Closes: 9.00am, Monday 19 February 2024

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) aims to promote the inclusion and progression of people from diverse backgrounds in STEM, and to encourage government, parliamentarians, academics, businesses and other stakeholders to work towards a STEM sector that is representative of the population.

Since its formation in 2018 the APPG has undertaken a variety of policy activities relating to STEM and the pursuit of equity in the sector. Beginning with a series of events in 2018 discussing education, industrial strategy, regional disparity and social mobility the Group then moved focus to conduct two in-depth inquiries into equity in STEM education (2020) and equity in the STEM workforce (2021) and a report on regional STEM skills inequity (2023).

Our projects have brought together experts from across STEM and evidence submissions from 100+ organisations to present findings and produce practical sets of recommendations, which the group will continue to promote and action over the coming years.

The APPG previously ran open calls for inquiry subject ideas in 2018 and 2021, which inspired our education and workforce inquiry focus. The purpose of this call for ideas is to explore potential subjects and activities in relation to equality, equity, diversity and inclusion in STEM. In this work the APPG seeks to represent and explore the diversity of views and voices from across STEM.

We would like to invite submissions of potential future activities for the group to undertake. We are interested to hear your suggestions on the following:

Subject area

Previous work has looked in depth at STEM education in England, issues of inequity across the UK workforce, and regional STEM skills inequity. Is there another area you believe would benefit from an in-depth exploration? Should we broaden or narrow our focus?

Based on the feedback we received from the MPs and Lords in the APPG and other stakeholders, we would particularly welcome submissions in the areas of:

• Diversity and inclusion in AI – for example, what are the opportunities and risks that AI can bring to diversity and inclusion in STEM?
• Inclusive STEM teaching and learning – what classroom approaches are helping to improve diversity and inclusion in STEM?

Type of activity

Our recent work has taken the form of an inquiry into a specific part of the STEM ecosystem and research projects. We are open to undertaking similar type of work again in 2024 but would also like to explore alternative interactive routes of policy analysis and action. Some initial ideas:

• Discussion roundtables
• Inquiry with an evidence submission
• Primary (surveys, interviews etc) or secondary (desk research, economic studies of existing data sets) research
• Analysis or evaluation of existing policies or laws
• Workshops
• Events or debates in Parliament
• Co-creation events or policy hackathons

In your submission we would encourage you to consider:

• the problem that needs addressing and why Parliamentarians need to know about it
• a suggestion of the most suitable type of activity (optional)
• type of change and solutions that could result from your suggested activity
• the policy or law that could be changed/influenced and which communities would benefit from this
• where there is existing evidence and who the experts are in your suggested area
• the best people and organisations for us to consult to achieve your suggestion
• why would this subject/activity benefit from the APPG looking at it? Are there any other organisations that would be more suited to leading this activity?

All submissions will be presented to the MPs and Lords in the APPG who will decide on future subjects and activities for the Group to explore.

Please note: We are opening a ‘call for ideas’ to ensure we include as many different perspectives as possible in our work. We are looking to pursue one of these projects over the next 12 months. In previous ‘calls for ideas’ we have received a lot of responses and there is no guarantee your suggestion will be chosen.

Responding to the call for ideas

There are two options for submitting your idea:

• Complete the Google form (opens in new tab)
• Send your idea via email by downloading and filling in our form (Microsoft Word document)

Please submit your idea by Monday 19 February.

If you have any questions, get in touch with the Secretariat at [email protected]

The Google form consists of several free text boxes and multiple choice questions. There is an option to upload any further information in the form of a Word or PDF document.

If submitting via email, you can also attach PDFs or other documentation. Please describe the additional documents in your email.

All submissions will be made public on the British Science Association website, unless otherwise specified.