MaThRad Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy

 

  1. Introduction
    1. Everyone within the MaThRad community has the right to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their position, grade, belief or any protected characteristic and MaThRad aims to foster an inclusive culture, which promotes equality, values diversity and maintains a working and social environment in which the rights and dignity of all our staff, students, partners and stakeholders are respected.

    2. This policy applies to all staff (including those on temporary contracts), students, and visitors to MaThRad.

    3. This policy is informed by the existing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies and strategies from our partner institutions: The University of Warwick, The University of Cambridge, The University of Bath, University College London Hospitals NHS Trust and the National Physical Laboratory.

    4. This policy is informed by the EPSRC 3 year EDI Action Plan 2022-25

    5. This policy is a “living policy” and will be reviewed periodically and it is expected that it should be updated and revised over the lifetime of MaThRad.

  2. Responsibilities
    1. The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) places obligations on Institutions to eliminate discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics set out in the Equality Act (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation) and to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations.

    2. MaThRad will go beyond the legal commitments, recognising that the Mathematical Sciences research community is insufficiently diverse. Therefore, MaThRad takes its responsibility to address inequalities seriously and aim to develop awareness of bias (conscious and unconscious) within the practises of the programme and will adopt measures of good practice to address this.

    3. The progress and delivery of this ED&I policy will be reported to the MaThRad Executive Committee, and The MaThRad External Advisory Board and UKRI as necessary. MaThRad is a multi-partner programme and the delivery of this programme will be a shared responsibility.

    4. An ED&I sub-group will be formed to develop an action plan to support implementation of this policy, to advise the Executive Committee on relevant issues, good practice, and other initiatives consistent within the aims of this policy.


  3. Representation
    1. MaThRad will aim to achieve a balance of participants across its research and governance activities, including but not limited to:
      1. A gender balance across the Executive Team and External Advisory Board
      2. Diverse representation within the Executive Team and External Advisory Board.

  1. Recruitment

    1. MaThRad recognises the importance of diversity within the programme team, and diversity within recruitment and career progression plans. Equality and diversity will be considered in recruitment practices, ensuring they are broadly inclusive and that aspects of unconscious bias are addressed in relation to the nine protected characteristics identified under the Equality Act 2010.

    2. Our partner institutions all have policies to promote and support gender equality. All three of the academic partners within MaThRad support the Athena Swan Charter and are accredited under it with a Silver award. The National Physical Laboratory was the first company to join the Institute of Physics Project Juno, an award scheme which rewards organisations that can demonstrate they have taken action to address gender equality at all levels and currently holds a Practitioner award. UCLH has made a commitment to make their workforce representative of the community with measurable improvements obtained through effective attraction, recruitment, progression and retention of underrepresented groups at all levels. This is detailed in Objective 3 within their 2023-24 Equality Diversity and Inclusion Strategy.
  1. Bullying and Harassment

    1. Bullying and harassment of staff, students, and external stakeholders is unacceptable behaviour and will be treated very seriously. Each institution associated with MaThRad has clear procedures within which to make and handle complaints concerning bullying and harassment, and MaThRad management will ensure these are followed.

    2. Where the complainant and the subject of the complaint are based in the same institution, MaThRad management expects the issue to be addressed within the procedures of the institution.

    3. Where the complainant and the subject of the complaint are based in different institutions, the complaint can be made within the procedures of either or both institutions. In these cases, where the complaint arises from MaThRad activities, the MaThRad management may need to advise the complainant of the appropriate procedure. Responsibility for advice and support will reside with the MaThRad Director, and their delegated representatives in relevant institutions.
  1. Communications
    1. MaThRad will ensure that Equality and Diversity issues are considered in both internal and external communications related to the programme, including online via the MaThRad website.

    2. MaThRad will strive to achieve diversity in event speakers and participants, for example:

      1. Strive for gender balance and diverse ethnic representation for speakers for its events, conferences, webinars and podcasts.
      2. Across all activities, whether online or in person, written materials and outputs, MaThRad will strive for diverse representation.

    3. MaThRad will adopt an inclusive language policy across all communications which will include but not be limited to:

      1. Avoiding general or “umbrella” terms to imply that people of a certain characteristic are a homogenous group rather than recognising people’s individuality and respects people.
      2. Using gender neutral language which avoids assumptions and which does not reinforce historic gendered stereotypes.

    4. MaThRad will ensure any stock images used on the website reflect the diversity of the UK population and images used for specific research topics are appropriate and inclusive.

  2. Data Collection
    1. Where possible and appropriate MaThRad will collect monitoring data from participants in all events noting that:

      1. This data will be held anonymously.
      2. Completion of data requests will be on a voluntary basis.
      3. This data will be used to inform future activities.

    2. MaThRad will ensure data collection practises are inclusive, and aware of the limitations of online forms. Online forms will be designed with sensitivity and questions phrased appropriately. This will include, but not be limited to:
      1. Including a comprehensive list of titles (sorted alphabetically rather than in any perceived hierarchy) in online registration forms or enquiry forms.
      2. Respecting people’s preferences and allow options to self-describe when asking survey questions or collecting registration data for events.

  1. Flexible Working
    1. Each institution associated with MaThRad has a policy or procedures in place to promote flexible working. MaThRad will follow these institutional policies allowing staff to work flexibly. This will be made explicit during recruitment, and management will seek to create a good home\work balance for all those associated with MaThRad.

    2. MaThRad will be responsive to the needs of staff and students associated with the programme who have caring responsibilities, ensuring that practises are in place to enable participation in meetings and activities, such as appropriate meeting times, and remote access to meetings.

  2. Training and Mentoring

    1. All staff (including those on temporary contracts) and associated students will be expected to undertake training on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion available to them at their individual institutions. A specific MaThRad training programme will be designed and delivered. This training will aim to enhance awareness and understanding and develop a good working knowledge of ED&I practises amongst the team.

    2. MaThRad recognises that ED&I training is not a “one-and-done” activity, and that messages need to be constantly reinforced otherwise key learnings will be likely to regress. Therefore, MaThRad will promote and nurture an inclusive culture within the programme which promotes development and opportunities for all its members.  

 

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