BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Who gets to do research? - Equity in STEMM viewed through a fundi ng lens - Prof. Rachel Oliver (Department of Materials Science &\; Meta llurgy\, University of Cambridge) DTSTART:20210610T130000Z DTEND:20210610T140000Z UID:TALK159991@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Lingtao Kong DESCRIPTION:Research grants from United Kingdom Research and Innovation (U KRI) are the lifeblood of our research ecosystem in science\, engineering\ , technology\, maths and medicine (STEMM). These grants pay the salaries of researchers\, and allow academics to buy consumables\, equipment and ac cess to top notch facilities. Without money\, it is very hard to make sci ence and innovation happen\, and those who lose out in the hypercompetitiv e struggle for grants find it much harder to progress up the research care er ladder. Winning funding for a fellowship is often an unspoken prerequi site for getting a permanent post at a University\, and winning grants is vital to promotion within the permanent academic career pathway. \n\nRecen t data analyses released by UKRI and also by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) reveal startling inequities in the distr ibution of research funding. In considering the impact of gender on grand application and award rates\, EPSRC have claimed for several years that w omen were just as likely to be awarded grants as men. However\, this is o nly true if the values of grants won by men and women are ignored. Consid ering the largest grants provided by EPSRC\, men are more than twice as li kely to receive funding as women\, and in every one of the last 12 years\, the largest grant awarded by EPSRC has always gone to a male investigator . This glass ceiling preventing women from succeeding in engineering and the physical sciences at the highest level drives the gender pay gap\, red uces women’s influence in strategic decision making and deprives early c areer women of relatable role models at the top of their field.\n\nThe sit uation for Black researchers and those of other minoritised ethnicities is even more dismaying. Data from EPSRC routinely show lower award rates a nd lower average amounts per awarded grant for scientists of minoritised e thnicity as compared to white scientists. The available EPSRC data aggreg ate the experiences of scientists of different ethnicities\, and fail to a ccount for the specific barriers faced by Black scientists. However\, UKR I have recently released additional data which (whilst they do not address STEMM specifically) show that in 2018-2019 only 10 Black Principle Invest igators (PIs) were awarded grants\, across the whole of UKRI. In the same period nearly 2000 white PIs received grants. These data are symptomatic of systematic racism in UK academia\, which is also borne out by narrativ e reports of the experience of Black researchers and others of minoritised ethnicity.\n\nWe all have a part to play in addressing the barriers faced by women and researchers of minoritised ethnicity\, researchers who are d isabled or LGBTQ+ and in particular researchers who fall in the intersecti ons of these groups who may confront an accumulation of barriers\, and abo ut whom data remains scarce. Many minoritised researchers report that lac k of mentoring\, sponsorship or institutional support within their Univers ities affects their progress through grant funding processes\, and their b roader career progression. These issues can and should be addressed at a local level\, whilst privileged researchers who hold grants and hence powe r within our systems should press funders for more radical change\, addres sing the cycles of inequality we currently condone. \n\nAddressing these issues is fundamentally a question of fairness to our minoritised colleagu es\, but it is worthwhile to also note that there is increasing evidence t hat more diverse teams outperform homogeneous ones. Hence\, recognising a nd taking responsibility for addressing the inequities in our current syst ems\, has the potential to benefit all scientists\, and also broader socie ty.\n LOCATION:Zoom meeting (Meeting ID: 937 3157 5068\, Passcode: 994936) END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR