Friday 21 July 2023
The Symposium: Redefining Cultures of Excellence in Research
On Wednesday 28th June Co(l)laboratory held a symposium on Redefining Cultures of Excellence in Research at Nottingham Trent University’s Clifton Campus, in a collaboration with the Equity in Doctoral Education through Partnership and Innovation (EDEPI) project team. Higher education and collaborating community professionals from across the UK came together for the event, which showcased groundbreaking projects that are seeking to redefine how research is carried out and who gets to take part in it.
Our first keynote speaker, Dr. Bernadine Idowu, Associate Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences gave a captivating talk about her experiences of being a Black woman in a senior academic role, she gave us an insight into what helped her on the journey to become successful in her field. She shared with us the power of mentorship and allyship and how that was fundamental in wanting her to give back to her community, which she has done through the Black Minority and Ethnic Early Career Researcher conference currently in its 7th year.
Following introductory talks about Nottingham’s sector-leading work from the Co(l)laboratory (University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University) and EDEPI (Nottingham Trent University) projects, by respective programme leaders Dr. Matthew Young and Lauren Russell, attendees joined one of two parallel sessions in the early afternoon. The first session was on inclusive approaches to PhD student recruitment in which we heard from Dr. Emily Henderson, Dr. James Burford and Dr. Sofia Kier-Byfield from University of Warwick, Dr. Ifedapo Francis Awolowo at Aspire at Sheffield Hallam, Eden Anin-Adjei from Transitions and Transformations Project. The second focused on public attitudes to research with speakers Rebecca Hill from Campaign for Science and Engineering, Professor Paul Grainge from the University of Nottingham and Professor Stephen Miles from Manchester Metropolitan University. They gave us some informative and thought provoking talks about the organisations they represent and what they’re doing to create change. This was followed by an interactive workshop led by Maxine Greaves MBE from Advanced HE, whose goal was to examine inclusive research culture. The workshop was interactive and encouraged attendees to connect, learn more about each other and the experiences they’ve had in research. The attendees were divided into 3 groups, given different statements about diversity and inclusion in research and academia and were asked to discuss them. This allowed for each group to hear a varied perspective on the topic of inclusivity in research culture while also giving everyone a chance to share their own thoughts and experiences.
To end the day, our final keynote speaker, Professor Kalwant Bhopal, Professor of Education and Social Justice Director of the Centre for Research in Race & Education and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) Academic Lead at the University of Birmingham, shared her expertise on Black and Minority Ethnic experiences in higher education. Professor Bhopal’s insightful and grounding talk highlighted some of the many inequalities that racially minoritised groups faced in higher education such as what she describes as the ‘ethnic penalty’, which is the issue of Black and minority ethnicity students being more likely to be unemployed 6 months after graduation compared to their White counterparts. While Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) academics were often viewed as outsiders and their professional presentation of self, such as dress, language or accent left them feeling judged by colleagues and students. Despite the gloomy reality of current inequalities in the higher education system, Professor Bhopal ended with an optimistic note, suggesting that the work of the projects highlighted on the day, plus those further afield, were helping to move research culture in the right direction to create change.
The Co(l)laboratory and EDEPI teams are very grateful to all speakers and attendees for coming together to push forward crucially important conversations around inclusive and equitable recruitment practices in research, and creating more responsive and inclusive research agendas through co-creation between academics and communities. We look forward to seeing how the important and varied work in the area continues to progress.
