Summary of Progress

We are committed to recognising and highlighting Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Intersectionality (EDII) as part of leading best practices in behavioural research and its translation. Read an excerpt from our briefing report summarising our EDII activities to date.

Why EDII Matters to BR-UK

Ensuring equal rights and opportunities for everyone aligns with ethical and moral standards that promote fairness and reduce discrimination. Recognising the value of others, respecting their right to inclusion, and treating them as we wish to be treated is a positive approach in all aspects of our lives.

We do live in extraordinary – but challenging – times where individuals have differing rights and opportunities. Despite some historical progress, for some groups, their rights are being diminished or continue to be unheard or ignored. If left unaddressed inequalities will continue to grow. Addressing these disparities enables everyone to contribute meaningfully to society and offers numerous benefits, including:

  • Fostering a sense of belonging and reducing social tensions, building trust within and between diverse communities.
  • Providing equal access to education, which enhances skill levels and future opportunities for all.
  • Boosting workplace productivity, leading to a larger, more dynamic economy.
  • Increasing innovation and creativity by incorporating diverse perspectives across all sectors.

Science effects everyone and the pursuit of scientific research should be equally available for all who wish to pursue it. We recognise that equal representation across a range of backgrounds and characteristics enhances the working environment. A broad range of research contributions makes for a fairer scientific environment that produces better outputs that can be of direct use and relevance for societal issues, including those which directly affect minority, underrepresented and easy to ignore groups. 

Teams with diverse backgrounds bring varied perspectives and problem-solving approaches, leading to more innovative research designs and solutions. Findings from inclusive research, that accurately reflects the diversity of the groups and communities at the centre of the research, can inform policies and develop practices that are more applicable and sensitive to the needs of those communities.

This is why we believe that embedding EDII in our everyday work and operations will only be a benefit to BR-UK.  In BR-UK, we believe that providing equitable opportunities for people to be involved in our research ensures that the resulting research is unbiased, of higher calibre and produces outputs with broader insights that are a fair representation of systems and behaviours.  

What did we do?

Outlining our Approach

Our first point of action was to review the approaches of similar research projects to identify learning - we are particularly grateful to the ACCESS Network who shared their knowledge, guiding principles and other resources with us. At the same time, an initial EDII statement was drafted by Professors Sharon Cox and Ann Phoenix.  The statement was designed to explain our intentions, definitions, expected behaviours, set objectives and outcomes as they relate to EDII within BR-UK.  It was then shared with everyone on the team with a request to review, edit and provide comment. This provided the opportunity for all members to shape the statement, provide a sense of ownership of what we promised to do and an agreement of the terminology we proposed to adopt.  The final BR-UK EDII Statement was then accepted by all members of BR-UK. 

Establishing our EDII Working Group

The EDII Working Group exists to support BR-UK with the delivery of the points of action outlined in our EDII statement and to monitor and review of progress towards ensuring EDII is considered throughout the BR-UK research timeline. It is co-led by Professor Ann Phoenix, Dr Sharon Cox and Ms Sancha Martin.  The members of the group are: Dr Julze Alejandre, Dr Nia Coupe, Professor Oliver Escobar, Dr Laura McGowan, Professor Graham Moore, Dr Lesley Uttley, and Dr Lisa Zhang. 

The group drafted and agreed the Terms of Reference (ToR) that describe how the group operates and states that the remit of the group includes reviewing and appraising progress/tasks required to address the nine action points outlined in the EDII position statement referenced above.  Those tasks included: 

  • Considering how we partner with wider science, policy and practice communities including various minoritised groups
  • Communicating our work and our findings in ways which are inclusive and broad ranging
  • Widening our expertise in science-related EDII issues & embed these in research practice
  • Providing advice and assistance to members of the Hub as and when needed 
  • Bringing together learning from all parts of BR-UK.  

The group has worked tirelessly since it's inception to develop support and guidance for BR-UK members which includes a number of outputs outlined in the next section. 

We have produced EDII Guidance Documentation that is designed to indicate potential ways to consider and address EDII issues and challenges as they arise during the delivery of the BR-UK programme of work. This document states clearly that BR-UK members have a number of responsibilities including:

  • Being familiar with the BR-UK expectation around EDII
  • Thinking proactively about barriers and challenges that make it difficult to implement EDII policies
  • Identifying actions that can be taken to apply EDII principles effectively and meaningfully
  • Identifying ways to appropriately evaluate outcomes and impact (such as identifying metrics for success)
  • Engaging with opportunities to maximise the impact of EDII and remove barriers to implementation
  • Reviewing and revising work plans to ensure EDII principles are incorporated in all aspects of our work – including research and operational activities – whether currently under way, in planning, or in dissemination of the completed work
  • Implement, revise and learn from successes and failures
  • Share learning with others both internally and externally.

The BR-UK EDII Calendar summarises academic, public, religious and other holidays that may influence operational planning.  Whilst we have made a best effort to confirm dates and identify dates of potential significance for team members, we cannot say that it captures everything exactly as it should be.  We are confident that the list contains an informative list that can be consulted when planning meetings and events to avoid requests to travel or participate in meetings during times that may not be convenient to members or to plan support/provision of quiet spaces where possible. 


We have produced guidance on ways to adopt and use inclusive communication. Whilst the language around inclusivity is constantly evolving and there are valid limitations and critiques of different terms, we recognise the need to be open to correcting our language. When talking or writing about people, the guidance notes that the simple, important principles to adopt are:

  • Always ask, never assume
  • Write for context
  • Write with care, kindness, and respect.

In recognising that there is a broad range of information available and to encourage teams to review and reflect on alternative approaches, we also included a list of additional reading for others to review and reference within the guidance. 


We asked team members to participate in an entirely voluntary survey to gain insights into the characteristics of our team.  Team members could choose to answer some questions and not others as they wished.   Approximately 66% of the team in post at the time of the survey provided responses.  Read the full report to learn more about the findings from our survey. 


We acknowledge and reference the influence of the ACCESS Network’s operational approaches and expectations as outlined in their Guiding Principles which include three main themes: Environmental Sustainability (ES), Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and Knowledge Co-production (KCP). The team also highlighted the need to evaluate, reflect, learn and repeat.  We have also reviewed and taken learning from the Flex Fund reflections report which summarised the learning of the ACCESS team that has been enormously helpful to us. 

Additionally, we shared our documents externally with partners at CENTRE-UB to review.  This approach helped to highlight any oversights and gaps identified. We are grateful to Dr Gerald Jordan for his time and consideration.    


We have published all our existing documentation so that the documentation may be cited by others. The documents, with their relevant DOIs are available through this page and anyone can download and re-use the content as is helpful to them.  We will continue to update the documentation, as and when, changes are made. You can contact us via enquiries@br-uk.ac.uk if you have any issues finding or accessing our documents. 

On March 24th, 2025, BR-UK hosted an online webinar where speakers (Professor Ann Phoenix, Dr Julze Alejandre, Dr Niamh Hart, Sancha Martin and Dr Lesley Uttley) presented an overview of the importance of EDII, the informal results of a scoping review on the inclusion of EDII within behavioural research projects, the importance of research culture and some practical considerations.  


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