EDIS symposium: The Association of Medical Research Charities’ reflections

AMRC

The EDIS symposium held in summer 2019 was a springboard for us here at the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC). Seeking to make progress on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in science and health, it had been challenging to know where to begin. Since the symposium, however, AMRC has taken its first steps in promoting more inclusive research and experimental design, and in aspiring to set new standards of inclusivity at our events and conferences. We are beginning to share best practice across our membership – 140 of the UK’s leading medical and health research charities – whose supporter networks and public reach are helping to further amplify this.

More inclusive events

Two innovations I witnessed at the symposium stand out for simplicity: first, the provision of ‘personal pronoun preference’ stickers alongside standard attendee name badges. This worked brilliantly, engaging those that are not yet mindful of gender identity issues by simply being voluntary.

Second, a shift away from the tradition of clapping as a sign of appreciation. Clapping is predominantly reflexive and innocuous, yet a room full of applause can overstimulate and distress those with audio-sensory problems. This barrier to participation is easily removed by substituting in a shake of the hands instead, similar to the dance action of ‘jazz-hands’ in musical theatre. At the symposium, I was caught off-guard and accidentally started to clap, before catching myself, the first time a speaker received a room-full of silent yet visually animated applause.
Though these are minor innovations, what counts here is that the ball is rolling; awareness has been raised, people may begin to feel acknowledged and these are the first steps to gradually normalising diversity and inclusion within the science and research community.

Embedding changes to events requires patience and goodwill from all involved, but it’s also vital to think practically about whether and when a given change is appropriate. The alternative to clapping outlined above could create new problems for those hosting visually impaired guests, for example. Our approach at AMRC will be to encourage members to incorporate EDI into their research management and event planning across the board. We hope this will discourage tokenistic gestures and instead ensure EDI measures are targeted to where they can make the most impact.

Other highlights from the symposium include the provision of live speech transcribing, gender-neutral toilets and a timetable that was staggered and repeated over two days – this helps those travelling from afar or patients who would struggle to make an early morning start time. These kinds of adjustments are slightly more resource-dependent and often subject to the cost and flexibility of third-party venues. The key is that these options are considered during event design.

EDI throughout the research process

Building on the success of the 2019 EDIS symposium, AMRC is holding workshops in Spring and Autumn of 2020 that will explore practical steps for organisations to make research more inclusive. These include integrating diversity into organisations’ research strategies, improving the diversity of grant applications and recognising unconscious bias in recruitment to research committees. For more information visit www.amrc.org.uk/events or contact AMRC Events Lead Gill Daniell on g.daniell@amrc.org.uk

As part of the Policy and Public Affairs team, Rohan Bundell is Public Affairs Officer at the Association of Medical Research Charities. He coordinates the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Medical Research, which the AMRC provides the Secretariat for. Rohan has a background in the life sciences, having studied BSc Biology at the University of Bath, before moving on to study an MA in Public Policy at King’s College London.