£485,000 of grants awarded to five UK-US partnerships in boost to LGBT+ inclusion in STEM
The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Science and Innovation Network (SIN) are pleased to announce that five UK-US partnerships have been awarded grants worth £485,000 to progress policy changes for the LGBT+ STEM community.
The following universities have earned a share of the LGBT+ Inclusion in STEM Grant funding pot. They will be tasked with conducting research into attrition and retention of LGBT+ individuals in STEM:
- The University of Lincoln and the California Academy of Sciences
- Queen’s University Belfast and Purdue University
- The University of Oxford, Montana State University and the University of San Diego
- The University of Manchester, the University of Strathclyde and Tufts University
- Oxford Brookes University and the University of Missouri.
The intention of these grants, which have been funded by the UK's Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), is to address LGBT+ under-representation in STEM and create a more inclusive environment. Our own research in the 'Exploring the workplace for LGBT+ physical scientists' joint report shows that there are still areas where significant progress must be made in STEM workplaces while various cultural barriers add to the challenges faced by LGBT+ scientists.
We partnered with DSIT and the US-based SIN last year to tackle these issues. This led to the announcement of the funding at a special event to mark LGBT+ STEM Day in November.
This one-of-a-kind scheme brings together UK-US government agencies, NGOs, university administrations, researchers, and funders for the first time. The intercontinental and interdisciplinary grants cover a wide array of fields across STEM and the social sciences.
LGBT+ groups are underrepresented in STEM disciplines in both the US and the UK. In both countries, however, policymakers are struggling to design evidence-based interventions to address this problem.
These grants, which run until December 2024, will help to tackle these issues by delivering outcome-focused research that can influence policy at a university or governmental level. While all five chosen projects have differing areas of focus, they are still all contributing towards the achievement of the same goal: making the scientific community more diverse and inclusive.
Here are some more details about the five partnerships:
Institutions: University of Lincoln (UK) and the California Academy of Sciences (USA).
Researchers: Prof. Belinda Colston and Prof. Abigail Powell (University of Lincoln), and Dr. Lauren Esposito (California Academy of Sciences).
Prof. Belinda Colston, the principal investigator on this project, said: "Our project looks at the impact of the cumulative effects of exclusionary working and learning environments on scientists who are minoritised within the LGBTQ+ community − the LGBTQ+ scientists of colour working in white-dominated spaces − the LGBTQ+ women scientists of colour working in men-dominated disciplines and white-dominated spaces. By using this intersectional approach, we hope to build the evidence base to inform effective strategies for increasing retention for all LGBTQ+ groups in STEM.
"For centuries STEM professions have stereotypically been dominated by white, heterosexual men, creating a masculine culture with the expectation of heteronormative identity. If we are to meet our future global challenges then now is the time to transform this culture and allow all scientists to flourish."
Institutions: Queen's University Belfast (UK) and Purdue University (USA).
Researchers: Prof. Ioana Latu and Prof. Rhiannon Turner (Queen’s University Belfast), and Dr. Teri Kirby (Purdue University).
Prof Iona Latu, the principal investigator for this project, said: "Our project will offer evidence-based answers and solutions for creating safe environments for LGBTQ+ students and academics in STEM. By documenting how symbols of LGBTQ+ inclusion (rainbow flags, Pride participation, pronouns) are perceived depending on the inclusion climate, we will offer a nuanced understanding of how safe environments can be created and communicated effectively.
"LGBTQ+ inclusion strategies are not universally effective: their effectiveness depends on the departmental, institutional, and state/national inclusion climate. It is important to understand how these factors interact across different academic departments in order to best support LGBTQ+ academics and students."
Institutions: The University of Oxford (UK), Montana State University (USA) and the University of San Diego (USA).
Researchers: Prof. Bryce Hughes (Montana State University), Dr. Clara Barker (University of Oxford), and Dr Lisa Smith (Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education, University of San Diego).
Prof. Bryce Hughes, the principal investigator for this project, said: "We know that the climate and culture in STEM are not welcoming to LGBT+ people, and we know that these conditions push LGBT+ people out of STEM fields, undermining efforts to diversify STEM. But most of this research comes from people who considered leaving STEM, yet ultimately stayed, and none has compared the experiences of LGBT+ people in STEM across different countries like the US and the UK.
"We hope our research will help demonstrate that if the health of the STEM workforce is vital to the economic relationship between our two nations, attrition of LGBT+ people from STEM due to systemic factors is a symptom of a problem in STEM that could undermine its robustness. In other words, policy that transforms the conditions in STEM to foster LGBT+ diversity, as well as other forms, enables STEM to maximise its benefits to society, helps LGBT+ STEM professionals to fulfil their personal potential, and strengthens the special relationship between the US and the UK.
"The RSC and SIN have emerged as leaders in fostering collaborations across the US and the UK to broaden the participation of LGBT+ people in STEM fields as an important building block to the economic ties between the two nations. Given our recognition of the need for transatlantic collaboration on research to improve understanding of how to transform STEM to better serve LGBT+ communities, this grant helps align our research goals with both the RSC and the SIN’s policy goals to reverse LGBT+ attrition from STEM in a public manner that will help draw attention to the importance of this issue.
"This grant represents yet another investment in the important goal of enabling LGBT+ people to participate authentically in the STEM workforce toward maximising the benefits STEM fields can offer the world."
Institutions: The University of Strathclyde (UK), the University of Manchester (UK), and Tufts University (USA).
Researchers: Dr Marco Reggiani (University of Strathclyde), Dr Jessica Gagnon (University of Manchester), and Dr Timothy Atherton (Tufts University).
Dr Marco Reggiani, the principal investigator on this project, said: "The LGBTQual+ project aims to have a substantial impact in the sector by improving understanding of the purpose and potential impact of qualitative and mixed methods research for developing transformative policies, practices, and interventions to enhance inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in STEM We will model good methodological practices and address existing knowledge gaps to gain an innovative, intersectional, and queer understanding of attrition and retention for LGBTQ+ scientists.
"Through our project, we hope to build a network of researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders for sharing best practices for delivering authentic change on LGBTQ+ inclusion in STEM.
"Equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM require critical and transformative approaches. Existing research, including our own, highlights institutional responsibilities to address inequities faced by LGBTQ+ and /or other historically underrepresented and marginalised individuals. This includes higher education institutions, funders, learned societies, and governments.
"The LGBT+ Inclusion in STEM Grant offers us tangible support to scale up work towards creating more inclusive STEM environments. The support of the RSC and SIN will be a crucial factor for the successful implementation of the project’s recommendations. We look forward to collaborating and enhancing equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ people in STEM."
Institutions: Oxford Brookes University (UK), Quinnipiac University (USA), and the University of Missouri (USA).
Researchers: Dr. Cal Horton and Prof. Anne Laure Humbert (Oxford Brookes University), Dr. AJ Eckert (Quinnipiac University), and Dr. Quinnehtukqut McLamore (University of Missouri).
Dr Cal Horton, the principal investigator for this project, said: "The RSC and Science and Innovation Network-funded ASPIRE project seeks to understand and address the barriers trans people face in STEM careers. In a time of increasing precarity in both the UK and US, the research will consider the impacts of systemic discrimination and hostile climates on trans support and retention in STEM. The research aims to help ensure STEM disciplines can attract and retain trans talent, creating welcoming professions where trans people can excel."
Our inclusion and diversity strategy makes it clear that we believe that chemistry should be an environment for everyone and that for the chemical sciences to prosper, they must attract, develop and retain a diverse range of talented people. As a professional and membership body, and a leading voice for the chemistry community, we have a responsibility to promote inclusivity and accessibility in order to improve diversity.
As well as publishing our research into LGBT+ issues in STEM, we have also launched the RSC LGBT+ toolkit in 2020. These grant awards represent the next step and a considerable investment in the future of not just the chemical sciences but the STEM sector generally. It is hoped that the research funded will lead to real change that can have long-term benefits and encourage more LGBT+ scientists to remain within their chosen fields.
“I'm genuinely proud of the steps we're taking as a community in supporting our LGBT+ colleagues," said Professor Gill Reid, our President. "As well as delivering on commitments to publish our data and research into LGBT+ issues in STEM, we launched an RSC LGBT+ toolkit in partnership with other learned societies.
“These grant awards represent the next step and a considerable investment in the future of not just the chemical sciences but the STEM sector generally. We hope that the research funded will lead to real change that can have long-term benefits and encourage more LGBT+ scientists to flourish within their chosen fields.”
This grant programme has brought together UK and US institutions, getting them to work together towards a common goal. The launch of the grant was supported by a Wilton Park Conference, Data for Retention: Addressing under-representation of LGBTQ+ minorities in STEM. The conference helped to establish a UK-US community of experts working together on diversity, equity and inclusion in STEM and led to the drafting of a UK-US open-source policy guide for universities. A report of the event is available online.
Dame Karen Pierce, the British Ambassador to the United States, believes that the grants have the potential to offer real, long-term benefits to the scientific community and could boost innovation.
She said: “The UK remains committed to leading the technologies of the future as a global science and technology superpower. This funding to improve UK-US research in bolstering recruitment and retention of LGBTQ+ scientists is an important step to ensure diverse representation in our scientific communities and hence re-examine opportunities for innovation. I congratulate the grant winners across the US and am grateful for their work strengthening the scientific innovation shared between our two countries.”
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