The Institute of Zoology has an international reputation for excellence in conservation science, but we also want to be known for the quality of the working environment we offer to conservation scientists throughout their careers.
We believe that excellence in our science is underpinned by diversity among our scientists, and we want to create a more inclusive, flexible and supportive working environment that promotes and retains this diversity. In so doing, we believe we will be creating a higher quality working environment for everyone.
Key milestones
2015 - Created a committee to support gender equality and work towards an Athena Swan Award
2018 - Awarded an Athena Swan Bronze Award
2020 - Hired our first EDI Administrator
2022 - Launched our EDI Action Plan 2022-2025 as part of our Institute of Zoology Business Plan
2025 - Developed our current EDI Action Plan to carry us until 2028, as outlined in our Institute of Zoology Business Plan
Today - The Institute of Zoology has a dedicated EDI Committee and over a dozen supporter contacts who carry out EDI work and maintain our safe and supportive culture
Our Science EDI Committee meets every two months and is comprised of members across ZSL, both in the Science Directorate and within other departments in the organisation. Within the Institute of Zoology, we also have support contacts for mental health, harassment and bullying, wellbeing, safeguarding, academic support, union support, and ZSL support. Our staff and students have access to an external Employee Assistance Programme as well as a mentoring scheme.
What we do
- Carry out actions as outlined in our EDI Framework and Action Plan
- Produce a monthly newsletter for staff and students about EDI trainings, research, and support
- Host confidential conversations for staff and students, holding space for continuous learning and vulnerability of people at all levels
- Aim to inspire diverse audiences and increase awareness of science in underrepresented communities through our public engagement and events
- Represent the Institute of Zoology on the Royal Society of Biology’s Diversity and Inclusion Working Group, liaising with a number of external science organizations about best-practice EDI
- Support ZSL EDI initiatives – Diversity and Inclusion | ZSL
- Report on EDI progress in the Institute of Zoology Annual Review – Our Annual Reports | ZSL
EDI Statement for 2024/2025
This statement is updated annually with the publication of the Institute of Zoology Annual Report.
Centering Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Institute of Zoology has helped us to launch several new initiatives this academic year. We welcomed new representatives to our EDI Committee to improve representation and engagement and implemented a system to invite individuals to observe committee meetings to enhance transparency. Efforts to increase equity included creating a PGRA/RA support fund, expanding IT equipment for PhD students, and creating guidelines for recruiting Research Fellows in Science.
This year we introduced a new Performance and Development Review (PDR) process for non-professional research staff, in order to provide guidance and support for progression and career development. The annual PDR for IOZ Research Fellows and Senior Research Fellows is now carried out by a Performance Advisory Committee (PAC) comprising three members of staff of a senior grade to them, with one member serving as the chair of the PAC. The purpose of the PAC is to guide the reviewee along a positive trajectory of accomplishment with advice and support from multiple colleagues, thus providing a wider set of perspectives than in the traditional PDR with a single line manager. After trialling PACs this year, we aim to extend the PAC process to all other non-professorial research staff at IOZ next year. Professors report directly to the Director of Science, with whom they meet annually for their PDR.
Complementary to the PAC system, and as part of our wider efforts to maximize support to our staff and students, we paired 16 individuals through our Mentor Programme and expanded our directorate’s number of Mental Health First Aiders from two to four. Our second annual Student Wellbeing Survey showed a decrease to student financial wellbeing (as a result of external factors), but increases in overall, mental, social, and physical wellbeing at IOZ. Additionally, the number of students who felt supported by their IOZ community, aware of support mechanisms, and comfortable reaching out for support, increased significantly this year.
Increasing communication was a major focus: in 2023/24, we started developing a communications EDI Action Plan, updated our Science EDI webpages, sent out 11 newsletters promoting 47 external events and webinars, created an annual EDI Progress Report, and established anonymous feedback mechanisms for reporting EDI questions, comments, and concerns for students and PGRA/RAs.
We continued our efforts to decolonize science in multiple ways, (1) by creating six educational sessions for staff and students, (2) by leading external sessions for RVC and Nuffield Placement students, and (3) by hosting Hidden History workshops for teams across ZSL. In addition, representatives from the EDI Committee reviewed 149 IOZ-authored publications for 2022/23 academic year in order to assess in-country co-authorship, and we implemented a new system for gathering co-authorship data. We are in the process of developing co-authorship guidelines, which will be released over the coming year.
Working in collaboration with other ZSL directorates, we identified the need for further line management guidance and a progression route for research staff without a PhD, reinstated monthly Health and Safety drop-in sessions, identified gaps in support for LGBTQ+ staff and students travelling overseas, and contributed to the development of a ZSL-wide Free, Prior and Informed Consent policy. Our EDI activities contribute to ZSL’s wider EDI vision, and all IOZ staff and students benefit from access to ZSL’s employee assistance programme, Mental Health First Aid support and wellbeing initiatives.