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EDI Bingo. I do have many good friends and followers here who apply to @NERCscience. So, I decided to look into the latest round of principal investigator data for NERC and oh goodness me, it ain't pretty (it's shocking). Thread. /1 https://twitter.com/tanvir_h/status/1275757990470090752
HESA estimate 8% of NERC researchers are BAME, but only 4% of the PI awardees in 18-19 were from BAME background--this is a DROP from 14-15. Oh dear. In 14-15, NERC had 20 PIs from BAME background & after 5 years of EDI work later they still have 20 BAME PIs in 18-19. /2
In the meantime, the WHITE PI awardees increased from 82% in 14-15 to 87% in 18-19. I thought EDI measures were supposed to improve the situation, not make it more White. NERC is not going in the right direction here. /3
Let's move onto award rate. BAME PIs had a success rate of 21% in 14-15 which DROPPED to 17% in 18-19. The no of BAME applicants also DROPPED by 10 in 5 years. Great! In 18-19, White PIs had a success rate of 27%--a whopping 10% disparity here between two ethnicity. /4
Wait for the final shock, award value. NERC awarded only 20 grants to BAME PIs in 18-19 and the mean value was £273 k compared to the mean value of £538 k for White PIs. Actually, mean value of the grants from White PIs increased from £272 k in 14-15 to £538 k in 18-19. /5
How do I conclude without disenfranchising the BAME researchers in Natural Environment research? Please tell us your story if you are involved with NERC. All EDI indicators for NERC over 5 years are getting worse and the direction of travel in PI demographics is disconcerting. /6
