Inclusivity Matters!

Inclusivity Matters! is a Cornwall-based initiative, bringing together students, ECRs and staff, aiming to start a conversation around equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) that is intersectional and relevant to both academic contexts and professional services. We organise events focusing on various EDI themes that are pertinent to our university community, with the aim of creating a safer and more inclusive campus. In doing so, we provide a platform for individuals from all walks of life to share their experiences and insights, to increase understanding of a broad range of perspectives and find practical solutions to the current problem of inclusion within academia.

Our events are open to all, including non-academic staff and the general public. We also aim to make our events fully inclusive by using accessible venues and a hybrid format, providing captions, and designating a quiet room. If you have any further accessibility requirements or feedback on how we can make our events more inclusive, please get in touch!

Upcoming events:

Our next event is on 02 June 2023, 13:00 to 15:00, and is themed around Race and Decolonisation. We will have a talk by Tina Verhaeghe, followed by refreshments and then a panel discussion with Tina and members of the University. Please keep an eye out for calendar invites and advertising emails for more details, or contact us.

Inclusivity Matters! 2023

Inclusivity Matters! 2023 - a series of seminars and panel discussions running through May and June 2023. We will be hearing from both internal and external speakers on their experiences in academia, the current barriers to a truly inclusive academic workplace, and discussing how we can move towards a more inclusive campus and university here in Cornwall.

Dr Kelsey Byers (all pronouns) Disabled in the field: navigating nature and academia as a disabled scientist

Kelsey shared their experience as a disabled biologist, and discussed the exclusion of disabled people in academia and the biosciences. They also suggested best practices for inclusion in the research community

Inclusivity Matters! 2022

Inclusivity Matters! 2022 was an afternoon of talks and a panel discussion exploring topics within equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in academic institutions, aiming to start a conversation that takes an intersectional approach to tackling issues of inequality and exclusion that are systemic within academia.

We heard from three fantastic speakers and you can watch their talks here:

Prof Zenobia Lewis (she/her) Breaking barriers in STEM: a personal perspective

Zen shared her academic journey as a working-class woman of colour, from an early interest in wildlife growing up on a North London council estate, to earning a professorship at the University of Liverpool’s School of Life Sciences. She highlighted the barriers she’s faced in carving out space in a white, male-dominated, middle-class environment, the impact this has had on her wellbeing behind the scenes, and what she’s learned from her EDI work

Dr Clara Barker (she/her) Scattering atoms, electrons and perceptions

Clara discussed the lack of diversity in STEM through an LGBTQIA+ lens. She shared her personal journey as a trans woman in science, from having to hide who she is for many years, to ultimately finding a workplace where she is valued and respected. She then shared her top tips for LGBT+ inclusion

Mette Anwar-Westander (all pronouns) Going back is not a choice

Mette shared their own experience as a disabled student, inspiring them to found Disabled Students UK. They then shared the accessibility lessons that universities can learn from the pandemic to ensure we take an anticipatory approach to accessibility

This event was a Researcher-Led Initiative, funded by the University of Exeter Researcher Development and Research Culture team.

Contact us

The IM! committee is open to those based on The University of Exeter and Falmouth University’s shared Penryn campus. We welcome people at all levels of university involvement, including undergraduate, postgraduate, ECRs, and staff (academic and non-academic alike).

All our events are run using a hybrid format and so are open to everyone, aiming to bring together members of all campuses and departments within the University of Exeter and Falmouth University, as well as being open to the general public.

If you'd like to join the committee, have questions or feedback, or advice on how we can make our events more inclusive, please contact us via email at inclusivitymatters@exeter.ac.uk