The University Funded Diversity and Inclusion Scheme research initiatives announced

After consideration of all applications to the University Funded Diversity and Inclusion Scheme, the projects to receive funding have been announced.

In January 2023, the University Funded Diversity and Inclusion launched a scheme to provide grants to support research initiatives across the University. These projects are aimed at challenging discrimination and inequalities, increasing representation of under-represented groups, raising awareness of issues related to Diversity and Inclusion, and facilitating implementation of good practice at the university.

Applications were accessed by a judging panel consisting of Tina Purkis, Executive Director of HR, Professor Phil Vickerman, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Student Experience and Moni Akinsanya, Associate Director, Diversity and Inclusion.

The funding opportunity received great interest from the university, and the panel received a high volume of applications which focused on the following:

• Black student attainment gap
• Care leavers
• People estranged from their families
• People from Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller communities
• Neurodiversity
• Northern Irish students
• White young working-class male students
• Projects targeting specific demographics/groups of student/staff/community groups
• Decolonising/Inclusive curriculum
• Recruitment and progression of staff from ethnically diverse communities

After careful consideration of all applications, the judging panel has decided to fund the following projects:

1. Using the Gypsy, Traveller, Roma, Showmen and Boaters' (GTRSB) HE and Schools Pledge to increase Liverpool GTRSB into FE and HE.
2. Lean in Construction for Girls.
3. Understanding Barriers to Academic Achievement of Male Students from Low HE Participation Areas and Developing Institutional Interventions.
4. ‘Story Creators’: A collaborative inclusion project for LJMU students and pupils in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).
5. ‘Intern to Work’: A collaborative inclusion project for LJMU to partner with Liverpool City Council (LCC) to provide supported internships to students in the Liverpool City Region (LCR) with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).
6. #BlackintheIvory.
7. Clues in the Cues: Chronicling and Contextualising Non-Western Socio-Cultural Norms for Improved Student Experience.
8. You Can't Be What You Can't See.
9. The Experiences of Disabled Staff within a Higher Education Setting.

The Diversity and Inclusion Team is working to ensure the successful delivery of all the projects and wish successful applicants the best of luck in their research as they look forward to learning about the findings and using them to implement good practice at the university.

The Diversity and Inclusion Team would also like to thank those applicants who were unsuccessful, for their interest and time spent on their applications and hope they will not be discouraged from applying for Diversity and Inclusion funding opportunities, in the future.