Biosciences for all: Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at the RSB
The RSB acknowledges the importance of diversity at all learning and career stages — to ensure equal opportunities and create an inclusive environment that welcomes, attracts, and benefits from a variety of experiences, skills, qualities and perspectives.
We are committed to embedding and communicating equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) strategies throughout the Society and its activities. The Society integrates EDI as an important part of our business plan, and continued engagement on these issues from our Board of Trustees, staff, and members reflects the importance of these values.
We strive to tackle barriers and create a life science community that is representative of the wider society we serve.
- The Society has a dedicated Senior Science Policy Officer with responsibility for equality, diversity, inclusion, and culture, exploring these issues both within the organisation and across the life sciences.
We are a signatory of the Science Council's Declaration on Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, meaning we proactively promote a culture of equality, diversity, and inclusion within our discipline.
Some examples of our ongoing work in the EDI sphere include:
The RSB is committed to ensuring that our organisation and our work is accessible to everyone. To ensure we are achieving this aim and can monitor our progress, we have started work to better understand the diversity of our membership and of the life science sector more broadly. If you would like more information on this, please contact our Science Policy team at science.policy@rsb.org.uk. Please note, we offer discounts if you recently completed an undergraduate degree, are studying full-time, retired, in unpaid employment, or on a career break.
The Society's policy team has a dedicated EDI lead and the team regularly respond to inquiries and consultations on EDI issues. Most, recently we contributed to the UKRI's Draft EDI Strategy. To find this and other EDI-related consultation responses, search our policy resource library.
We work to support and increase the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community within the biosciences, from promoting Pride Month to developing social media cards on the barriers LGBTQ+ scientists still face. We have previously co-sponsored the LGBTQ+ STEMinar event.
We recognise that there are distinct and different meanings of the words sex and gender.
A helpful set of information can be found via the World Health Organisation.
We support the right of everyone to live their authentic lives, to have their gender identity and expression recognised, and respected. We promote and encourage kindness and respect in the treatment of others. We also promote the wise use of bioscience knowledge and understanding, for benefit now and for a better future.
We are committed to supporting neurodiversity in science. In 2023, we co-sponsored the 'Celebrating Neurodiversity in STEM' event at Imperial College.
Purpose of the RSB Diversity and Inclusion Working Group (DIWG)
The group assembles RSB Member Organisation (MO) representatives to initiate cross-organisation dialogue and support activities relating to EDI. The group will remain flexible and responsive to societal EDI concerns and changes within the biosciences sector whilst remaining committed to RSB's values.
Objectives
The objectives of DIWG are to support RSB’s Business Plan by:
- Building connections between RSB MO representatives and relevant external organisations, by providing a forum for discussion on current EDI issues.
- Sharing examples of policy, practice, expertise, and experiences of improving EDI which have been successfully developed by MOs and organisations across the broader STEM sector, to support collaborative community development.
- Providing input informing collective advice from the Society to policymakers, on EDI matters.
- To enable and facilitate collaborative MO EDI activities as and when the resource is available.
The RSB Diversity and Inclusion Network role
The Network comprises representatives from every RSB committee and group, with a broad array of expertise and experience. The Network has the remit to advise the RSB on the ongoing development of its EDI strategy, enabling and monitoring progress, and reporting this progress to Council. The Network will remain flexible and responsive to societal EDI concerns and changes within the biosciences sector whilst remaining committed to RSB's values.
Objectives
The objectives of the Network are:
- Build connections between EDI representatives across committees, groups, and staff, facilitating information exchange, and provide a forum for discussion on current EDI issues.
- Dissemination of policy, practice, expertise, and experiences of improving EDI across different operational areas of the Society.
- Oversight and advice on novel EDI initiatives ensuring that they support the communities they serve.
- Promote the importance of embedding EDI for the Society's benefit and assist in developing proactive strategies to mitigate the discrimination of protected and non-protected characteristics within internal structures and policies.
- To enable input that informs policy formulation, policy responses, and strategy of the Society on all matters EDI.
- Assist in developing qualitative and quantitative measures for the acquisition of baseline data to gain insight, monitor, and evaluate EDI achievements, progress, and impact. This will include supporting the discussion, initiation, planning, and assessment of EDI activity using external benchmarks (where possible).
Our #BiosciencesForAll commitments
To create a bioscience environment that attracts and benefits from a variety of experiences, skills and qualities, the RSB will proactively promote equality of opportunity, diversity, and inclusion in schools and higher education, in the workplace, in training, and in biology activities for the general public.
In its role as a professional and membership body, the RSB will encourage and advance inclusion and accessibility in its own practices and across the biosciences, including by championing, communicating, and connecting leading practice among Member Organisations.
The Society wishes to see people of all backgrounds and circumstances have equal opportunities to flourish, succeed, and contribute to the advancement of biological knowledge.
It is important that the governance of the RSB should represent the wider membership of the RSB and bioscience community, and that it works to encourage a life science sector that attracts and benefits from a variety of experiences, skills, and qualities.
We support or work with the following organisations:
- The Bioscience Awarding Gap (BAG) Network promotes practices that are shown to reduce demographic awarding gaps in the biosciences.
- EDIS is a coalition of organisations working to improve EDI within science and health research.
- The SEN in STEM Network aims to work together through collaboration, advocacy, and innovation to support disabled and neurodivergent children and young people in STEM.
- The RSB sits on the committee of the Athena Forum which works to address the underrepresentation of women, ethnic minorities, and LGBT+ in academia and research.
Find out about RSB's policy development and evidence gathering