Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Introduction

The GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) uses the Best Practice Principles in Recruitment & Training at Doctoral Level published by the Natural Environment Research Council to promote improved Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the four stages of recruitment and training of our PhD researchers:

  1. Finding talent: to make the PhD pathway accessible and attract potential applicants who may not currently view a PhD as accessible to them.

  2. Shortlisting and interviews: to ensure the applicant shortlisting and interview process is fair and transparent.

  3. Nurturing talent: to make the student training experience as inclusive as possible.

  4. Monitoring and reporting: to be used effectively to foster a diverse and inclusive environment.

1. Finding Talent

Collaboration with non-academic partners

We have successfully established extensive collaborations with non-academic partners over the ten annual cohorts in the GW4+ Doctoral Training Partnership from 2014 to 2023 by building compulsory collaboration into the PhD project design stage and encouraging use of research outside traditional academia. We do this by requiring at one or more forms of collaboration on each of the projects put forward by supervisors:

We actively work with potential supervisors in our nine DTP host partners to establish new connections with end-users of research outside of traditional ‘academia’ such that, on average, 35% of PhD project supervisory teams from 2014 to 2021 (n=306 PhD projects) are experts working outside higher education institutes.

To further encourage the use of research skills outside of academia by our PhD researchers, we have an active careers internship programme with placements in science policy, business and innovation as well as more conventional research settings.

As a result we have been successful in attracting candidates from a wide range of disciplines, including the quantitative disciplines of mathematics and computing. PhD researchers specialising in advanced mathematics and computing techniques are sought-after to expand frontiers in the environmental sciences using AI and machine learning data processing techniques.

Over the 9 cohorts of PhD recruitment completed from 2014 to 2022, our PhD projects cover all research areas within NERC remit, including many interdisciplinary projects working across different research areas. Taking all projects together, our science encompasses most disciplines within the Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences:

Clear communication of support available throughout studentship

This starts with communication to supervisors at the proposal stage with clear explanations of the funding that comes with studentships to enable supervisors to make the most of that funding combined with that available from other sources. As a DTP we require confirmation that projects are available part-time as well as full-time and whether there are any restrictions on accessibility. If projects are not available part-time, they will not be advertised. If there are restrictions on accessibility, then the supervisor must have a workable plan to mitigate these built into the project, if necessary, using the Research Training Support Grant allocated to the studentship. Software is used to check project proposals for gendered or biased language.

We are currently working with Earth Science and other departments to implement practical and workable solutions to improve accessibility to fieldwork. For examples of practical initiatives to improve accessibility and foster true inclusion for all in fieldwork, see Houghton et al 2020 (Houghton, J. J., Morgan, D. J., Gordon, C. E., Stokes, A., Atchison, C. L., Collins, T. D., Craven, B., and Willis, K. (2020) Access Anglesey 2018: Lessons from an inclusive field course. Advances in Geosciences 53, 183-194 https://adgeo.copernicus.org/articles/53/183/2020/).

We communicate the benefits available from a DTP studentship by information on our webpages and webinars during the application process and this includes informing potential applicants of their right to request reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010 and access to Disabled Students’ Allowance.

We have also written an easy-to-read guide for new PhD researchers, explaining entitlements to sick pay and annual holidays and entitlements for parents and carers, including the provision of childcare at our events. Our maternity, parental and adoption leave guidance for PhD researchers uses language that is inclusive of same-sex couples and those choosing to have a baby by surrogacy or adoption and additional clarity on the entitlement for new parents on leave to have ‘keeping in touch days’ in their research groups.

Interview panels are encouraged to indicate their pronouns as a simple demonstration to LGBTQ+ applicants that they are welcome in our research groups and the DTP Director, Manager and Coordinator set an example by including pronouns in email signatures and/or a university statement of allyship.

DTP specific PhD destination data

The DTP has surveyed and researched the career destinations of our leavers, including where available, longitudinal data about subsequent career changes. These data indicate that, when PhD researchers move on after completion, most (87%) of them continue to practice their science in some form or other, both in academia and in other sectors. We present this as a particularly attractive feature of our training and careers development programme (e.g. “you can pursue a science career in any sector”) for those who want to do a PhD in order to have a career in science, but not necessarily in an academic setting.

These careers destinations data also inform us on the effectiveness our DTP internship programme and the UKRI policy internship programme by looking at subsequent career choices. We can also identify the wider issues of gender inequity in academic career pathways, also reflected in data collected elsewhere e.g. the EU Commission’s ‘She Figures’ https://ec.europa.eu/assets/rtd/shefigures2021/index.html.

We have published charts of these data on social media during recruitment and in our webinar for applicants to encourage greater diversity in our PhD applicants by demonstrating the variety of career destinations available to scientists outside of academia. We also show and explain these data to new PhD researchers to enable them to think about their own career paths and in the context of joining our new network for women and nonbinary researchers, which is tasked to examine and find solutions for gender inequity in academia and other career sectors.

A diverse research community

The DTP will be presenting a diverse research community to applicants in several ways. We can show data on how research by our PhD researcher community not only covers the entire NERC remit of Earth Environmental and Life Sciences, but that we have a reasonable gender balance across the entire Earth, Environmental and Life Sciences, with women being represented well in all disciplines.

In addition, one of the reasons we have established networks and mentoring for our women and LGBTQ+ scientists and our scientists from Black, Asian and other minoritised ethnic communities is to attract applicants from those communities by demonstrating that peer support is available for members of those communities backed by DTP leadership and DTP resources.

Application process is transparent yet rigorous

In addition to a clear description of PhD application criteria on our website (referenced by the PhD adverts), the DTP provides a contact form on our website linked to our email address for any applicant to get in touch with questions about the application process whilst the PhD adverts are running. Questions can be on anything ranging from general eligibility to advice on specific applicant circumstances or the candidate requirements for a particular project.

Where specialist advice is required e.g. for visa requirements, we refer the applicant to the university postgraduate teams. Where advice is sought on the project itself, we require supervisors to be contactable for these questions. Our webinar gives potential applicants information on and advice on the application process and an opportunity to ask questions. In addition we hold a special session for our REP alumni for them to ask questions and get advice on making an application and making the best of interviews.

2. Shortlisting & interviews

Appropriate panels and recruitment guidance

The DTP has produced detailed documents to advise panel chairs on recruitment practices and policies well before the interviews take place to allow time for panels to be assembled. We plan to ensure in future that panels are diverse and balanced as far as possible, particularly in terms of gender and career stage, but also race where possible, although this is sometimes difficult in view of the relatively few established academics who are from Black, Asian and other minoritised communities.

Webinars and clinics for interview candidates

Interviewees are invited to attend webinars run by the DTP Manager aimed at demystifying the whole interview process particularly for international and other interviewees for which this may be something entirely new and particularly stressful. The webinars cover topics such as how to prepare for an interview, who is involved in the interviews, what to expect on the day, dos and don’ts, and what happens afterwards. Our intention is that these webinars will help to reduce anxiety and enable all candidates to perform better at our interviews.

All DTP interviews have an independent observer to ensure fairness and consistency

The DTP Manager (or a delegate) attends all interviews and the panel deliberation process after the interviews as an observer. This is to ensure recruitment procedures are followed and all candidates are treated fairly, including ensuring disabled and neurodivergent candidates are afforded reasonable adjustments if they require them. The DTP Manager is independent and does not take part in interview questioning or candidate selection but will intervene in a live interview situation or panel discussion if needed to correct something or ensure fairness.

View of ‘excellence’ in applicant assessment, fair and transparent scoring process

Interview instructions for panel members include a scoring matrix using standard criteria to ensure all candidates are assessed on the same basis and to ensure candidates that are interviewed first are assessed in the same way as those interviewed later. Panel members will also have interview packs for each candidate containing the same documentation specified by the DTP to ensure each candidate is assessed on the same types of information as well as interview performance.

For the recruitment of the 2022 cohort of PhD researchers, we redesigned our interview guidance and documentation for panels to ensure that candidates are assessed more on research ‘potential’ rather than research ‘experience’ to allow candidates who did not have the resources or opportunities to have internships or study for a master’s degree to be assessed on equal terms with those who did have those opportunities. We and will develop this approach further by formulating instructions to candidates on how to use the application and interview process to demonstrate their research potential, including highlighting their non-academic, working and professional experiences.

Part of the DTP Manager’s role as observer in the interview process is to explain this approach to panels in written recruitment policies and in the briefing before the interviews take place to ensure candidates research ‘potential’ is assessed properly.

We now advise our interview panels to give the interview questions to candidates in advance of their interviews. Some candidates will be aware of the types of questions used in PhD interviews already, for example those having multiple interviews in a recruitment round or those who received interview coaching from supervisors or as part of their education. In addition, knowing the interview questions in advance affords some candidates, particularly those who are neurodivergent and those who are anxious, the opportunity to prepare properly and to demonstrate their suitability for research with confidence.

Reasonable adjustments and applicant preferences

The option of remote attendance is available to all candidates invited for interview. Candidates are asked for reasonable adjustments ahead of the interview and the arrangements are overseen by the DTP Manager who monitors implementation of the adjustments in her role as observer on the interview panel.

3. Nurturing talent

The Management Board and DTP hub management team have a broad 50:50 gender balance. We are conducting ongoing work to collect data on the gender diversity of PhD supervision teams and how this might impact diversity in PhD researcher cohorts. We will also explore how this might impact future careers for which data shows gender imbalances in certain career destination sectors.

All training and cohort events are announced sufficiently in advance to enable the DTP to arrange and pay for childcare and reasonable adjustments for PhD researchers who need this. We check training venues to ensure they are accessible and inclusive. We offer flexibilities and adjustments to neurodivergent and disabled researchers e.g. allowing them to take time out, providing ground floor and accessible accommodation.

At our annual orientation event in September for new PhD researchers, we explain our training programme, career development programme, policies, student entitlements such as sick pay and maternity, budgets and other benefits.

We have connections with university postgraduate teams which enable us to signpost researchers to support services. We emphasise that our DTP team are the first point of contact for any of our PhD researchers who have an issue or a problem. We are then able to help the researcher ourselves or find the appropriate contact at their university or research organisation. In addition, there are student representatives at each university site who will feedback student issues to our management board meetings and DTP management is required to respond to the issues raised.

The DTP, with funding from the NERC DEI Flexible Funding Award, has set up a network for our women and nonbinary researchers, a network for our LGBTQ+ PhD researchers and we are currently setting up a network for our PhD researchers from Black, Asian and other minoritised ethnic communities. The networks are intended to provide a safe space for discussions of issues in academia that particularly affect researchers from these communities and to enable networking with more established researchers and greater representation and visibility of researchers from these communities inside and outside of academia.

4. Monitoring & reporting

The DTP collects anonymised characteristic data on applicants at every stage of the recruitment process to a level of detail sufficient to determine whether recruitment policies are effective in attracting and recruiting underrepresented groups and to provide solid evidence for any action to reduce unfairness and inequity in our recruitment practices and to improve support for PhD researchers during their time with us.