Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Intersectionality Statement

The BR-UK Leadership Hub is committed to recognising and highlighting EDII as part of leading best practices in behavioural research and its translation.  Our Position Statement outlines our intentions. 

In BR-UK Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Intersectionality (EDII) principles will be embedded in all aspects of our work to ensure all members of the workforce including those attending BR-UK events and webinars are treated with respect whilst being provided with equal and fair opportunities for participation and advancement. 

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 and or underrepresented groups. As a result, we aim to create a transparent organisation and network with the principles of EDII embedded in their work and practice.

The EDII Working Group has been created as an advisory group which reports to the BR-UK Leadership Group. The EDII Group is co-led by Professor Ann Phoenix and Dr Sharon Cox (both of University College London) and the current members of the EDII Group are:

• Dr Julze Alejandre, BR-UK Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Nia Coupe, BR-UK Research Fellow, University of Manchester
• Professor Oliver Escobar, Professor of Public Policy and Democratic Innovation, University of Edinburgh
• Sancha Martin, BR-UK Hub Manager, University of Edinburgh
• Dr Laura McGowan, Senior Lecturer, Queen's University Belfast
• Professor Graham Moore, Professor in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University
• Dr Lesley Uttley, Senior Research Fellow, University of Sheffield
• Liza Zhang, BR-UK Research Assistant, University College London/ PhD Student University of Bath.

All of our documentation is available from the Edinburgh Research Archive.  Please review and reuse wherever it is useful to do so.  We ask that if you do reuse parts or all of our documents, that you cite our work so that we are given appropriate credit for the work.  The DOI to cite is: http://dx.doi.org/10.7488/era/5453 which relates to all of our EDII governance documentation.  

We will: 

• treat everyone with respect and dignity and ensure that we listen to others, learn, develop and progress ourselves as individuals and our team as a whole as a result. 
• review our policies regularly and accept feedback on them at any time. 
• place EDII at the heart of all we do – including our logistics, operations and research activities. 
• consider all aspects of policies, procedures and processes within BR-UK to ensure that they are developed with EDII at their heart wherever possible, for example in our Commissioning Fund, public engagement, meeting organisation and so on.   
• collaborate with others to facilitate peer review and critically engage with similar multi-disciplinary, multi-partner research groups. 
• Provide updates on our EDII reviews, progress and challenges annually. 

We have adapted the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) definitions of EDI and defined intersectionality as follows.

Equalities: Providing equal access to resources and opportunities to all individuals and all groups. 

Diversity: Having diverse research approaches and people from a broad range of backgrounds and levels that reflect wider society. 

Inclusion: Welcoming and treating equally individuals and groups from all backgrounds. Engaging with each person as an individual and valuing all colleagues. Supporting a sense of belonging that is respectful of people for who they are. Providing an environment where people feel supported to enabled to work toward their goals.  

Intersectionality: Understanding that no social identity, characteristic or background exists in isolation from others and that disadvantage cannot be understood without analysing and understanding the ways in which everybody is multiply positioned. 

Additionally, we also include equity as a key concept.  Equity is trying to understand and give people what they need to achieve their potential; promoting notions of fairness, justice, entitlements and rights.