Equity/Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Other EDI Phrases and EDI Policy Frameworks: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Equity, equality, diversity, inclusion, belonging, dignity, justice, accessibility, accountability, and decolonization are individual concepts used to engage with problematic social situations of marginalized groups. Phrases that put together these concepts in different ways, such as “equity, diversity and inclusion”, “equality, diversity, and inclusion”, “diversity, equity and inclusion”, “equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility”, “justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion”, and “equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization” are increasingly used, indicating that any one of these concepts is not enough to guide policy decisions. These phrases are also used to engage with problems in the workplace. Universities are one workplace where these phrases are used to improve the research, education, and general workplace climate of marginalized students, non-academic staff, and academic staff. EDI policy frameworks such as Athena SWAN and DIMENSIONS: equity, diversity, and inclusion have been also set up with the same purpose. What EDI data are generated within the academic literature focusing on EDI in the workplace, including the higher education workplace, influence the implementation and direction of EDI policies and practices within the workplace and outside. The aim of this scoping review of academic abstracts employing SCOPUS, the 70 databases of EBSCO-HOST and Web of Sciences, was to generate data that allow for a detailed understanding of the academic inquiry into EDI. The objective of this study was to map out the engagement with EDI in the academic literature by answering seven research questions using quantitative hit count manifest coding: (1) Which EDI policy frameworks and phrases are mentioned? (2) Which workplaces are mentioned? (3) Which academic associations, societies, and journals and which universities, colleges, departments, and academic disciplines are mentioned? (4) Which medical disciplines and health professionals are mentioned? (5) Which terms, phrases, and measures of the “social” are present? (6) Which technologies, science, and technology governance terms and ethics fields are present? (7) Which EDI-linked groups are mentioned and which “ism” terms? Using a qualitative thematic analysis, we aimed to answer the following research question: (8) What are the EDI-related themes present in relation to (a) the COVID-19/pandemic, (b) technologies, (c) work/life, (d) intersectionality, (e) empowerment of whom, (f) “best practices”, (g) evaluation and assessment of EDI programs, (h) well-being, and (i) health equity. We found many gaps in the academic coverage, suggesting many opportunities for academic inquiries and a broadening of the EDI research community.

Burnout through the Lenses of Equity/Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Disabled People: A Scoping Review

“…The advent of legal and social reforms in the field, as well as the broadening of the theory of equal opportunities to include a wider range of inequalities based on sex, race, disability status, age, sexual orientation, marital status, nationality and social class have all contributed to the general growth of scholarly interest in the field. EDI engages with this interest, offering a platform for critical and rigorous exploration of equal opportunities concerns including gender, ethnicity, class, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion, as well as other nascent and incipient forms of inequalities in the context of society, organisations and work [159] (cited in [80]).…”

“…Under the section discussing the journal's aim, it is furthermore acknowledged that It is important to acknowledge that there are some dichotomies between the reality and rhetoric of equal opportunities, the forms of practitioner and the academic knowledge in the field, scholarly approaches to equal opportunities across disciplines of social sciences and humanities, as well as their use of concepts and methods in order to uncover inequalities, and offer strategies for change towards equality of opportunity, valuing of diversity or pursuit of social inclusion [159] (cited in [80]).…”

“…Many different EDI-related phrases such as "equity, diversity, and inclusion", "equality, diversity, and inclusion", "diversity, equity, and inclusion" , and EDI policy frameworks such as Athena SWAN (UK) and the Canadian framework Dimensions: equity, diversity and inclusion [65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79]) are employed to improve the acknowledged problematic workplace situations of marginalized groups including disabled people and to change the research ecosystem [43,80]. EDI actions are also seen to be needed in daily life [81], and the external systemic discriminations in daily life [82,83] experienced by marginalized groups are seen to impact EDI implementation [80].…”

Best Paper awards lack transparency, inclusivity, and support for Open Science

“…Further, there were only 111 winners (11%) affiliated with institutions in the Global South countries, representing only 12 countries (mostly China -61 winners; Figure S28; by decade and gender Figure S33). The most frequent first names among the past winners were: Sarah (12), David (10), Christopher (8), Michael (8), Jonathan (7), Richard (7), Anne (7), Adam (6), Andrew (6), Benjamin (6), Brian (6), Daniel (6), Eric (6), James (6), Philipp (6), William (6) (Figure S34).…”

“…Specifically, the mechanics of nomination, assessment criteria and transparency of the process can indicate whether broader social trends are reflected in academic recognition. For example, the Black Lives Matter and MeToo social movements spurred many scientific organizations and journals to post statements of support for diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives (e.g., 6,7 ). This coincided with the appearance of awards dedicated to recognising efforts for promoting Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), and also awards created exclusively for people from historically underrepresented groups, such as researchers from the Global South, racial and ethnic minorities, or women [8][9][10][11] .…”