Diversity in Research Podcast
Diversiunity & Cloud Chamber
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An exploration of diversity in research management and international research collaborations. We cover how we make research environments more inclusive and why doing this helps us to solve global challenges through research. Based in Europe but talking to the world of academic research.
Available episodes
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Sep 25, 2023
PRIDE in STEM - a conversation with Dr Alfredo Carpineti
In this episode, we talk to Dr. Alfredo Carpineti, science reporter, founder and chair of PRIDE in STEM. We explored what PRIDE in STEM is - whether it's still important - and whether things are worse for LGTBQ+ people in STEM than in the rest of academia.
That all led us to a conversation about the challenges of the politicisation of LGTBQ+ issues in many countries, internationalisation - and finally, how we can all help make academia more LGBTQ+ inclusive.
Alfredo is good company - and we think everybody can learn a lot from our conversation with him about LGBTQ+ rights in a challenging time.
You can learn more about Pride in STEM at: https://prideinstem.org/
You can follow them on X/Twitter at: https://twitter.com/PrideinSTEM
You can follow Alfredo on X/Twitter at: https://twitter.com/DrCarpineti
This episode is produced and edited by: Peter Xiong
00:00 - Intro
01:28 - Alfredo's background
02:45 - Why did Alfredo found Pride in Stem?
08:58 - Why focus on STEM?
15:55 - Diversity vs discrimination
19:26 - Navigating protecting employees and national politics
33:34 - What challenges/opportunities do you see for LGBTQ in academia?
44:30 - Change starting from universities
49:24 - How do you support an LGBTQ person in academia?
54:03 - End of interview
55:12 - Interview Recap
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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Sep 12, 2023
How can you include diversity and internationalisation in research proposals?
Season seven is here!
We kick off the new season by discussing how you can include diversity and internationalisation in research proposals. We know this isn't always familiar territory for people so we thought talking you through our approach might take away some of the fear!
We developed a model during the pandemic that we use in our work to help researchers and research managers get started in tackling what can be a complex issue. We developed a structure and questions to build on so the task doesn't feel daunting. We call it the FLOW model and explain what that means in this episode.
So this time, we get our hands dirty and get practical about operationalising some of the things we have discussed on the podcast into research projects.
You can download the FLOW model here.
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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Jul 7, 2023
Hey Gurl - Congrats on the new job Iliona Ivanova!
We begin this episode by welcoming the new EU Commissioner (expected at least) Iliona Ivanovo, by saying “Hey gurl”! as only two gay guys can do it.
We finish season 6 with a look back at the first half of 2023 and looking at wins and fails from our point of view. We look at some of the workshops we have run, research policy and other things going on in diversity and internationalisation in research and research management.
And then we look at what’s to come in the rest of the year - for us - and particularly our expectations regarding the new ERA strategy, the next REF and the early discussions of FP10. Because a lot is going on that will set the scene for the coming years - in some instances for many years, and that’s, of course, interesting in a field like diversity that is undergoing rapid change right now.
This episode is edited by Arthur Deligne.
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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May 29, 2023
The importance of representation - on being the first woman of colour chairing EARMA - and how ARMA has worked with diversity
This episode is inspirational and aspirational as we continue exploring what we learned at the EARMA Conference 2023.
Right before the conference, EARMA elected Dipti Pandya, chair-elect of EARMA as the first woman of colour. So we had a chat with her and Rosie Madnick, the past president of NCURA, and the first black woman to chair that organisation, about the role of representation. Rosie gave Dipti some good advice, and we talked about how diversity and representation will play a role in projects like RM Roadmap and the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment.
Then we have a conversation with Lorna Wilson, chair-elect of ARMA, and Sapna Marwaha, deputy-chair of ARMA, about their work on diversity within the organisation itself. They presented at the conference, right before our panel, and this was a good excuse to follow up on the episode (Season 3, episode 2) with the then-chair of ARMA, Jennifer Stergiou, who initiated this work.
As always, we finish by discussing what we learned from the conversations.
The episode was edited by Arthur Deligne.
You can learn more about our guests and the organisations mentioned here:
*Dipti Pandya*
LinkedIn
Twitter
*EARMA*: https://earma.org/
LinkedIN
Twitter
*Rosie Madnick*
LinkedIn
Twitter
*NCURA*: https://www.ncura.edu/
LinkedIn
Twitter
*Lorna Wilson*:
LinkedIn
Twitter
*Sapna Marwaha:*
LinkedIn
Twitter
*ARMA*: https://arma.ac.uk/
LinkedIn
Twitter
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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May 16, 2023
EARMA Annual Conference 2023: Lessons on diversity, internationalisation and professional development
We had the pleasure of participating in the EARMA Annual Conference in Prague. We hosted our own panel, Jakob was part of a discussion table - and we listened to presentations, looked at the posters and had lots of discussions and fun.
In this episode, we follow up on the conference by reflecting on the role of diversity and internationalisation at the conference generally and in specific sessions.
We also have a chat about the two issues that cut through the conference: The RM Roadmap project and The Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment.
We enjoyed the conference, and we would like to thank the people who came to our sessions, the presenters we listened to and all the people we talked to.
Thank you to EARMA for letting us record at the conference.
This episode was edited by Arthur Deligne.
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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Apr 18, 2023
Diversity and discrimination in research organisations. A conversation with Clemens Striebing
In this episode we talk to Clemens Striebing about the book that he co-edited called "Diversity and Discrimination in Research Organizations" (link below).
We talked about the difference between discimination and diversity, and why that matters, because often we actually talk about anti-discrimination initiatives when we talk about diversity, and that is making the discussion unclear.
We also talk about leadership and management, and how New Public Management has impacted how research organisations work with diversity.
The books has chapters on internationalisation and countries around the world, so we had a good chat about internationalisation and it's role and finally the role of research managers and administrators in this work.
This is an important work and as always we thoroughly enjoyed the conversation. Clemens and the other writers of this book are doing important work for moving the conversation and the practical work on discrimination and diversity.
We can only recommend you give the book a read - once you have finished listening to the podcast episode of course.
You can find the book here: https://books.emeraldinsight.com/book/detail/diversity-and-discrimination-in-research-organizations/?k=9781801179591
You can follow Clemens on Twitter : https://twitter.com/CStriebing
This episode was edited by Arthur Deligne.
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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Mar 27, 2023
FundFit - Can software solutions for identifying research funding help us address diversity in international research?
We don't want to admit it, but it's been a few years since we were research advisors. Not that we're old - not at all, but it's been a while since we worked with funding databases to identify research funding for researchers.
So imagine us getting an introduction to Streamlyne's software FundFit. We found it really interesting and wanted a chat about what it can and can't do, and the potential in FundFit and other software solutions. Luckily, Streamlyne's CEO Randy Özden was happy to join us on the podcast for a chat. And we learn a lot from his insights and his reflections on the future of software in the field.
And while we still think that the core skills are person skills when it comes to diversity and internationalisation, we recognise that software solutions will increasingly be part of the toolbox in the future.
We had fund and learnt a lot, and it's definitely a topic that we will follow-up on in the future. We hope you enjoy the conversation.
This episode is edited by Arthur Deligne.
For more information about Streamlyne do check out their links below:
Website: http://streamlyne.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/streamlyne-inc
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Streamlyne_inc
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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Mar 14, 2023
In 2050 Nigeria will have the world’s 3rd largest population. What do you know about their research policy?
It’s absolutely bonkers we don’t talk more about Nigerian research policy!
Have you ever said that to yourself or your colleagues? No! Well, you should.
Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and the country with the largest population on the continent as well. And in 2050 it will have the 3rd largest population in the world. So an important country that will only grow in importance.
We were slightly embarrassed that we knew next to nothing about the country’s research policy and used the country’s presidential elections as an occasion to learn more, so we had a chat with Dr Mustapha Popoola Ayo, who’s quite the expert on the topic. And we talked research policy broadly, infrastructure, funding and international collaboration. It is an inspirational and informative chat.
This is not our last episode exploring research policies in countries we don’t necessarily talk about in that context. There will be more to follow.
This episode was produced and edited by Arthur Deligne.
You can read more about Mustapha’s new project at: www.s2nigeria.com
You can find him on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mustapha-ayo-phd-01599061/
Or on Twitter as: @greeners_s2b
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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Feb 28, 2023
How do research grant writers think about diversity? A conversation with Niels Tudor-Vinther from The Grant.
Admittedly we sometimes live in a bubble where all things diversity and internationalisation are incredibly interesting and incredibly important. And they are. But how about the research managers and administrators who support researchers in writing grant proposals?
We needed a snap back to reality, and who better to help us with that than Niels Tudor-Vinther. Niels was work with European research funding in different ways for a number of years, several of them as a proposal writer. Now he’s the host of “The Grant”, a podcast dedicated to European research funding. So not only can he talk about his own experience – he has talked to research managers from all over Europe about this topic.
But how do they talk about diversity and internationalisation? Do they talk about it at all? And their thoughts on Gender Equality Plans?
We have both worked pre-award previously in our careers, so we could certainly see ourselves in some of the points.
We had fun and had some good discussions – and look forward to chat with Niels again in the future.
You can find Niels and The Grant here:
Connect with Niels at LinkedIn
Learn more about The Grant at the website: https://www.thegrant.eu/
This episode was edited and produced by Arthur Deligne.
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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Feb 14, 2023
Science communication, social media and attention - the dilemmas of minorities. A conversation with Julius Wesche
We're back with the first episode of season six (can you believe it!).
We kick off with a conversation with Julius Wesche about science communication and particularly social media. For science communication to work you need attention - but not all researchers with a minority background like the attention as it can draw focus on their personal characteristics etc. and steer the communication in a negative direction. How do we balance that?
That was the core issue of our conversation that took us far and wide. Julius is a researcher at Norwegian University of Science and Technology and runs the consultancy "Science Communication Accelarator" and the podcast of the same name.
Julius managed to turn the roles and asked us questions - like in all good conversations. We all learned something and we agree, that science communication is a necessity - we just have to figure out which channels to use, and have a support system to catch us if shit hits the fan.
You can see more about Julius here:
His research profile: https://www.ntnu.edu/employees/julius.wesche
Read more about Science Communication Accelerator: https://scicomx.com/
Listen to his podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/2uO8pxtd1vL7zHBIa7NVpk?si=410eef8f29214b22&nd=1
or at: https://t.co/EB5gIAO25R
You can follow Julius and his company here:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JuliusWesche
Twitter: https://twitter.com/scicomxMedia
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliuswesche/
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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Nov 8, 2022
Queer Data: The challenge to research, researchers and open science. A conversation with Kevin Guyan
When we learned earlier this year about Kevin Guyan's book "Queer Data: Using Gender, Sex and Sexuality Data for Action" we knew we had to have him on the podcast.
We talk about what queer data is and what the queering of data is. The latter probably being less familiar to the listeners. And we talk about the pros and cons of queer data. Why it can actually be problematic for the queer community to have more data collected about them. We talk queer competencies and the central question: Who should be in the room?
Finally we talk about ethics, responsible research and the challenges of open science.
This is obviously a topic that is close to us personally. Still, we truly think that researchers, research managers, EDI consultants and other people involved in open science and science policy can learn much from this conversation.
We hope you enjoy the conversation.
You can learn more about Kevin here:
* Twitter: @kevin_guyan
* Website: www.kevinguyan.com
Links to the texts Kevi…
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Oct 18, 2022
Analyzing DG Research's new report on inclusive gender equality - and the next steps universities can take
In this episode, we take the opportunity to examine the recent European Commission report "Approaches to inclusive gender equality in research and innovation".
In a change of approach, instead of inviting the authors to talk to us, we did our own analysis of the report and chatted about what universities can do after reading the report. We liked the direction of travel outlined in the report and explored why this remains such an important area in higher education research.
Because one thing is certain after reading this report: DG Research wants diversity to be more than gender, so universities should prepare. Luckily our podcast will guide you through the key points and get you ready for the changes ahead.
You can find the report here:
https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/006a43e7-3eda-11ed-92ed-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and int…
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Oct 4, 2022
Reforming research assessment - what is the role of diversity? A conversation with Stephane Berghmans
In the episode, we talk to Stephane Berghmans, Director of Research and Innovation at the European University Association.
Stephane was in the room as the "Agreement on Reform of Research Assessment" was written, and we expect him to play a key role in the implementation as well.
We talked about how the agreement came about, why it is important - and of course, what happened to diversity in the principles. We didn't agree with Stephane on all things, but big principles are at stake here, so that's only natural - quite the contrary, it made it a great debate on the future of research assessment, the importance and challenges of institutional autonomy, and of course how research managers and administrators can play a role in the implementation.
We trust this will have a major impact in the coming years, so we were happy to get to talk about it from the outset, and this is surely one of the topics we'll follow closely - and we will continue to insist that diversity plays an important…
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Sep 15, 2022
Science diplomacy in a time of war - a conversation with Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen
Science diplomacy is a great concept, and one of the things that inspired us to move into this work. Actually Jakob thought about writing a PhD on the topic for a while.
But one thing is talking about the concept - another to put it into action in a time of war as we see now with the war in Ukraine.
So we invited professor Rasmus Gjedssø Bertelsen from the Arctic University in Norway (UiT) for a chat about why the science community cut all ties to Russia if we are so focused on the possibilities of science diplomacy, why we don't see the potential of science diplomacy in Afghanistan, what to think of the "stick to science campaign" and how research managers can work with science diplomacy in their daily work.
Rasmus Gjedssø is work package leader in the H2020 project InsSciDE where he runs a thread on "Power with Science Diplomacy". He is also a working group leader in the EU SD Alliance.
Rasmus had a lot on his heart and we had a great conversation about the broad implications o…
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Sep 6, 2022
Internationalisation as a Global South research funder - a conversation with Community Jameel
In this episode, we talk to Uzma Sulaiman, associate director of Community Jameel, an independent, global organisation.
The opportunity to chat with Community Jameel grabbed our attention as we rarely get to talk to a research funder from the Global South, specifically one targeting societal challenges in the Global South with Global South academic leads. We had a great conversation about their work and the importance of the Global South being a key player on the funding side of international research collaborations.
We, of course, also talked about the challenges of diversity and international collaborations, where there can be some very clear differences in different parts of the globe.
Discussions like these are important to us all to shift the perspective from a traditional Global North perspective and ensure we build effective research collaborations based on equality. The funding landscape is slowly shifting globally, and we should all pay attention.
You can find Community Ja…
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Aug 18, 2022
Roe vs Wade - Katie Pryal on why abortion is a Higher-Ed Issue.
There is no doubt that there are many immediate consequences for women in the US when it comes to the overturn of Roe vs Wade. It almost doesn't bare thinking. But we all should, and Katie Rose Guest Pryal caught our attention with an article in The Chronicle called: "Abortion is a Higher-Ed Issue " (link below).
Katie is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of North Carolina School of Law, an author and a public speaker. One of the topics she speaks and writes about is mental health and aspects of mental disability. In her article, she highlighted some of the many mental health consequences the Dobbs decision could have on mental health. It led to a broad conversation that really enlighted us on negative aspects of reproductive health for women generally, legal consequences for all just by talking about a potential abortion and the culture of mistrust the decision can lead to.
The consequences are many and dire, and we urge you all to pay attention to the many things that a…
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Jul 29, 2022
The overturn of Roe vs Wade: Who's next? Phillip Ayoub on the fight for LGBTQ+ rights and whether we should be concerned.
We saw the leak, but still. It couldn't happen. But it did.
In June the US Supreme Court overturned Roe vs Wade, the verdict that in 1973 ensured women's right to abortion on a federal level in the US.
In a controversial concurring opinion Justice Thomas basically promised to overturn the right to gay marriage, gay sex and contraception as well if the right cases were presented. So we decided to invite Phillip Ayoub on the podcast to learn more about the consequences for the staff with a minority back ground in academia and whether we should be worried globally.
Phillip is an incoming professor of political science at University College London. Before that he was an associate professor of diplomacy and world affairs at Occidental College, Los Angeles. In his book "When States Come Out" (link below) he wrote about the fight for gay rights in Europe. So he was just the person to ask: What went wrong? But also to ask where to look for inspiration.
You can learn more about Phillip at h…
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Jul 26, 2022
First Voices - promoting North American indigenous voices in academia
In this episode, we talk to Erika Valenti from Emerald Publishing and Ashley Richard from the University of Manitoba about the Emerald-led initiatives "First voices First" and "The Power of Diverse Voices". They focus on giving voice to indigenous people on their own terms and expanding the notion of what we consider research, with a focus on North America.
Ashley also tells us about her work for her community and female entrepreneurship, and you really get a sense of how important this work is, and how doing this work is not only making academia more inclusive but we're lifting an entire community. Talk about societal impact!
They are both in it for the long game and we have a great chat about the initiatives and their perspectives. We also cover the ethics of this kind of work and by the end, they both give advice on how we can proceed with this work in a constructive and respectful way.
This is one of those talks that show us how working with diversity can have a tremendous impac…
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Jan 19, 2022
Open science, international research collaborations and science diplomacy – challenges and possibilities for EU and European universities
In this chat we talk to Daniel Spichtinger from Austria on the topic of open science, why the EU Commission felt a need to develop a strategy for international research collaboration, what happened to "open to the world, how to understand " and what is "open strategic autonomy". We discuss the role of science diplomacy in an increasingly complex international world, and of course how minorities should navigate all this when talking about "values".
Since the podcast was recorded the EU has published a toolkit on how to mitigate foreign interference in research and innovation - this really is a fast-moving space! You can see the toolkit here: https://ec.europa.eu/info/news/commission-publishes-toolkit-help-mitigate-foreign-interference-research-and-innovation-2022-jan-18_en
You can contact Daniel on Twitter (@danielsp) or via LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/dspichtinger/
We are taking a short break from podcasts as we do some planning and preparation for the year ahead but we w…
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Dec 16, 2021
Social Media in Academic Life - Curse or blessing?
On the one side, social media is increasingly considered a part of societal and research impact in academia and it is a chance for us all to get in contact with like-minded people we would otherwise never interact with.
On the other side, we know that minority groups are increasingly targets of harassment and attacks on social media and that there are risks to using social media metrics as a measure of success and impact.
To explore these issues we had a fascinating chat with Mark Carrigan about social media in academia. He has recently released the second edition of his book on the topic.
We talked about the role of social media in academia, what the more nuanced take on social media in his second edition of the book looks like, why he took a break from Twitter (and why he is back) and finally we talk about the particular challenges of academics with a minority background on social media. We think that the concept of ' context collapse' was really interesting and will use that in t…
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Nov 23, 2021
The Race Equality Charter - learning from doing: the experience at Northumbria University
Northumbria University is currently working through the process to achieve the Race Equality Charter (https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/equality-charters/race-equality-charter). We talk to Professor Tom Lawson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and historian about the approach Northumbria is taking, why achieving the charter is important to them and how it fits into the bigger diversity and inclusion picture.
We have a really interesting conversation about listening and why that is key to making changes and improvements while recognising that the journey isn't complete when the charter is achieved. The work done as part of the process is more important than the charter itself.
Changing cultures in Higher Education, making them more inclusive and giving everyone equal opportunity is incredibly important to make sure that research is effective and international research collaborations thrive.
Do follow us on Twitter: @divrespod
For more information on the work we do please visit: www.diversiunity.com…
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Nov 11, 2021
Global Research Council - how public research funders work with equality and diversity in global research
Oh, to be in the mind of a research funder! How do they think? How do they work? What is that secret to get that grant?
The secret of course is that there is no secret, but in this episode we can share with you a little about what global public research funders think about equality, diversity and inclusion in research.
We talk to Roshni Abedin (UK) and Ana Maria Fonseca de Almeida (Brazil). They are both part of the Gender Working Group under Global Research Council. Global Research Council is a virtual organisation promoting communication and collaboration among science funding agencies around the world.
So learn more about how they collaborate, what to expect on the diversity agenda, and how funders think about the science ecosystem.
Learn more:
To learn more about Global Research Council at this link that will guide you directly to their Gender Working Group. There you can also find the groups publications that were mentioned in the conversation:
www.globalresearchcouncil.org/ab…
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Oct 25, 2021
How research collaboration in Africa is changing - a conversation with Joy Owango
The lyrics from a famous Danish aid song from the 1980s at some point says "Africa, the country that every child knows". And unfortunately, that still sums it up today.
Even though we know it is a continent and not a country, we too often think about it as one - to the extent, we think that much about Africa in the context of research at all (South Africa being the exception).
So we decided we needed to learn more; more about collaborations, funding, culture and so many other things about how research is developing in Africa.
Luckily, we got to chat with Joy Owango of TCC Africa (Training Centre in Communication). Joy had so many interesting points, fresh perspectives and we also talked about what the rest of the world could learn from research and research collaboration in Africa.
It was so eye-opening and inspiring, and we're sure you'll enjoy it.
To learn more about Joy Owango and TCC Africa:
The Training Centre in Communication(TCC Africa)*
Follow TCC Africa on Twitter: *@tcc…
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Oct 12, 2021
Ableism in academia - intersectional considerations and the impact on research.
Representation matters - and in this episode Dr. Laura Heath-Stout explains why.
Laura is an archaeologist, she's queer and she has a disability. We talk about how archaeological findings risk being misinterpreted, the challenge on being queer in an international setting such as an archaeological dig.
But this is not just a topic for archaeology or the humanities - this is for everybody, so we chatted about this and how we work with diversity in academia with a special focus on intersectionality.
We talk about how Laura navigates diversity now that it is so politiziced and where the balance is between structural work and activism.
When not on our podcast Laura is a postdoc in archaeology at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
We learned so much and we promise this is not the last episode on ableism.
You can find Laura here:
Her website: www.lauraheathstout.com
Twitter: @lauraheathstout
Unfortunately, the Disabled Archaeologists Network doesn't yet have a website up and runni…
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Sep 24, 2021
Research management from a Global South perspective
Happy Research Administrators Day!
To celebrate Research Administrators Day we decided it was time to learn more about how research management and administration looks like from a Global South perspective. So we had a chat with Therina Theron and Savita Ayyar.
Therina is the president of SARIMA ( Southern African Research and Innovation Management Association) and Senior Director of R&I at Stellenbosch University in South Africa.
Savita is founder of the consultancy Jaquaranda Tree and she is the lead of IRMI (India Research Management Initiative), a developing network for RMAs in India.
We talk all things research management and administration as seen from South Africa and India, the importance of international collaboration on RMAs and why you should all come to the next INORMS conference in Durban, South Africa in 2023.
Follow Therina and SARIMA :
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/therina-theron-63a95915
https://www.linkedin.com/company/southern-african-research-and-innovat…
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Sep 14, 2021
How can we best support the Afghan research community? A perspective from Kabul
Most watched in disbelief as Taliban regained the power in Afghanistan.
Many Afghans escaped but most stayed behind trying to keep society going and maintaining as positive a future as possible for Afghanistan.
One of them is Obaidullah Baheer, lecturer at the American University in Kabul. We had the opportunity to talk to him about the situation in Afghanistan and how we can best support him and the many others trying to keep universities running and securing higher education for future generations of Afghans.
As we talk about in the episode it is still early, but we hope many of you will listen and find ways your university can support the staff and students in Afghan universities in these challenging times.
Obaidullah is active on Twitter, so follow him for on the ground insights on the situation in Afghanistan.
Follow Obaidullah at Twitter: @obaidullahbaheer
Thanks for listening. Do please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in o…
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Jun 24, 2021
The Lost Voices - postdocs, precarity and diversity
You just have to admire the five people behind "The Lost Voices". We had the fortune of talking to them about the campaign. They started as a group of London based postdocs with diverse backgrounds who found it difficult to navigate academia and couldn't imagine having a career in research. That made them initiate "The Lost Voices" where they told their stories of race, religion, sexuality, ability etc that set them apart - and how precarity made it difficult for them to raise their voices. They did so anyway, and we are in awe of the risk they are taking, and for their home institutions who have funded them and listened to their findings.
You can hear more about their background and the work they have done in the episode, where we also talk about the report on diversity that the Russell Group published in late Spring this year, and as usual, we talk about how people in support functions at universities can help people whose voices are lost in academia.
If you are as impressed as we…
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Jun 8, 2021
Research Integrity - how does it relate to diversity and why should we care?
This has been a long time coming. But luckily we found Gowri Gopalakrishna and Krishma Labib from Amsterdam UMC , and they we're more than happy to be part of this conversation of the role of diversity in research integrity.
They told us about their own research on research integrity (fx the Netherlands Research Integrity Survey and the diversity of the 7th World Conference on Research Integrity), and why some people in the field do not necessarily think diversity should play a role when talking about research integrity.
They also shared some of their experiences of being women of colour in research, and as always we are grateful for people sharing personal stories like that.
Finally, they share how those of you in supporting roles can advance diversity in research integrity.
Research integrity is a developing research area, and with people like Gowri and Krishma working in this space we feel certain it will develop in a positive direction.
You can find our guests at:
Gowri Gopala…
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May 25, 2021
The role of culture in health workers' approach to LGBTQ+ patients - a conversation with Alfonso Pezella
Alfonso Pezella is a mental health lecturer at Middlesex University, and he has been part of the IENE9 research project that looks at intercultural training for nurses and health care workers in Europe with a focus on LGBTQ+ rights.
It was a broad discussion on the role of culture, the health consequences for LGBTQ+ persons and how training can look in this area. We also talked about how this approach can be used in health research collaborations where nurses and health care workers often play a significant role, and how we can use their findings when working with Horizon Europe and the EU Health Programme.
Our talk about internationalisation and being LGBTQ+ led to Alfonso sharing his own story of growing up gay in Italy and moving to the UK. We hope you all appreciate it.
We learned a lot from the chat and we'll be following both the IENE9 project and Alfonso's research closely in the future.
You can read more about the IENE9 project here.
Follow Alfonso at Twitter: @AlfPezella…
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May 10, 2021
Jonathan Grant and the New Power University (No, it's not a new boyband!)
Jonathan Grant is a professor at King’s College London , and we talk to him about his new book “The New Power University”. Jonathan’s book challenged and inspired us, so we had to get him on the podcast to explain how he sees universities changing in the 21st century. We talk about how the world has changed without universities noticing it, and how universities will have to rethink the purpose of universities and how this will affect recruitment and career paths. We think many of you will be interested in our talk about 'third space professionals'. Us being us we of course focused on diversity and internationalisation and the role the two in the new power university. We believe it will challenge and inspire you as well – and perhaps even provoke some of you, but there is no getting around that the world changed – and universities forgot to follow along. Hear what Jonathan thinks is the consequence of that – and how he thinks we move on.
We also covered the report " The C…
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Apr 27, 2021
The EU strategy on global research collaborations; the European University Association perspective with Thomas Jørgensen
First of all apologies for the poor sound quality in parts of the recording!
In this episode, we talked to Thomas Jørgensen, the Senior Policy Coordinator at European University Association. We invited Thomas on the podcast to talk about “A global approach to research innovation, education and youth”, which is the EUA’s input to the EU Commissions consultation for their new strategy for research, and education links to countries outside the EU bloc.
This opened up a wide-ranging discussion around how we balance effectiveness and human rights in international research collaborations, the role of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how the changes in international politics have changed the world and challenge universities and researchers in their work.
We draw to a close discussing how we all have to acknowledge that the world has changed and universities are international political actors. We ponder how universities, researchers and research managers navigate this world.…
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Apr 13, 2021
Erasmus, Turing - and the future of global researcher mobility
First of all apologies for the poor sound quality on some parts of this recording!
As the UK announced its national researcher mobility scheme named after after the famous Enigma mathematician Alan Turing to be launched as the new EU mobility programme Erasmus was being launched we decided it was time for a chat about the two schemes and what it would do to researcher mobility and collaboration both within Europe and globally.
For that we talked to Nabil Ali. Nabil has worked as an advisor for Universities UK for a number of years and was part of their Brexit team and today is situated in Brussels working with research and higher education.
As this marks the launch of the two programmes the talk was speculative in nature, but touches on how essential international collaboration is to research and how difficult this is becoming to navigate for researchers and universities.
We were very fortunate that Nabil said yes to this, and we feel certain that researchers and research managers…
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Mar 30, 2021
What ARMA learned about being an inclusive organisation and the role of research managers and administrators.
Jennifer Stergiou is the Director of Research Services at the University of Northumbria and the chair of ARMA (Association of Research Managers and Administrators) in the UK. She took over as chair in the middle of the pandemic, so we had a chat with her about how that has been.
The main reason for inviting her however was to discuss the recent revision of ARMA's strategic plan including a special view on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). Jennifer was very honest with us about what they learned about the organisation in a survey, how they have chosen to approach the topic of EDI and finally the role of research managers and administrators in promoting the EDI agenda in research and higher education.
Whether you are a researcher working with research managers and administrators or a research manager and administrator yourself, you don't want to miss out on Jennifer and ARMA's reflections on EDI and internationalisation and how we move forward in research institutions, collabora…
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Mar 16, 2021
Bibliodiversity: How academic publishing impacts the Global South - and what alternatives could look like
We were intrigued when we heard about the term bibliodiversity and had to learn more. The result was this eyeopening talk with Dr Arianna Becerril-García. She is a professor at Autonomous University of the State of Mexico and executive director at Redalyc.
We talk about the differences in how we look at scholarly publications in the Global North and the Global South, how open access models are the standard in Latin America, how the current models promoted by the Global North are strengthening the current power relations in higher education and how it could look like. And finally, we talk about what we can all do to make bibliodiversity work for international diversity, collaboration and justice.
Since the interview bibliodiversity has become part of our vocabulary and a recurring theme in our conversations and adds new perspectives on the future of international research collaborations.
You can read more about Arianna at her website
You can follow her on Twitter at :@ariannabec
T…
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Feb 16, 2021
The power of mentorship for LGBTQ+ researchers and software developers - a global perspective
In the final episode of Season Two, we chat with Professor Alexander Serebrenik (Software Engineering and Technology cluster, Eindhoven University of Technology) and Senior member of technical staff, Reed Milewicz (Center for Computing Research, Sandia National Laboratories). Alexander and Reed met at a conference in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois where they built on their mutual interests as part of the LGBTQ+ communities. They are currently exploring the role of mentorship for software developers and engineers globally. We chatted to them about their research, some surprising outcomes and what mentorship might look like in this field.
If you would like to take part in the study you can book an interview on this webpage: https://mentorshipstudy.youcanbook.me/
Alexander's Twitter is: @aserebrenik
Reed's Twitter is: @rmmilewi
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in…
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Feb 3, 2021
Why do universities need an HR strategy for researchers?
In this weeks discussion, we chat with Professor Dr Ludovic Thilly, Chair of the Coimbra Group and Professor of Physics at the University of Poitiers. We discuss Professor Thilly's recent work developing HR strategies for researchers based on the presentation he gave at European Research & Innovation Days in September 2020. We talk about career paths and how we need to think differently about the role of a PhD and the problem of postdocs becoming "permadocs".
We also specifically cover the topics of diversity and internationalisation, so we discuss the EU Commissions thoughts on mobility and how an HR certificate like HRS4R can help a research institution think through these issues and work with them to create more inclusive research environments. We also touch on the role of organisations like the Coimbra Group and the part they play in making research environments more inclusive and diverse.
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If…
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Jan 19, 2021
Finding your place: Being transgender in the STEM world - a conversation with Dr Clara Barker
Dr Clara Barker is unique in that she is transgender and holds an academic research post at Oxford University. But how did she get there and what hurdles did she face along the way? In this fascinating chat, we learn about Clara's accidental road into research and how she almost walked away. Now in her academic position, she works to promote transgender voices and LGBTQ+ inclusion across academia. Recently she has supported work by the Royal Society of Chemistry to produce toolkits which enable universities, researchers and teachers alike to ensure they create inclusive environments, paving the way for more LGBTQ+ people to be themselves and succeed in STEM and research more broadly.
You can follow Clara on Twitter (@ClaraMBarker) and her YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/clarambarker).
The Royal Society of Chemistry toolkits can be found here: https://www.rsc.org/new-perspectives/talent/inclusion-and-diversity/resources/lgbt-toolkit/ and the accompanying report here: https://…
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Jan 5, 2021
Indigenous thinking and how it can save Higher Education - a conversation with Tyson Yunkaporta
To start 2021 we chatted with Tyson Yunkaporta. Tyson is an indigenous activist, thinker and academic in Australia who challenges us all to think differently about the way we live and work. Indigenous communities around the world have lived in sync with the land and with each other for generations and these approaches to thinking and knowledge are profoundly different to what we might be used to. In this conversation we explore these ideas, how we can be more in tune with our surroundings and understand the power of simple and complex systems. Academia and the production of knowledge are key parts of the jigsaw of how the world works and we explore with Tyson how Indigenous thinking can change academia and what that means for knowledge. Prepare to be challenged, we certainly were!
Tyson's book can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/45449501-sand-talk
Follow us on Twitter @Divrespod and do let us know what you think. Ideas for future episodes welcome too. Thanks for…
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Dec 15, 2020
Are bibliometrics and university rankings an obstacle for diversity? A conversation with Lizzie Gadd
In this week's podcast, we chat to Lizzie Gadd and explore how bibliometrics, citations and rankings can impact on the diversity of research and the research environment. Lizzie chairs the International Network of Research Management Societies (INORMS) Research Evaluation Working Group. The group has recently examined the role of bibliometrics in the global research environment and has recently published a Rating the Rankers report, more details of which can be found here. The report and other research highlight the challenges and problems of higher education rankings, citations and what it means for diversity within the wider research landscape. In this chat, we discuss whether the current system is an obstacle for achieving diversity in research? We discuss solutions and how we can make changes to ensure diversity can be achieved. It is a fascinating chat, everyone involved in any way with higher education research should listen. There is a huge amount to reflect on.
To know more ab…
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Dec 1, 2020
Academic freedom and international research collaborations - do universities need a foreign policy?
We are joined this week by Tena Prelac, Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations (DPIR) at the University of Oxford, who is a member of the Academic Freedom and Internationalisation Working Group. We discuss the rise in self-censorship amongst UK academics, academic freedom and what the role of international research funding, collaborations and partnerships play in this. The importance of academic freedom is explored with practical examples given by Tena to help universities navigate the issues involved. We conclude that although universities do not need to be James Bonds they do need to seriously investigate whether they should develop a foreign policy.
Outputs from the project to date include:
Freedom House report on Transnational Repression and Academic Freedom, by Saipira Furstenberg, John Heathershaw and me: https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-report/2020/internationalization-universities-and-repression-academic-freedom
Draft Model Code of Co…
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Nov 17, 2020
Mental health literacy, stigma and cultural differences in mental health experiences
Mental health understandings have been surrounded by stigma and a lack of literacy for many years but this is slowly changing. In our conversation with Associate Professor Nicola Reavley, Principal Research Fellow, Mental Health Literacy Programme at Melbourne School Of Population And Global Health we explore how this stigma is changing, what this means for education and support services and what role cultural differences play in mental health. These differences can be important for international research collaborations.
You can follow Nicola on Twitter: @AProfNickiR More details about her research can be found here: https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/186743-nicola-reavley
Please review and comment on our podcast, wherever you listen - we appreciate all the feedback and ideas. Make sure you follow us on Twitter too: @divrespod
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internati…
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Nov 3, 2020
The Nifty approach to research impact - LGBTQ+ experiences inside and outside of Higher Education
Laura Evans from Nifty Fox (@NiftyFoxCreativ) joins us to launch season two of the podcast. Laura started her career in Higher Education by supporting widening participation and student engagement. Through this experience, she could see that it wasn't always easy for her to come out and she felt that many services were missing their mark including missing the LGBTQ+ community. Her experience eventually saw her start her own consultancy company where she supports universities and researchers to tell their stories and translate their research into impactful graphics.
We discuss with Laura what it was like to work in HE while not being out and how this impacted on her work and self-confidence. Since starting her own business Laura has experienced the challenge of working in international settings which have not been open to the LGBTQ+ community and have had a range of fascinating and important conversations with researchers about who is missing in their research. As a keen LGBTQ+ and div…
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Sep 1, 2020
Experiences of race and gender as a black woman in higher education research management
We had the pleasure of chatting with Saskia Walcott of Walcott Communications in this episode. Saskia has had an unusual journey into the research and higher education sector. Following a career in communications and public relations, she joined the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). She has also worked for universities before starting her own consultancy company. She recently published an article talking about her experiences as a black woman in research management in the UK.
We talk to Saskia about her career and her experiences including the reaction to her article, the burden placed on minority groups to lead from the front in tackling discrimination and how generational changes may impact on how we create a more equal and diverse research management environment in the future.
Do subscribe, rate and review our podcast. This is the final episode in the first series. Keep an eye out on our twitter (@Divrespod) to follow the latest developments and conversations. We will b…
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Aug 18, 2020
The Power of Diverse Voices - Publishing, academia and diversity in a time of global change
Vicky Williams, the CEO of Emerald Publishing, joined us this week to reflect on their recent report, The Power of Diverse Voices, which explored diversity and inclusion in global academia and publishing. Vicky explains how Emerald has worked to increase equality and diversity within the company and how they are now championing change across the sector. Publishing is an integral part of the academy and has a key role to play in making change globally, including enhancing the impact of research. Their recent report had some surprising findings which we talk to Vicky about.
To access the report please go to https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/power-of-diverse-voices
Vicky's twitter account is: @Emerald_VW
Vicky's book recommendations are:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50214741-the-girl-with-the-louding-voice
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41081373-girl-woman-other
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41104077-invisible-women
Check out our own twitter page @Divrespod and…
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Aug 4, 2020
Do minorities need to leave the academy to maximise impact? Lessons from an LGBTQ+ Historian
In this episode, we talk to Dr Eric Cervini about his book, The Deviant's War, his life in academia in the US and UK as well as why he is no longer in the academy. We discuss the lessons learnt from the book which charts the fight for gay rights in the US before Stonewall as well as exploring what this might mean for creating a more inclusive academy. The importance of understanding history and what this means for activism today and how it highlights who might be missing out or not included in our work is an important takeaway point from Eric's research.
The Deviant's War, published in Summer 2020, was featured in the New York Times bestsellers list and has received significant coverage in the media.
For more information about the book please visit: https://ericcervini.com/book/
Eric's twitter account is @ericcervini
To follow us on twitter please checkout: @divrespod
Please like and subscribe and send us feedback, questions or ideas for future episodes.
Thanks for listening. Pleas…
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Jul 21, 2020
The Impact of Covid-19 on minority communities and what it means for Higher Education
In this episode, we discuss a recently published research report from Denmark which was looking at the impact of Covid-19 on minority communities. The results are surprising and demonstrate how discrimination and harassment can manifest in different ways and the ways in which this has been exacerbated during the pandemic. We discuss these findings and look at the ways in which this may have already impacted on the higher education sector, staff and students alike. We talk through what this means for diversity in research and why this is more important than ever.
If you are interested in reading the report we discussed you can find it here: https://menneskeret.dk/sites/menneskeret.dk/files/media/document/Rapport%20om%20had%20i%20det%20off%20rum_LAYOUT2.pdf (Please note that the report is in Danish but there is an English summary towards the end)
Please do subscribe and follow our twitter feed @Divrespod We welcome feedback and ideas for future episodes.
Thanks for listening. Please s…
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Jul 7, 2020
Researching mental health and the impact of cultural difference - Denmark and Australia
In today's episode, we speak with Professor John MacGrath who is a psychiatrist and professor of clinical medicine at the University of Queensland. Since 2017 he has also held the Niels Bohr Professor at the National Centre for Register-based Research at Aarhus University in Denmark. Professor McGrath specialises in researching risk factors for schizophrenia and undertakes research from his bases in Australia and Denmark. His experience includes working across international cultures and research settings, working closely with patients within clinical mental health settings and providing mentorship to young researchers. In this episode, he talks about his experiences, the challenges for the academy in regards to EDI and what can be done to make research and research environments more inclusive. Professor McGrath can be found on twitter: @John_J_McGrath
Let us know what you think of this episode and tell us what you'd like to hear us cover in the future. Get in touch with us @Divrespod…
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Jun 23, 2020
LGBTQ+ International travel in UK Higher Education - implications for policy and practice
In a special Pride Month episode, we talk to Dr Frances Hamilton (Senior Lecturer in Law) and Cameron Giles (Postgraduate Researcher) from the Law School at Northumbria University about their recent research into UK Higher Education travel policies and how they apply to LGBTQ+ staff and students. We explore how the research came about, what they found and some of the issues faced by the LGBTQ+ community including legal, social and health impacts. The range of policies and what they include is covered and we discuss what next as the internationalisation agenda of UK universities increases. The lessons learned can apply to universities across the world.
If you want to know more about the research then please contact Dr Hamilton via email at: frances.hamilton@northumbria.ac.uk
If you want to get in touch with us about this episode or to talk about other episodes then please contact us via twitter: @Divrespod - it would be great to hear from you all.
Thanks for listening. Please share,…
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Jun 16, 2020
What does an ERC grant oblige when considering diversity? An ERC Consolidator grant holder shares his experiences
In this episode, we talk to Professor Felix Riede, Head of Department and Professor of Archeology at Aarhus University in Denmark. Felix grew up in Germany, completed his PhD in the UK and has worked in the UK and now Denmark for over ten years. He leads international research projects including an ERC Consolidator Grant, Computational approaches to Final Palaeolithic/earliest Mesolithic archaeology and climate change. We talk to Felix about studying, living and working in different cultures within Europe as well as the challenges and responsibility of leading international research projects from the perspective of diversity and inclusion. You can follow Felix on twitter at: @ARCHAEOfelix and check out his research at http://pure.au.dk/portal/en/persons/id%28ff428700-8bab-40d1-9d42-886b4ce52776%29.html
Do let us know what you think - we welcome feedback and ideas for future episodes - contact us at twitter: @Divrespod
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on…
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May 29, 2020
Diversity in Research - Introduction
In today's launch episode, we talk through what the podcast is all about, how we met and a little about the conversations we have had, all leading to this podcast. We preview what we will be talking about in the coming weeks with a focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and using cultural intelligence to create more inclusive and effective research cultures, environments and international research collaborations.
Contact us using twitter - @Divrespod
Jakob Christensen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakob-feldtfos-christensen-1009934/
Lachlan Smith - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lachlan-smith-b414b8a/
Thanks for listening. Please share, rate, review and follow us on Twitter @Divrespod .
If you're interested in our work with diversity and internationalisation in research, please visit www.diversiunity.com.
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