5 is good, but a clear underrepresentation of females emerges in levels 6 to 9. Remarkably, this disparity becomes even larger when focusing on the highest levels 8 and 9 (data not shown). For WMS, this lack of female representation is only witnessed in the most senior academic roles (grade FA9), and not at all across the professional and support services (PSS) roles, where female representation dominates. Next to the implication on diversity, the lack of representation at senior levels contributes to a serious work overload for senior female staff members, for instance when membership in panels requires a certain level of seniority plus gender balance. Female members tend to have a much higher workload here, which has been confirmed by personal statements. There is also a clear underrepresentation of non-white people among SLS staff with a discouraging tendency especially in higher categories (6 to 9) of professional staff members. We lack sufficient data to estimate whether the seen disparity can at least partially be explained by a disparity in the structure of the overall population. However, even if this was the case there is still a tremendous need to rapidly increase the representation of non-white staff members. This will require continuous and thorough actions.

4.3 Interpretation of SLS and WMS community feedback

Anecdotal and conversational evidence from SLS suggests that females still feel like there are not enough role models in high-rank positions. Secondly, such jobs are so high-pressure that they are not compatible with a family life or other life choices. Since most of the family caring responsibilities and mental load still traditionally fall on females, the amount of effort that a female needs to put in to step up onto the next career level is higher than a male counterpart.  Feedback from colleagues at WMS suggests that, despite the steady growth in the number of female professors over recent years, more should be done to celebrate different ways of working and how women have been successful.

5. Outlook: how to improve diversity in STEM?

5.1. General considerations

General considerations as described herein are composed of individual feedback and opinions, as well as existing activities and current plans to improve diversity in the long run.  We believe that any decisions made to improve diversity in STEM should be data driven, and since we are still collecting data for different stages of career development split by gender, ethnicity, and disabilities any conclusions from the analysis of this data are preliminary.

However, the current data shows some significant gaps based on some factors such as gender even though it is just based on a binary representation. For example, we have a significantly more abundant female population at the undergraduate student level, but this is not reflected at later stages of the STEM career development – for example, SLS data suggests ~50% at the postdoc level but only about 20% on the PI level (data not shown). Similarly, WMS data suggests that whilst women are well-represented during training, career progression and penetration into positions of seniority, particularly into clinical academic medicine, is more limited and represents an important challenge towards achieving equality. The data draws our attention to these clear differences, but the reasons behind these gaps are more difficult to underpin since they - most likely - involve cultural, historical, and socio-economic differences. Data driven diversity analysis will go some way to identifying underrepresentation. Continual review of these metrics supported by qualitative data will be valuable in underpinning the changes we are making to provide students and staff with a genuinely fairer foundation upon which to build their careers is the direction to which the Equality Diversity and Inclusion Communities at SLS and WMS are committed.

We are currently analysing data on staff diversity representation to follow up the most important questions. As we move towards further stages of career development the complexity of the analysis increases with probably other cultural and socio-economic factors playing important roles. Some of the factors we consider of interest to analyse would be the diversity of the staff community at all job types and pay grades (the role model problem, which is directly related to recruiting strategies), caring responsibilities both at the student and staff levels, family, and peer support (including academic and wellbeing support) and overall wider institutionalised strategies and behaviours that have been propagated throughout our culture.

5.2. Suggestions for action

Idea 1: Student recruitment and attainment

Foundation programmes may help to further foster diversity in STEM students. The overall good diversity in our student population may mask disparities in subgroups, and specific foundation programmes (also with government support) may help to overcome those once clearly identified. Moreover, part-time provision and flexible education, in particular for students with caring responsibilities may be useful, giving affected individuals a chance to thrive and work to their full academic potential. Following graduation, it is possible for doctors to train part-time from their first year as a qualified doctor, however there are currently no options for part-time or flexible training at medical student level. The option of such a course over 6.5 years is currently being developed at WMS and students have reviewed this possibility favourably. We would urge the government to consider this option as a priority when considering further medical student expansion.

A serious concern is the ethnicity gap attainment. Whilst the absolute differences are relatively small, they can have a huge impact when it comes to competing for the very best position to build an onward career as a clinical academic or in industry. Effectively countering these differences requires a clear identification of their reasons. Our data is not sufficient to make conclusion about the reasons, so further research is needed here. The government may help with conducting nation-wide analysis to build strong, representative data and by support of nation-wide as well as local (university-driven) programs to counter identified reasons. The STEM industry may wish to join such initiatives as those would result in a stronger population of potential employees which is essential at time of lack of highly qualified workforce. This, however, may also require nation-wide awareness and actions best been initiated (yet not solely carried) by the government.  

A range of initiatives have been co-designed by staff and students at WMS to further support and empower MBChB students from diverse backgrounds who are under-represented in academia, as well as providing opportunities to work with positive role models where people can identify with their seniors and see themselves represented in a clinical academic role. For example:

-          Highlighting role models: Ethnic minorities are poorly represented in UK academic senior grades with ethnic minority male professors less than 10% and BAME women professors less than 2% (Equalities Challenge Unit Data). It is important to inspire and empower all ethnic minority students to achieve their potential, to break the glass ceiling, and to see themselves achieving highly. Professor Olanrewaji Sorinola joined WMS in 2017 as an Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor in 2020, becoming the first Black Professor in Medical Education at WMS. Professor Sorinola’s activities seek to provide positive empowerment for ethnic minority students to utilise opportunities and to maximise career pathways and include: student mentorship and academic support, engaging/supervising research, collaborating on grant applications, presenting at conferences, and co-authoring publications.

-          Networking groups: Students who identify with protected characteristics are more likely to experience microaggressions and prejudicial behaviour as well as be negatively affected by university policy and procedure. This can affect their academic performance and career aspirations as well as impact on their mental health and ability to complete the course. The medical degree can be isolating for students in marginalised groups due to the separate nature of each year of study and clinical placements from year 2. The small number visible role models can limit the career aspirations of students and reduce their ability to challenge negative stereotypes often repeated by senior staff during their education journey. 

Student networks have been shown to develop supportive relationships across the different years as well as with supportive university staff. They also create a focus group to identify areas of difficulty experienced by these students, highlighting areas of change needed for the university to tackle. Networks have been shown to enable relationships and support of students with a similar narrative and to strengthen the voice of students promoting change within the medical school to create a more inclusive community. Highlighting successful role models and encouraging mentoring relationships are key in improving the aspirations of students and broadening the diversity of the future pipeline and creating future leaders.

Experiences of students from an ethnic minority background prompted the development of the BME Network. As the first student support group, the BME Network spearheaded collaboration between staff and students through initiatives such as the Attainment Gap Working Group which has a staff and a student chair. Recognising the double jeopardy of facing both racism and sexism within medicine, the BME Women’s group offers a safe space to form a sense of belonging amongst those linked by both gender and ethnicity (Morrison and Chimkupete, 2020).  Through running a mentorship scheme, a book club and other social events, the BME Network has been well received by students and influential in the formation of other support groups. A further extension of the work of this group is the Midlands Racial Equality in Medicine Network (MREM) – to be launched in February 2022 - with an aim to build connections between regional medical schools to provide both staff and students with a platform to share upcoming initiatives, disseminate research and create joint ventures related to increasing attainment and overall graduate outcomes amongst ethnic minority medical students and increasing racial awareness in medicine.

Informed by the success of the BME Network, the Disability Network was founded with similar intentions of bringing together voices from a marginalised group and developing a platform for students to act as role models for one another and work with the university to make the course more accessible for disabled student's needs. This network has established a mentorship scheme, developed staff training on disability and accessibility and have developed research looking at the views and opinions of medical students identifying as disabled nationally. Students led a successful consultation highlighting processes which specifically single out disabled students to submit their condition to an official committee. This was causing anxiety and led to some students not feeling able to disclose their disability and therefore not receiving the support they are entitled to –  similar findings to that of Hill & Rogers (2016) & Tso (2018). 

A student subgroup for Athena SWAN brings together the different networks and other interested students to discuss network activities, encourage collaboration and act as a channel to strengthen the student voice. This group has been commended for its work at the university level and has developed further networks for parents and LGBT+ communities. Several projects have been created to improve raising concern support, opportunities for underrepresented groups to access academia and consultations to improve the accuracy and content of the curriculum. Future projects are focussing on improving widening access to medicine and broadening support to male students who have traditionally been hard to engage. We have recruited staff members to be visible role models and figures of support for student who have experienced concerns relating to ED&I. 

-          We are piloting a suite of ‘Beacon Internships’ for female and female-identifying students, ethnic minority students, LGBT students, and those with neurodiversity. The internships aim to build academic research capacity and opportunities. Mentor communities will be established across these four groups to provide ongoing opportunities for sharing experiences and support. The first internships commenced Autumn 2021.

-          We have introduced active bystander training across all year groups to empower them to support their peers by appropriately challenging inappropriate behaviours in various settings. The active bystander training complements our advocacy and allyship training in Year 1 and the challenging inappropriate behaviour training in Year 2. These are all part of our strategic approach to support and prepare our students for post-qualification career life.

-          INSPIRE Summer Studentships: With the condensed nature of the fast-track graduate-entry course, students struggle to find the time to undertake substantial research projects. Financial pressures are intensified, as they have less time to work to support themselves alongside their studies, and therefore even less time to do research. Warwick University offers an institution-wide Undergraduate Research Support Scheme (URSS) which offers bursaries to students conducting research, however competition for these is fierce: since 2019, ten WMS students have received a UoW UG Research Scholarship (50% female). Whilst our success rate has been high, we wanted to reach more students, especially those from widening participation backgrounds. To address this, in 2019 we launched our flagship summer studentship programme. These summer studentships targeted 1st year students and aimed to foster a passion for academic research at an early stage. 25% of bursaries were ring-fenced for students from Widening Participation backgrounds, with the actual uptake much higher (71% from WP backgrounds). Since 2019, we have supported a total of 38 students. Students were asked to select a supervisor matching their clinical interests, and together develop a project with relevance to the local health needs. In addition to developing their research skills, this programme ended with a requirement to present an information piece to the public, thus encouraging these early researchers to develop their public engagement skills (this year this was done by Blog due to Covid-19). At the end of the project, students were supported to disseminate their work locally and nationally. Across both summer studentships, in the past two years, 38 students have received studentships and completed summer projects. The impact study reports give a flavour for the impact this had on the student body.

-          WMS supports re-engagement in post-graduate study by awarding WMS honours graduands full scholarships for PGAs; students are advised of this at graduation. Ensuring that students who wish to start a family soon after graduation (graduate average age 30 years) are not discriminated against, uptake is flexible.

-          The high number of WMS MBChB students who are successful in securing an Academic Foundation Pathway following graduation is testament to the success of these initiatives (between 2018 and 2020, 56 of 110 (50%) WMS applicants were successful). We are currently undertaking research with female MBChB students to understand their views about a future career in Academic Clinical medicine, potential barriers, facilitators, and how these influence their choices.

Idea 2: Fostering career development for underrepresented groups in STEM

Representation and attainment, at least in our institutions and based on the simplified categorisations applied for our analysis, are comparable at the student level. Thus, we conclude that disparity seen at later career stages emerges from causes being found in post-graduate career paths. To effectively counter those, we first need to identify the stages where females or minorities are dropping out. This will require the collection of detailed data collection and analyses to reveal small yet meaningful differences for instance regarding the representation of particular minorities. Datasets obtained from single academic institutions may not be sufficient for this purpose (potential lack of statistical power to confirm supposed differences and problems).

One option to improve the situation would be to improve recruitment strategies to account for career gaps. This includes but is not limited to maintaining good gender representation in all recruitment committees. The overload of committee and panel work for female academics as outlined in 4.2 (and affecting WMS as well) may make this difficult. To solve the problem, we started a programme to recruit female postdocs and postdoctoral colleagues from underrepresented minorities to all recruitment panels, in particular (but not limited to) panels for postdoc and early-stage principal investigator positions. As this solution removes pressure from female academics at higher rank positions, it does not solve the existing gap to those positions. We are currently working on this trying to provide a level playing field for all applicants regardless of career breaks or obligations outside the academic world (caring etc.).

Mentoring and Shadowing: To support all academic staff at all stages of their careers, the opportunity to engage with a mentor is provided for colleagues at both WMS (https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/med/about/working/athenaswan/whatwearedoing/career/academic/) and SLS. At WMS, more than 40 people have had a mentor, mostly early career researchers, with evidence supporting the positive impact of the experience. Centrally, the University of Warwick provides mentoring handbooks for mentor and mentee, and skills based workshop to practice mentoring skills. Additionally, all staff at WMS and SLS can engage in shadowing opportunities – for example, observing a senior management group meeting. Feedback from those who have participate suggests that the experience is useful.

Professional and support staff (PSS) can engage in a central University mentoring scheme. However, despite colleagues at WMS reporting that they would welcome coaching or mentoring, this scheme is less widely accessed than the in-house initiatives for academic staff. We are currently exploring the barriers to this scheme and how enhanced support for career development and advancement for PSS staff can be provided.

Woman’s health: We have several collaborative initiatives between WMS and the SLS which have been established in response to the needs and experiences of all staff and students across the WMS and Gibbet Hill community. For example, for pre-menopausal women, a sanitary wear initiative provides free and easy-access to sanitary products at the point of need. For those who are around the time of the menopause and beyond, work commitments and promotion opportunities may be impacted by a range of factors including, for example, caring responsibilities (for elderly parents and/or adolescents) and personal health challenges, which may be further exacerbated by the menopause. In response we have developed a ‘Menopause’ initiative which, to data, has delivered a menopause webinar (attended by 200 academic and professional and support services staff members), hosts a monthly Menopause café, and has supported a colleague to undertake recognised menopause training to educate line managers. Additionally, we are undertaking research with GP colleagues to understand their experiences of the menopause and how it impacts the way they work and their professional journeys.

(January 2022)