Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI)

The Royal Statistical Society is embedding equality, diversity and inclusion as a cross-cutting theme across all of its strategic goals and operations. To support this, in January 2022, Dr. Eugenie Hunsicker was appointed as the society’s first Honorary Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and in June 2022, Council agreed to form an EDI Advisory Committee to coordinate our work in this important area. The remit of this group includes:

1. Facilitating communication and cooperation in the EDI area across various parts of the Society, as well as with other professional organisations in the Mathematical Sciences

2. Monitoring and improving policies, processes and practices at the Society to improve diversity governance

3. Engaging with the membership to ensure that the diversity of its views and experiences are heard, included and incorporated into the Society’s policies, activities and strategy

4. Contributing to the Society’s advocacy work in areas of relationship to equality, diversity and inclusion

Understanding the of our membership is critical for these aims, which is why we have created a new diversity monitoring section in the profile page of MyRSS, which we encourage all members to complete!

I am delighted to serve as the inaugural RSS Honorary Officer for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). The Society is well-placed to make an impact in diversity through its large membership and the socially impactful work that members do.

Eugenie Hunsicker, Honorary Officer for EDI

We are currently in the process of populating the committee and would welcome expressions of interest from RSS members who feel that they have a contribution to make in this important area. We have an open nomination process (including self-nomination) and plan to achieve balanced representation across demographic, employment, and geographic characteristics.

Committee members will serve a three-year term and each year at least two new members will be elected, and one co-opted to ensure continuity.  The committee will meet four times per year, and in addition to attending and contributing to these, members will contribute to activities relevant to the four areas of our remit, for an estimated time commitment of nine days per year.

If you are interested in nominating yourself (or another member) for the EDI Advisory Committee, please email RSS director of membership Nicola Emmerson including the following information:

• your name/name of your nominee
• what you feel you can contribute to the advisory group

We also plan to launch an EDI forum where members can contribute ideas, raise concerns and contribute to policy consultations. So far this year, we have already responded to consultations from the Science and Tech parliamentary committee and UKRI and contributed to a joint workshop at ICMS. We’ll also be incorporating EDI considerations into the Society’s next long-term strategy which will be launched during 2023.

We look forward to hearing from you and welcome any other ideas or feedback you have.