DiveRSE talk Improving Diversity and Inclusion in the RSE Community 8th June 2023

“Improving Diversity and Inclusion in the RSE Community” is a presentation for people interested in improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Research Software Engineering community, be they Chairs of Committees or RSEs in multi-disciplinary teams.

It provides a framework to understand that the underlying problem is systemic, it explains that the discrimination has an accumulated impact over time for diverse candidates, and it gives you practical advice and tips on things you can actually do right now to make a difference.

It focuses on explaining the problem in concrete, not abstract terms - such as giving you glimpses of how people from marginalised groups are discriminated against subtly, like when they are ignored as possible renters or they are ignored at events.

It also shows all the ways the framework has been implemented from recruitment to conferences to presentations so that you have concrete ideas on how you can do practical things to improve DEI in your community straight away.

This is available on figshare with an accessible powerpoint presentation as well as a non-accessible PDF version.

• Link to the DiveRSE talk landing page
• Link to this hackmd.io notepad
• Link to the accessible presentation Powerpoint
• Marcia J. Anderson en Twitter: “A note to organizations considering anti-racism work: When whiteness is centered, we center what whiteness is willing to change. When Black & Indigenous folks are centered, we center our potential, our rights, & our strengths. Only one of these approaches will lead to change.”

Related links

• Link to the presentation slides
• Link to the more recruitment minded Improving Diversity and Inclusion in Senior Management
  • Link to the 43 tips that you can do as an individual or organisation
    • Examples of position description changes
      • Ensure increasing diversity strategy is counted as a KPI or selection criteria in the position description.
      • Do a discourse analysis to ensure the PD and the ad doesn’t use stereotypical male attributes for leadership.
      • Ensure the PD and the job ad point to the Diversity and Inclusion strategy.
      • Ask for a referee that worked for the applicant and belongs to a marginalised group.
      • Highlight that feedback on the inclusivity and language of the position description is welcomed.
    • Examples of selection criteria:
      • Demonstrated ability to have difficult conversations around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
      • Demonstrated ability to raise and solve diversity and inclusion issues in the workplace.
      • Demonstrated ability to champion, identify and mentor diverse candidates for senior management roles and provide safe spaces for them.
      • Demonstrated ability to connect with diverse stakeholders.
      • Demonstrated ability to attract diverse, talented, future leaders to the organisation.
    • As I review position descriptions, I will add my suggestions to an online spreadsheet to explain what I changed and why. Here are some examples from that spreadsheet.
• Link to helping as an individual with more details

• Link to improving position descriptons

• Link to the RSE Leadership Training Course Outline
• Link to Using Intersectionality to underpin a conference
• Link to the Continuous Improvement Skills presentation
• Link to Allyship Workshop OLS with Esther Plomp - see slide 50

UK Specific links

• Bank of England’s Court Review of Ethnic Diversity and Inclusion
• British Film Institute, one of the UK’s most powerful movie funding bodies, admitted to a filmmaker of color last year that it is “systemically racist” after apologizing for how it handled his long-running complaint over alleged discrimination.
• Police Scotland chief says force is institutionally racist
• UK failing to address systemic racism against black people, warn UN experts
• Family of Awaab Ishak killed by mould in Rochdale flat say racism played part in his death
• BAME people hold just 4.6% of the UK’s most powerful roles, data shows
• Only 11 top roles across FTSE 100 held by ethnic minority leaders, research finds
• ‘Postcode privilege’: Australia edges towards UK and US levels of inequality
• NHS ‘riddled with racism’ against ethnic minority doctors
• UK’s white female academics are being privileged above women – and men – of colour Kalwant Bhopal
• Women’s private pensions worth 35% less than men’s in Great Britain
  • Latina Women Earn Less Than White, Black, and Native Women—Here’s How We Can Close the Pay Gap