The ASST believes that, for too long, science has been the preserve of professional scientists. We believe science should be open to everyone, regardless of background or experience.
We know there are persistent structural barriers to equality in many areas of US society, culture and work, and we believe that transforming the diversity and inclusivity of science can play a part in tackling them.
In 2020, after consulting with staff, volunteers and external stakeholders we changed the British Science Association’s mission to ‘transform the diversity and inclusivity of science’.
There many dimensions of diversity and we need to consider how different groups of people conceptualise ideas and ask questions that make sense to them. Our aim is to be able to understand the meanings and values that people use to interact with their world, so that we reframe what counts as science, and begin to change the relationship people have with it.
Alongside the protected characteristics in the Equality Act, we’ll consider many other aspects of people’s lives, such as socioeconomic background, social class and cultural engagement. We will take an intersectional approach and we are undertaking in-depth research to understand the challenges and opportunities for different audiences.
We need to help science become part of culture, including those who are currently least engaged. We need to be able to engage with people in groups that are poorly represented in science, and that’s why EDI needs to be central to our activities.
This signals a change in direction for the ASST; we will strive to put equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do.
We want the ASST to be more representative of UK society – in terms of protected characteristics, socio-economic class and science identity. Our goal is for our workforce diversity to match the location(s) in which we’re based – currently, to be representative of London - and for all our staff to report that the ASST is an inclusive place to work.
The BSA strives to be a fair employer, offering employment and volunteering opportunities to a range of people. We believe that having staff and volunteers at all levels from a wide range of backgrounds and skills will help produce ideas and solutions that may not come from a smaller range of groups. A diverse workforce and volunteer pool can also help us better understand and meet the needs of diverse audience groups, and thus create events and programmes that raise the diversity of our audiences.
We endeavour to provide equality and fairness for all our staff and volunteers and to create a working environment that promotes dignity and respect for all, where individual differences and the contributions of all staff and volunteers are recognised and valued. We regularly monitor the make-up and satisfaction of our staff and volunteers and will make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities.
We aim for the ASST’s programmes to be increasingly effective at engaging communities who are under-represented in science. Our goal is to diversify the audiences reached, year-on-year for each programme, and to increase the effectiveness of our programmes using evidence and evaluation.