Creating a thriving and inclusive environment

• Tip sheet - five tips for creating a positive research culture (pdf) including advice on citizenship, legislation, inclusive research design, learning opportunities and community responsibility.
• Tip sheet - five tips for cultural inclusion (pdf).  The UK attracts researchers from around the world.  Be aware of how to make your international researchers feel included and welcome.  Our tip sheet includes some dos and don’ts to be aware of. 

Related topics

• Our video on ‘Building trust’ 
• FAQ on inclusive teaching

How do you make sure that all lab members know what is expected of them and what they can expect from each other? Is the group being truly inclusive and do new starters feel welcome?

Creating a flexible document that outlines the ethos of your research lab or group can help with outlining the different roles within the lab, explain what is expected of all lab members, provide an overview of the culture the lab aims to create, and describe how the lab supports its members so that they can develop as researchers.

The WIN Handbook Team at The University of Oxford have created a set of resources to motivate and help you to develop your own Lab Handbook:

• Lab Handbook Video: This provides an overview of Lab Handbooks and guidance for writing.
• Lab Handbook Template: This template consists of a series of questions to build the structure of your Lab Handbook.
• Example Lab Handbook: This Lab Handbook was written by the Physics group at the Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging.

Many managers are anxious about making reasonable adjustments to working practices and environments, dealing with performance issues, or simply about doing or saying the wrong thing when they have team members with protected characteristics.  Don’t avoid acting for fear of doing something wrong or to wait for things to go away.  This can lead to more problems.  You can request one to one support to discuss and plan your approach to managing team members with diverse needs and enabling them to work to their full potential. 

• For urgent needs, HR, assisted by the EDI Centre will offer you one to one support and guidance.  You can also book a micro-coaching session for managers to talk through a tricky challenge you may be facing.
• For non-urgent needs, you can contact the EDI Centre, read the College EDI strategy and attend the EDI training suggested among our resources below.
• In particular, consult the College advice on how to be a white ally, and undertake active bystander training at your earliest opportunity. Encourage your team to do the same.
• In research, neurodiversity including those on the autism spectrum is more common than in the general population (where it is thought to be present in approximately one in five people) and it is likely that you will manage researchers who are neurodiverse.  Further information can be found here Dyslexia and neurodivergence | Administration and support services | Imperial College London.  There are a number of recommendations for team interactions that would be of benefit to all team members including those who are neurodiverse.  For autistic staff, the College EDI Centre can work with the National Autistic Society to provide work needs assessments to ensure that you can make any recommended adjustments to enable your team member to thrive in their work.

The ‘What do women need to progress in academia?’ project at Imperial identified 10 key ‘facilitating’ factors that are important for academic women’s progression:

• Positive cultural foundations
• Sponsorship and advocacy
• Visible role models
• Supportive management practices
• Networks and collectives
• Funding opportunities
• Recognising varied contributions
• (Boundaried) flexibility
• Enabling delivery of caring responsibilities
• Positive action

When these systemic factors are present within workplaces and teams, people are less likely to perceive barriers to their progression, are better able to thrive day-to-day at work and achieve their career goals and ambitions.

To support you and your team with integrating these practices, you can use the Reflection and Action Planning Tool for Group Leaders. The resource helps leaders to:

• Consider the 10 facilitating factors for equitable progression
• Identify the positive practices already in place for their team(s)
• Plan for future actions to further promote inclusive and equitable workplace environments in which everyone can thrive and progress.

Imperial became a signatory to the Concordat to support the career development of researchers (pdf) (“the Concordat”) in March 2020. Progress against the Concordat action plan is published annually.  You can view the current action plan and learn about progress on the Concordat webpage. 

The Concordat is an agreement between funders and employers of researchers in the UK. It aims to set the “gold standard of researcher development” by committing funders, institutions, researchers and managers of researchers to create a healthy and supportive research environment and culture for researchers to realise their potential.

The Concordat specifies obligations that you, as a manager of researchers, should uphold.  The PI Code of Practice  incorporates these obligations and details your responsibilities as a line manager of early career researchers at Imperial. 

If a member of your team is stressed, suffering from mental health issues, physical illness or disabilities you (and they) might find some of the following blogs and resources helpful:  

• Be aware of where to signpost your team to College support. 
• Dr Zoe Ayres’ website on mental health in academia links to a book, articles, campaigns and social media where she shares powerful experiences and advice for managing your mental health in academia.    
• Wellbeing resources for early career researchers from the Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre here at Imperial College London. 
• Let’s help ‘stressed PhD Students’ – A blog from The Supervision Whisperer. 
• Academic Mental Health Collective - A resource for graduate students and post-docs. 
• Chronically Academic - A blog for a network of academics with disabilities and chronic conditions. 

Related topics 

• Our video on ‘Challenging relationships and conversations’ provides awareness of emotional responses in conversations and relationships. 
• Sections in ‘Managing Self and Your Career’ are equally as relevant to your team as they are to you:  
  • Wellbeing and resilience - includes advice about imposter syndrome and dealing with rejections
  • Time management
  • Managing flexible working and caring responsibilities