Earlier this year UKRI published aggregated diversity data regarding grant applications and successes, with findings that women and ethnic minorities apply for and are awarded smaller amounts. More recently some finer grained data was released showing furthermore that the award rate for men and women diverges for larger grant values.
EPSRC are concerned by these findings and are investigating possible reasons for this; as such they have launched a survey for all researchers to share their reflections and experiences to help better understand the factors behind this gap. A link to the survey is here.
For a thoughtful discussion on the findings and possible actions that could be taken by universities and grant awarding bodies, the blog piece ‘Getting Behind Diversity Statistics’ by Athene Donald, master of Churchill College Cambridge provides some good pointers for reflection.
The UK Department for International Trade (DIT) announced the winners of the first edition of the European Tech Women Awards. This took place virtually during London Tech Week on 2 September.
The event recognised the accomplishments of 24 women from 12
countries who delivered revolutionary projects in the UK and Europe. It
celebrated the UK’s diversity, openness and willingness to champion
female leaders.
Computer Weekly has announced the 2020 list of the Most Influential Women in UK Technology, including this year’s winner, Anne-Marie Imafidon, CEO of Stemettes.
Our team presents findings from an international online survey (n=387) of recording engineers, producers, and studio assistants’ experiences of discrimination and microaggressions within the recording studio. In this session we discuss how both our quantitative and qualitative findings highlight significant and systemic gender inequalities within the recording field. In partnership with the Audio Engineering Society and through the support of The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and Community of Research Excellence Development Opportunities (CREDO).
Event Details: October 7, 2020, 1pm – 2pm MST Zoom link here
This is a message from Simon Lucas (head of school at EECS).
In October this year we will be marking Black History Month, an opportunity to celebrate the achievements, contributions and histories of Black people in the UK and around the world.
To mark Black History Month in the Faculty of Science & Engineering, we will be celebrating the work of historical and contemporary Black scientists, researchers and contributors through a ‘People Profile Series’.
We hope this will help highlight the important
contributions of Black researchers working across STEM and in turn
encourage us all to work on diversifying our curriculums to include more
work by Black academics.
To help us explore the diverse contributions of Black researchers to science and engineering, we want
your nominations of who you would like to see featured in this series.
Your nominations can be for historic or
contemporary figures from both within and outside the Queen Mary
community. Your nominations will then be collated and shared through
various communication channels during October.
What you need to do:
To submit your nomination for inclusion in the People Profile Series, you will need to send the following information to
Sophie McLachlan, Faculty Communications Manager (Science and Engineering) by
Monday 5th October:
The name of your nominee, who
they are and a summary of their contributions to science and engineering
(e.g. what area of STEM they have contributed to and how, what impact
have they had etc.)
A photo of them and a link to a webpage for further information if possible
Why you are nominating them, what do they mean and/or represent to you?
Your own name and School
If you are
considering nominating someone who works at Queen Mary, please ensure
you ask their permission before nominating them.
Magda had made some outstanding research
contributions to decision-making and behavioural interventions, and
works closely with different groups in EECS (RIM and CogSci). She is
also seconded for 50% of her time to the Government’s Dept
of Business and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) where she is currently
influencing senior decision makers in the Office for Product Safety and
Standards (OPSS).
Thank you to Norman Fenton for this nomination.
If a Black researcher within your field (or another
field within STEM) does not immediately spring to mind, I would ask you
to reflect on why this might be the case and take the time to do some
research on the work of Black academics in
your area. I hope this project will help us all learn more about the
important contributions of Black people to science, and ensure we do
better going forward to platform and highlight their work within our
curriculums and our own research.
I look forward to reading your nominations.
Black History Month in the context of Black Lives Matter
While marking this celebratory month, it is also
important to remember the broader context of racial inequalities and
anti-Blackness around the world and across the UK. The events earlier
this year following the death of George Floyd and
the Black Lives Matter movement brought this context and the urgency of tackling all forms of individual, structural and institutional racism into sharp focus.
Educating ourselves and others is an incredibly
important first step in tackling racism, so I urge you to all to take
the time to begin this work: you can find a range of educational
resources
here.
Our work in EECS
As a School, we will be working with the University
to contribute to the new Race Equality Action Group and the production
of a race equality strategy. You can find out more about this
here.
If you want to get involved in Equality, Diversity
& Inclusion (EDI) work in EECS or join our School EDI Committee,
please get in touch with
Laurissa Tokarchuk or
Nikos Tzevelekos. You can also get involved with the Science & Engineering EDI Committee by contacting
Daisy Crowfoot, the EDI Officer for S&E.
The IEEE has launched a virtual workshop that will take place October 26-27th on signal processing. PROGRESS (PROmotinG DiveRsity in Signal ProcESSing aims to support women and under-represented minorities in the field of signal processing. The objective is to promote diversity in the field and the project will motivate and prepare those attending to pursue academic positions. The workshop will give information, tools and networking opportunities.
Highlights include: – Inspirational talk by Prof Mary Cummings (researcher in human-robot interaction and one of the first US navy female fighter pilot) – Professional training to support career success – Panel of high profile academics discussing hiring processes
23rd September is Bi-Visibility Day and to raise awareness QMUL is calling for staff to join the LGBTQ+ staff role models in giving a short bio and interview, with some fantastic examples here.
“Visibility and representation is particularly important for bi+ (this includes people who are pan, omnisexual, bi romantic, questioning and/or bi-curious to name a few) communities as their experiences and identities are often denied by and erased from both LGBTQ+ and heteronormative spaces. Bi+ people can also face biphobia from both these groups. Visibility can help people feel seen, included, valued and able to be their authentic selves. ” — original call from QMUL
For more details on how to get involved, please get in touch with the EECS Equalities team.
Ada’s List are hosting their annual conference over the afternoons of October 14th and 15th, with lots of great content on using tech for good and empowering anyone who identifies as a woman in a tech workplace. The programme will be announced soon; in the meantime, here is the Eventbrite for signing up and also some highlights from last year’s event as a taster.
Ada Lovelace day is held on the second Tuesday in October and celebrates women working in STEM around the world. This year it will be purely online but you can find videos from previous years on YouTube.
A new group focussing on race equality has been formed at Queen Mary. It is currently looking for volunteers to help out with priorities including: the ethnicity pay gap, supporting career progression, reducing student attainment gaps and investigating issues with bullying and harassment. It will act as an advisory and implementation group for all aspects of race equality at QM. If you want to know more, find out here:
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