SKAO releases its first Equality, Diversity and Inclusion plan

BY MATHIEU ISIDRO (SKAO)

In December, the SKAO released a set of documents to take its equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) vision forward.

Two years of work culminating in nine actions

The publication of these documents is the result of over two years of work by a large group of staff, following a call from the director-general to review practices and develop an EDI plan for the nascent observatory.

After several months of work including climate surveys, training sessions and workshops with experts, a set of recommendations focusing on areas such as recruitment, culture, accessibility, and data, were produced and endorsed by the SKAO leadership. A small taskforce chaired by the director of operations and including members from the leadership, HR and staff was set up to prioritise recommendations and develop an implementation plan. Nine actions were identified, which strongly align with the SKAO’s core values. These actions were developed to address three themes that represent the highest priority EDI ambitions for the observatory:

• Gender balance;

• Diversity that reflects the SKAO’s member countries; and

• Equity of access to SKA activities, including science. Additionally, three areas were identified in which to focus immediate action: recruitment; the development of the observatory’s tools, systems, and culture; and communications and reporting.

The plan, now approved by the SKAO director-general and released to staff and partners, will be implemented across the SKA Observatory and its activities. A review is expected in 12 months’ time to check where the observatory is in its implementation.

A new code of conduct

The taskforce also produced a new code of conduct for meetings and events that now applies to all SKAO-organised meetings and can be used for any SKA-related meeting organised by third parties, as well as guidelines for external facilitators and trainers the observatory uses.

Policies that apply to all members of the SKA community

Several policies of the Observatory apply not just to its staff but to members of the SKA community, including partners, contractors, meeting attendees and others the Observatory works with. These include an EDI policy, code of ethics, and standards of conduct and behaviour. You can find more information on our website

“EDI are core values of the SKA Observatory,” said Prof. Philip Diamond, Director-General of the SKAO, upon publication of the documents. “It is incumbent on all of us – senior leaders, line managers, staff, but also members of the SKA community – to uphold these values and help take these actions forward. I look forward to seeing these actions implemented across the SKAO and for our work to promote and respect EDI continue.”

SKAO’s nine EDI actions

1 - SKAO’s core EDI policy documents must be approved, signed, made available and promoted to all relevant stakeholders.

2 - SKAO’s commitment to EDI and the content and response to this Implementation Plan, should be clearly communicated to all Observatory and collaboration staff, including the flow through from the EDI Working Group Action Plan and the staff Climate Survey, and demonstrated through concrete actions including those in this plan.

3 - Work already underway to update the recruitment process for SKAO employees and collaboration staff should continue, with the urgent deliverable being to incorporate measures specifically targeting gender and other diversity outcomes.

4 - SKAO should take specific account of the EDI-related challenges of having staff working and living at remote sites/ communities, and implement safety and training measures that follow best practice in this area.

5 - SKAO should adopt an EDI Calendar of Events and appropriately mark those events across the Observatory as a means of communicating and celebrating its commitment to EDI and helping to embed SKAO’s EDI values across its activities.

6 - SKAO should make a clear statement on its commitment to accessibility, including ensuring appropriate building codes are adhered to as a minimum, seeking to adopt best practice where feasible, and committing to fair and equitable access to SKA activities, including science and supporting tools.

7 - SKAO-hosted meetings open to a wide community must incorporate the Code of Conduct for SKA Meetings and Events which provides guidance for facilitators, presenters and participants, and external facilitators and trainers working with SKAO must be provided with EDI guidelines explaining the SKAO’s values and expectations. There must be a clearly identified mechanism for the reporting of concerns or breaches, with defined paths for escalation and response.

8 - SKAO should commit to reporting publicly on diversity KPIs on an annual timescale, including relevant baseline/population data regarding protected characteristics, in order to assess performance and drive change over time.

9 - SKAO should implement an appropriate mechanism to oversee and advise on EDI issues and performance, and consistency with best practice.