Whether it is in my work at the University as a neuroscientist or at my NHS Trust as a consultant psychiatrist, I find myself repeatedly encountering the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) agenda. In both places I am often involved in advertising and appointing people for new jobs, and the associated adverts and job plans need to include some kind of EDI statement.
Nowadays, in grants I write to fund my research, I find sections where I am asked to explain how I will fulfil the EDI mandate. When I organise an academic conference session or a medical meeting, I am again told that I have to demonstrate my commitment to EDI. And the funny thing is that I don’t find it difficult!
When a colleague asks me about my EDI views, I can say with my hand on my heart that I truly believe in equality. I look him straight in the eye and declare that I wholeheartedly support diversity. I affirm unwaveringly my commitment to inclusion.
‘I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.’ - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
