D&I Networks

Applied Microbiology International is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM.

The All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM is a cross-party group dedicated to promoting the inclusion and progression of people from diverse backgrounds in STEM. It aims to encourage government, parliamentarians, academics, businesses, and other stakeholders to work towards a STEM sector that is representative of the population.

The APPG conducted a 15-month inquiry into Equity in STEM Education to understand whether young people are provided with equitable learning opportunities within STEM education, regardless of their background. The resulting report, “Equity in STEM Education”, published in June 2020, identifies 6 recommendations for improving young people’s access, attainment, and engagement levels in STEM education.

Click here to read the Equity in STEM Education report.

 

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APPG on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM: 2022 Focus

In Autumn 2021, the APPG on Diversity and inclusion in STEM put out a ‘Call for Ideas’ to invite submissions of potential activities for the APPG to focus on in 2022. After consultation with the AMI membership, we concluded that the APPG should focus on the areas of anti-racism and anti-ableism

Anti-racism 

Applied Microbiology International established the Anti-racism working group (ARWG) to identify any forms of systemic racism that touch the lives of our team, committees and members - with a goal of ensuring AMI is anti-racist organisation. The ARWG aims to examine how historic practices may have blocked equal participation in our work, learn and improve by facing difficult issues and being self-critical and have difficult conversations and face the realities of the changes needed to make our work better.

Since the group has been founded, ARWG members and some members of AMI staff have had the opportunity to participate in the anti-racism meeting on Wellcome’s anti racism principles and toolkit and Race Reflections: Beyond Bias Training and we hope to extend this training to all AMI staff and committee members in 2023.  We are working hard to ensure the Society is an anti-racist organisation and feel that the sector must do more to ensure this is the case across the entire STEM workforce. 

Anti-Racism Working Group

Kofo Balogun

Kofo Balogun

Associate Director, HR

Emmanuel Adukwu

Emmanuel Adukwu

International & Industry Officer, University of West England

Gil Domingue

Gil Domingue

University of Exeter

Amara Anyogu

Amara Anyogu

Lecturer, University of Westminster

Diane Purchase

Diane Purchase

Committee Member, Professor, Middlesex University

Marcela Hernandez Garcia

Marcela Hernandez Garcia

Editor-in-Chief Letters in Applied Microbiology, Research Fellow, University of East Anglia

Michael Ukwuru

Michael Ukwuru

Chief Lecturer, Federal Polytechnic Idah

Sharad Kamble

Sharad Kamble

Microbiology Deputy Manager, Bristol Laboratories

Ayorinde Afolayan

Ayorinde Afolayan

Postdoctoral Researcher, Universitätsklinikum Freiburg

Zina Alfahl 

Zina Alfahl 

Postdoctoral Researcher, National University of Ireland

Ogechukwu Chukwuma

Ogechukwu Chukwuma

PhD student, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Mel Lacey

Mel Lacey

Lecturer, Sheffield Hallam University

Blessing Mbaebie Oyedemi

Blessing Mbaebie Oyedemi

Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Nottingham

Clare Taylor

Clare Taylor

Lecturer, Edinburgh Napier University

Anti-ableism  

Ableism is endemic in academia and there is substantial underrepresentation of disabled scientists in STEM. There are multiple barriers for disabled scientists in STEM due to lack of awareness, accessibility and discrimination. Concerningly, there is underrepresentation of disabled scientists in the membership and committees of Learned Societies and funding bodies. The STEM workforce is less diverse than the wider workforce and without addressing the issue of ableism, the science community will never be representative of the general community or be inclusive of the interests of all communities. As a Society we are working to deepen our understanding of the barriers that regularly impact people with disabilities and how to best address and remove those barriers. As part of this commitment, we are implementing NADSN recommendations for disability inclusion in STEMM careers to remove and ameliorate barriers faced by those who are marginalised due to disability.


APPG on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM: 2022 Project

Following two inquiries on education and the workforce, the Secretariat were keen to explore different options and areas. From the 20+ submissions received, the Secretariat progressed three potential ideas, which were reviewed by the Group’s members from the House of Lords and House of Commons and included: 

  1. The digital divide and STEM skills
  2. Disability in STEM – accessibility at all stages 
  3. Regional STEM skills inequity 

We are now pleased to announce the APPG on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM’s 2022 project will be Regional STEM Skills Inequity. Regional STEM Skills Inequity evolved from an initial submission by Engineering UK. Submissions can be found on the APPG website.