We will not stand for sexism, racism or discrimination of any kind. We have a moral obligation to contribute to their elimination.

We are committed to making the Society welcoming and inclusive. We will seek out participation from under-represented groups, and will value and celebrate the contributions of all.

Our current work on equality and diversity includes:

• Improving the gender balance of our Fellowship: we are highlighting the achievements of women Fellows, and we have set a target for a 50/50 split of Fellowship nominations for women and men
• Celebrating diverse careers: our Fellowship and research medals recognise different career paths and stages, and we are signatories to the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)
• Diversity at events: we aim for diverse speaker panels and audiences in all events led by the Society, and ask supported events to make commitments to diversity
• Supporting Early Career Researchers (ECRs): we have established a national, cross-disciplinary network, offering free seminars and other opportunities for ECRs to be included in our work
• Governance: we encourage diverse nominations for our Council and committees; our initial aim is that committees will be gender-balanced by the end of 2022

We have recently consulted more than 100 people on how we can make the Society more welcoming and inclusive. After we have fully considered the findings, we will share our next steps in autumn 2021.

We are starting to analyse the characteristics of our Fellowship and Fellowship nominees in more detail, in respect of other protected characteristics under the Equality Act. Once this data is ready, we will publish it and plan future steps to improve diversity.

Please contact Amanda Kirk if you would like to discuss our work on equality and diversity.