The British Science Association believes that, for too long, science has been the preserve of professional scientists. We believe science should be open to everyone, regardless of background or experience.

We know there are persistent structural barriers to equality in many areas of UK society, culture and work, and we believe that transforming the diversity and inclusivity of science can play a part in tackling them.

Find out how we developed our equality, diversity and inclusion practice

Putting equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of all that we do

In 2018, after consulting with staff, volunteers and external stakeholders we changed the British Science Association’s mission to ‘transform the diversity and inclusivity of science’.

There many dimensions of diversity and we need to consider how different groups of people conceptualise ideas and ask questions that make sense to them. Our aim is to be able to understand the meanings and values that people use to interact with their world, so that we reframe what counts as science, and begin to change the relationship people have with it.

Alongside the protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010, we’ll consider many other aspects of people’s lives, such as socioeconomic background, social class and cultural engagement. We will take an intersectional approach and we are undertaking in-depth research to understand the challenges and opportunities for different audiences. 

For our vision to come to fruition, we need to be able to engage with people in groups that are poorly represented in science, and that’s why equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) needs to be central to our activities.

This signals a change in direction for the British Science Association; we will strive to put equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do.

Our EDI action plan

We have drawn up an EDI action plan that sets out the British Science Association's commitment to EDI both in our external activities as well as what we are doing internally to improve our own culture and capabilities in this area.

Some activities are part of our programmes, while others are part of our underpinning structures and policies.

The British Science Association established three objectives for our work on EDI:

1. Develop our staff and internal systems to ensure the British Science Association reflects the society we want to see, and develops inclusive culture and policies;
2. Change our programmes to increase their relevance to audiences who are traditionally under-represented in science engagement activities, and empower people to run science engagement activities for their networks and communities;
3. Influence other organisations and individuals in the science engagement to sector to develop and improve their EDI practices in capability and audience development to reach new audiences.

We recognise that in many settings, at the British Science Association and beyond, EDI can be seen as an add-on or ‘fix’ to the regular work. Our EDI aims will be embedded in our new strategy and we hope there will no longer be a need for a stand-alone EDI Action Plan in the future.   

This work was catalysed by the Sustaining Excellence grant we received from the Wellcome Trust to accelerate our progress in improving our diversity and inclusion.

Internal and external transformation of the scale we are hoping to achieve will not happen overnight, and – because our EDI goals extend to our values and behaviours – we will strive to be a visible leader in this area; committed to collecting, using and disseminating evidence, and transparent about our own journey. 

1) Our staff and systems

We want the British Science Association to be more representative of UK society – in terms of protected characteristics, social background and science identity. Our goal is for our workforce diversity to match the location(s) in which we’re based and for all our staff to report that the British Science Association is an inclusive place to work.

We strive to be a fair employer, offering employment and volunteering opportunities to a range of people. We believe that having staff and volunteers at all levels from a wide range of backgrounds and skills will help produce ideas and solutions that may not come from a smaller range of groups. A diverse workforce can also help us better understand and meet the needs of diverse audience groups, and thus create events and programmes that raise the diversity of our audiences.

We endeavour to provide equality and fairness for all our staff and volunteers and to create a working environment that promotes dignity and respect for all, where individual differences and the contributions of all staff and volunteers are recognised and valued. We regularly monitor the make-up and satisfaction of our staff and volunteers and will make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities.

Click here to explore our Staff and Trustees' Diversity Data

2) Our programmes

We aim for the British Science Association’s programmes to be increasingly effective at engaging communities who are under-represented in science. Our goal is to diversify the audiences reached, year-on-year for each programme, and to increase the effectiveness of our programmes using evidence and evaluation.

We want our programmes to be inclusive and to reach diverse audiences. Below are some examples of how we are doing this:

• Our Smashing Stereotypes campaign is a collection of over 40 stories from individuals and teams that challenge long-standing stereotypes, with the aim of encouraging more young people, from all backgrounds, to see themselves as scientists. 
• Our community engagement programmes work with diverse groups around the UK to run science and research-related projects that are meaningful to them.
• Speakers and participants in For Thought include leaders from business, the arts, and science that are also diverse in terms of race and gender.
• Year after year, we see an even gender split on the numbers of students completing CREST Awards.
• The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM will push for progress with Parliamentarians.
• Our programmes are designed to be as inclusive as possible and are held in accessible venues.

3) Influencing and learning from others

We are committed to both influencing the science engagement and beyond, as well as learning from our peers and best practice in this area. Activities that we have undertaken, include:

• Launching our election manifesto which included key policy changes to improve diversity and inclusion in science;
• Re-registered the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM (for which the British Science Association provides the Secretariat);
• We also regularly post about EDI issues in our blog - these include updates on our programmes, learnings from our internal journey, and insights from external contributors.