Equality, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI)
EDI Statement
At the NWCDTP, we are passionate about creating a positive research culture and promoting sense of belonging so that every student feels valued and supported. Issues relating to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) are foundational in everything that we do. The NWCDTP is committed to embedding awareness of EDI issues at every level of the organisation by continuously making important steps to improve the student experience in terms of governance, application support, student engagement, professional development, training and resources, placement and funded Fellowship opportunities, and widening participation and alumni activities. The NWCDTP’s EDI Advocate, Dr Hannah Helm, works with the team to address and improve EDI issues within the DTP.
As part of our ongoing EDI work, we consult with a range of communities and stakeholders including The Stuart Hall Foundation (SHF) and the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre, auditing and updating our processes, policies, and practices, and closely (re)examining how we do things. This involves reorienting the DTP, reviewing what we think is important about doctoral study, being open to new ways of working, and working closely with our existing students and alumni to implement positive change. We hope that our work will address the underrepresentation and inequalities within our organisation more broadly. Ultimately, at the NWCDTP, we are working to promote equality of opportunity and challenge barriers to access and participation. Our goal is to challenge conventional language and assumptions surrounding doctoral research, fostering inclusivity within our student cohort as a whole. We are committed to ensuring that our doctoral researchers are ethical, responsible, and leaders in their communities. We are actively working to inspire the next generation within and beyond our community, striving to widen participation in doctoral research.
If you would like to be involved in our ongoing EDI work, please get in touch with our NWCDTP Director Professor Jerome de Groot (he/him) (Jerome.degroot@manchester.ac.uk) or our EDI Advocate Dr Hannah Helm (she/her) (h.j.helm@edu.salford.ac.uk).
Foundational Aspirations
At the NWCDTP, we have developed a set of foundational aspirations that are part of every decision we make. By ‘foundational aspirations’, we are referring to the core goals and ambitions that underpin the Consortium. These aspirations represent the underlying principles or values that guide our decision-making and influence the direction of our future actions, priorities, and developments:
• 73% of our researchers ‘agreed’ that the NWCDTP upholds the aspiration of ‘honesty’ in its practices
• 73% of our researchers ‘agreed’ that the NWCDTP is willing to ‘listen’ to them when they have a problem they need help with
• 73% of our students ‘agreed’ that the NWCDTP recognises the diversity and ‘complexity’ of research in the context of PhD study
• 82% of our students ‘agreed’ that the NWCDTP recognises the value in ‘different models of research and types of study’
• 73% of our students ‘agreed’ that the NWCDTP demonstrates ‘good communication’, sharing information in a clear and timely manner with researchers
• 91% of our students ‘agreed’ that the NWCDTP is ‘inclusive and transparent’ in its practices
• 73% of our students ‘agreed’ that the NWCDTP shows a ‘commitment to diverse recruitment’ through our targeted studentships for students from underrepresented backgrounds
• 82% of our students agreed that the NWCDTP demonstrates ‘ethical awareness’ as an integral part of PhD study, as evidenced through our Sustainability Toolkit
Here is what our students say about our ‘foundational aspirations’:
- ‘I feel the NWCDTP is truly inclusive of different research modes and types of study and that it treats recruitment fairly and ethically. I also think it is aware of the complexity of PGR [study] and does a good job at communicating this’
- ‘The NWCDTP demonstrates a desire to distribute studentships transparently and fairly’
- ‘I have been very impressed with the commitment I have seen from the DTP Director and staff to upholding what I have thought of as the “values” of the DTP’
- ‘My experience of the DTP over the very many years I have been involved is that discussions have been open, and the decisions made transparent. There has been a real move in recent years to promote EDI and all the other aspirations, and I applaud this’
- ‘The NWCDTP is committed to the well-being of its PGR students’
- ‘The induction and the EDI workshop are the only sessions I have been to so far, but I feel that these were based on past listening – lots of emphasis on socialising, organising research, and being creative and calm’
- ‘I think the NWCDTP’s focus on EDI issues shows their awareness and appreciation of different needs and issues’
- ‘I think the foundational aspirations are evidenced by the documentation, the conduct, and the procedures of the awarding process, and the ring-fenced studentships have been very good’
Our Actions
Governance
We have established an EDI Committee, which meets three times a year to advise on EDI issues, introduce new initiatives, and ensure that the EDI Action Plan is on course.
If you would like to join our EDI Group and ensure that your voice is heard at the EDI Committee, please get in touch with Hannah (EDI Advocate): h.j.helm@edu.salford.ac.uk.
Organisation Reform
We have outlined an EDI Action Plan, which will reform the institution from the ground up. This plan covers governance, student voice and representation, recruitment, supervision and training, widening participation, and application support activities. If you have any questions about the EDI Action Plan, please contact Hannah (EDI Advocate, h.j.helm@edu.salford.ac.uk).
Partnership with The Stuart Hall Foundation (SHF)
We have recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Stuart Hall Foundation: an organisation devoted to addressing issues of inequality within society. The Stuart Hall Foundation will advise us, contribute to our discussions surrounding targeted studentships and recruitment, work with our EDI Advocate, and provide training for staff and students.
Partnership with the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre
The Ahmed Iqbal Ullah Education Trust has been commissioned to work with the NWCDTP in a critical friend capacity. Through two workshops (February and March 2024), the Trust helped us to focus on how we can better recruit and support students from underrepresented backgrounds (with a focus on people from Global Majority backgrounds), as well as strategies for working ethically and in mutually beneficial ways with local communities. The workshops were highly participatory and offered a framework for the NWCDTP to examine our own practice and experiences, as well as looking outside the Partnership. The workshops helped us to draw out principles, approaches, and tools that inform our current and future work.
As part of our ongoing work in this area, we commissioned the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre to report on our organisation. Their findings, conclusions, and recommendations are detailed in the report below. We are working with the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and the whole Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) on implementing their important advice, which will change the DTP throughout.
Read the report: Embedding anti-racism in organisational practice: a commission for the North West Doctoral Training Partnership
Student Representation
We are passionate about ensuring that more of our students can contribute and have their voices heard. From January-July 2024, we conducted an EDI Questionnaire in order to gather valuable opinions and voices, which will form the basis of a Student Experience project (completion date: Spring 2026). We also have a Student Representative group who meet regularly to help the DTP plan student-led events and socials, as well as our annual student conference.
In addition, we currently support three student-led, EDI-themed networks: one for part-time students, one for first-generation students (first in family to go to university), and a network for students who identify as neurodivergent. In the 2025-2026 academic year, we will continue to develop and expand these important networks, as well as supporting new networks (such as a dedicated support space for our international students). If you would like to get involved with these networks, or have ideas for new EDI-themed student networks, please get in touch with our EDI Advocate, Hannah (h.j.helm@edu.salford.ac.uk).
We are currently recruiting new Student Representatives within the NWCDTP, with a particular need for student representation at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). If you are a current NWCDTP student and would like to become a Student Representative, please get in touch with Hannah.
EDI Training and Events
Since October 2023, we have offered a variety of EDI-themed training opportunities and events: both to DTP-funded and non-DTP funded PGRs. The events have been themed around crucial EDI topics and issues, including decolonising academia, intersectionality, disability awareness and support, neurodiversity, social class, mindfulness and wellbeing, and support for PhD parents and caregivers. One key output of the PhD parents and caregivers training was a report of recommendations for the DTP, produced by Dr Lubaaba Al-Azami at the University of Manchester. Read the report.
In addition, we worked with other DTPs to organise a hugely successful cross-DTP event for students (February 2025), which was attended by 93 people. The conference consisted of parallel workshops and plenaries around the following themes: caring responsibilities, class, disability, LGBTQIA+, neurodiversity, and race. The event was immensely successful and received positive feedback from DTP Directors (April 2025); follow-up collaborative events and training are being planned for the next academic year. In the 2025-2026 academic year, we will add to our regular EDI Training calendar by including new events to commemorate important annual events and celebrations including Black History Month and International Women’s Day.
EDI Fellows
In 2024, we allocated ringfenced funding to Student Experience projects that will drive our EDI agenda, including targeted funding around key themes. This resulted in the appointment of five EDI Fellows (April 2024-April 2025), who focused on Widening Participation and Application Support initiatives.
Read our EDI Fellows’ blog posts about their different projects below:
- Nan Song (Application Support)
- Excy Hansda (Application Support)
- Lucy Hulton (Widening Participation)
- Jodie Walker (Widening Participation)
In 2025, we will recruit a further six EDI Fellows (September 2025-September 2026), focusing on the following key EDI areas: widening participation in early and further education (school-and-college-age learners), widening participation in higher education (university-level learners), supporting international students, supporting neurodivergent and disabled students, supporting PhD parents, guardians, and caregivers, and supporting access to placements and overseas institutional visits (OIVs).