Advanced Strategic Platform for Inclusive Research Environments (ASPIRE)

科学、工程和技术研究对英国的未来至关重要。它支撑着英国作为一个现代经济体的表现和增长，为公共政策提供信息（例如，促进健康福祉和环境可持续性），并大大有助于其创新能力。然而，我们的研究基础只取决于研究人员的水平。妇女、少数民族、LGBTQ和具有其他受保护特征的人）的代表性不足，特别是在领导角色中。这突出表明，我们的研究基地没有从整个人才库中吸引研究人员，导致个人失去机会，经济和社会遭受重大的、可量化的损失。在我们拥有完全包容和多样化的研究社区之前，我们的研究基地不太可能充分发挥其潜力。30多年来，我们一直致力于在科学和工程相关学科中建立完全包容的研究环境。然而，尽管投入了大量资金，但几乎没有明显改善的迹象。例如，在2016年，英国科学相关学科的教授中只有19%是女性。任职人数偏低的原因很复杂，而且往往是全系统的。最重要的因素来自工作场所的文化和态度。因此，如果我们要建立一个更具包容性的研究环境，我们的方法需要逐步改变。我们需要把重点放在长期的行为和文化改变上，而不是放在改善工作人员的统计数据上（例如：在职女教授的人数）和业绩指标（例如，为解决这一问题，ASPIRE将探讨联合王国各地（以及更远的地方）在平等、多样性和包容性方面现有的好的和坏的做法。通过就该部门的需求、技术开发和测试阶段进行一系列协商，ASPIRE将为大学、企业、慈善机构、专业机构、资助者和平等挑战股等电子数据交换专家等一系列用户开发一个互动的网络工具（一套材料、指南和共享学习）。由于其性质，ASPIRE将鼓励协作和信息共享，并随着项目的进展，通过其讲习班和试点研究，支持更多样化的机构、参与者和利益攸关方网络的参与。ASPIRE还将制定一个新的EDI影响框架，以衡量整个部门态度和行为的真正和有意义的变化。这一框架将扩大简单的基于衡量标准的评价，并包括对文化变革的更全面评价。通过提供一种衡量机构和组织文化变革成功（影响）的手段，ASPIRE将加速有效EDI实践的全行业实施。ASPIRE将首次提供一个全国通用的工具包，可以适当衡量各机构包容性举措的执行情况，将执行情况与文化变化（影响）的有意义标志联系起来，并为整个部门的推广提供建议ASPIRE是一个雄心勃勃但可以实现的项目，拥有一个多学科协作团队，拥有开发这一新工具的专业知识和明确动机。ASPIRE汇集了来自私营和公共部门的专家，包括EDI，影响和知识动员，行为心理学，基于网络的平台设计和实施方面的专家，以及政策制定，研究人员发展和国家能力建设方面的全球领导者。

Science, engineering and technology research is vital to the UK's future. It underpins UK performance and growth as a modern economy, informs public policies (eg. for healthy well-being and environmental sustainability), and contributes greatly to its capacity for innovation. Our research base, however, is only as good as the people who make it. Many groups (eg. women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ and those with other protected characteristics) are under-represented, particularly in leadership roles. This highlights the fact that our research base is not drawing on researchers from the entire talent pool, resulting in both lost opportunity for individuals and major, quantifiable losses to the economy and society. Until we have fully inclusive and diverse research communities, it is unlikely that our research base will achieve its full potential.We have been striving to establish fully inclusive research environments in science- and engineering-related disciplines for over 30 years. Despite substantial investment, however, there is little evidence of significant improvement. For example, in 2016, only 19% of all UK Professors in science-related disciplines were women. The reasons behind such under-representation are complex and often system-wide. The most significant factors arise through cultures and attitudes in the workplace. If we are to build a more inclusive research environment, therefore, a step-change is required in our approach. We need to focus on long-term behavioural and culture change, rather than on improving staff statistics (eg. the number of female professors in post) and performance metrics (eg. research activity).To address this, ASPIRE will explore existing good and bad practices in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) from across the UK (and further afield). Through a series of consultations on needs within the sector, technical development and testing phases, ASPIRE will develop an interactive, web-based tool (set of materials, guidance and shared learning) for a range of users such as universities, businesses, charities, professional bodies, funders and EDI specialists, such as the Equality Challenge Unit. By its very nature, ASPIRE will encourage collaboration and information-sharing and support engagement by a more diverse network of institutions, participants and stakeholders through its workshops and pilot studies as the project progresses. ASPIRE will also develop a new EDI impact framework to measure genuine and meaningful changes in attitude and behaviour across the sector. This framework will extend simple metrics-based evaluations and include more comprehensive evaluations of culture change. By providing a means to measure success (impact) in changing the culture of institutes and organisations, ASPIRE will accelerate sector wide implementation of effective EDI practice. ASPIRE will, for the first time, provide a toolkit which is nationally available, can appropriately measure the implementation of inclusion initiatives across institutions, link implementation with meaningful markers of culture change (impact) and provide recommendations for scaling across the sector.ASPIRE is an ambitious, yet achievable, project with a multidisciplinary and collaborative team with the expertise and clear motivation to develop this new tool. ASPIRE brings together specialists from both the private and public sectors, and includes specialists in EDI, impact and knowledge mobilisation, behavioural psychology, web-based platform design and implementation, and global leaders in policy development, researcher development and national capacity building.