When diversity meets politics - why everybody should pay attention to the Donelan case in the UK.

Diversity in Research Podcast

One of the challenges with working with diversity is how some of it has been politicised. In this episode, we explore the case of UK Secretary of Science Michelle Donelan. In the fall of 2023, after the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel, she accused two researchers of sympathising with Hamas. The two researchers were on the UKRI Expert Advisory Group on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and the secretary insisted that the group be dissolved.
In this episode, we explore the case - and discuss why this is not only a UK matter. Because at the end of the day, universities are political institutions and if we want to promote diversity (and we do!) - then we have to navigate politics. For the rest of us, we hold the advantage of learning from the UK case and applying these insights in our own academic settings.
In describing the case, we rely heavily on the reporting done by Research Professional News. Thank you for the in-depth coverage.
This episode was produced and edited by Peter Xiong.

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