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A new tool to support EDI in HE

25 Jan 2021 | Lucy Jones Lucy Jones introduces the EDI Resource Bank – a new open-access database hosted by the University of Nottingham to support those engaging in EDI in UK universities

Bringing resources together

In recent years, universities around the country have seen a huge increase in work towards equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). With initiatives like Athena Swan and the Race Equality Charter now widely established, and conversations around transforming institutional culture commonplace, more and more people are engaging in EDI work. There’s a lot of good practice out there already and EDI practitioners have much to learn from each other, both in terms of evidence of inequalities in university settings and the initiatives that have been developed to tackle them. But, whilst this information is typically freely available, it’s also disparate and hard to find. That’s why we’ve developed the EDI Resource Bank: a new, open-access database which brings together materials to support EDI work in a range of HE settings.

Supporting the EDI community

The EDI Resource Bank hosts reports and initiatives that have been produced by institutions and organisations to support EDI in teaching and research. Through an intuitive, straightforward portal, users can quickly locate information which will help them in planning and developing their own work towards breaking down barriers and creating more inclusive practice. The EDI Resource Bank is designed so that anybody working in EDI can contribute to it: this might include guidance they’ve written for staff in their university on how to support students with protected characteristics, for example, or a report on inclusive hiring practices published by a research council that they’ve found useful. The aim is for the EDI Resource Bank to be used by EDI practitioners all over the UK, and for it to reflect the questions, concerns, and priorities of the EDI community itself. The University of Nottingham’s EDI Coordinator team will be moderating the Resource Bank, drawing on their expertise to ensure that submissions are appropriate before being shared more widely.

Who we are

The EDI Resource Bank has been developed as part of STEMM-CHANGE, a project at the University of Nottingham funded by EPSRC Inclusion Matters. The project team have been working on several linked projects which aim to drive positive change in culture and practice across STEMM. I’ve been leading a strand of this project which aimed to remove barriers to EDI by making good practice freely available (developed initially by Dr Karen Salt, now UKRI Deputy Director for Culture and Environment). The outcome of this is the EDI Resource Bank, developed by STEMM-CHANGE Research Fellow Dr Paul Holmes. Though originating from a STEMM-focused project, the EDI Resource Bank contains resources relevant to work and study across all subjects and disciplines.

Get involved!

We invite you to take a look at the EDI Resource Bank today. Please also help us build the database even further by submitting resources that you’ve developed or would recommend to others working in EDI. If you have any questions, just email resource-bank@nottingham.ac.uk!

Lucy Jones is an Associate Professor in the School of English and Director of EDI for the Faculty of Arts at the University of Nottingham.

Visit the EDI Resource Bank

Find out more about Advance HE's work in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion understand the common issues in further and higher education to design inclusive support services, develop accessible campus environments and make everyone feel welcome at your institution. We also offer tailored solutions to tackle EDI issues at institutions, find out more here.

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