Gender Equality Plan contents

  • “We are committed to progressing equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in all aspects of our work, for our workforce and through our work as the UK’s national institute for health data science.  

    We recognise the ongoing intersectional barriers experienced by women and gender minority people. For example, women remain underrepresented in STEM disciplines at all levels, especially disciplines such as mathematics, computing and computer engineering, which constitute a large proportion of the health data science researcher population.   

    We also recognise the importance of ensuring gender and the gender dimensions of health are explicitly considered within health data research and within the training and development of future health data researchers.   

    As Director, I am pleased to endorse HDR UK’s Gender Equality Plan (GEP).  This plan reflects our commitment to gender equality and lays out our commitment to gender-specific actions throughout our work.”   

  • At Health Data Research UK (HDR UK), our mission is to accelerate trustworthy data use to enable discoveries that improve people’s lives. We want the UK to be the destination for vital research and innovation using health data.   

    From 2022, Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) are required for research organisations seeking funding from the Horizon Europe framework programme for research and innovation 2021 to 2027.   

    With this in mind, we have developed a GEP, in which focusses on gender inequalities, and gender-specific measures as part of our wider EDI work. We are currently developing our broader EDI strategy and will continue to review our GEP as part of our wider EDI work.  

    Our GEP sets out how we meet the mandatory Horizon Europe requirements and how we intend to achieve measurable progress across all five of the thematic areas recommended by the European Commission. These are:  

    • Work-life balance and organisational culture  
    • Gender balance in leadership and decision-making  
    • Gender equality in recruitment and career progression  
    • Integration of the gender dimension into research and teaching content  
    • Measures against gender-based violence including sexual harassment.  

    This is intended to be a working document that will be updated at least annually to accommodate any changes in required actions and progress.   

  •  A formal and public published document   

    The GEP must be a formal and public document published on the institution’s website, signed by the top management and actively communicated within the institution. With this in mind, we have ensured the following:  

    • That our GEP is a public document published and easily accessible on our website.   
    • That it is fully supported by our Board of Trustees, Director and Senior Leadership Team, along with clearly defined ownership of the actions listed within the plan.  

    Dedicated resource and expertise   

    A GEP must have dedicated resources and expertise to implement the plan. As such, we have taken the following measures:  

    • We have a dedicated equality, diversity and inclusion working group with SLT and Board sponsorship, which focuses on all aspects of EDI across the institute.  
    • Our Head of People has responsibility for EDI policies and processes that impact our direct workforce.   
    • Our Head of Open Science, Research Culture and Impact works directly with researchers across our community with EDI a key focus area.   
    • Our Capacity Building team has a dedicated group managing the Black Internship Programme and other scholarship programmes in place that offer opportunities to underrepresented groups.  
    • Our Programme Manager for EDI acts as the lead EDI professional and subject matter expert on EDI initiatives and reviews across HDR UK and uses this insight to help set HDR UK’s EDI strategy.  
    • Along with staff led groups, our Public Advisory Board also provides guidance on our EDI work.  
    • We are committed to seeking external expertise and guidance as and when required to support our work in this area.  

    Data collection and monitoring   

    A GEP must include arrangements for data collection and monitoring with annual reporting based on indicators. We are committed to using data collection and monitoring to provide a robust evidence base for our gender equality interventions, including establishing a baseline, regular monitoring and communication of progress.  

    Our HR and recruitment systems have robust data collection abilities for diversity monitoring. We also currently collect and analyse data for HDR UK programmes, such as our Black Internship Programme and other scholarship programmes.   

    We run an annual staff survey with specific questions focusing on EDI, work life balance, salary, training, development, promotions, policies and processes. This is published internally with clear actions set out for improvement. We also currently undertake an annual gender pay gap report.   

    We will review our staff and programme data collection methodologies to encompass gender diversity as well as sex and ensure a consistent and standardised approach that supports effective monitoring and evaluation of gender equality and related interventions across HDR UK.   

    Our EDI objectives are regularly updated and presented to both our Trustees and SLT. We will publish our diversity data analysis as part of our evidence-based EDI planning and progress monitoring.   

    Training and awareness  

    The GEP must also include training and awareness-raising actions on gender equality.  

    • We deliver mandatory training to all staff on EDI and unconscious bias as part of our compliance training programme.   
    • Our managers receive ongoing training and guidance on key People Policies.   
    • Our emerging leaders programme includes an EDI module.   
    • We provide regular staff updates, presentations, and events on a variety of EDI themed topics.   

  • We will monitor progress of our GEP on an annual basis drawing on diversity data monitoring, staff survey findings and evaluation of progress against our actions, reporting on progress within our broader EDI progress updates.   

“ We recognise the importance of ensuring gender and the gender dimensions of health are explicitly considered within health data research and within the training and development of future health data researchers. ”