Terms of reference

Statement of purpose

The EDI Research Centre was developed to:

• Generate research culture change regarding the priority given to EDI issues throughout the research process
• Improve EDI research practice in relation to marginalised researcher, participant and student experiences
• Enhance EDI-related policy (eg educate or help reduce inequalities in research such as through decolonisation of research)
• Increase EDI research capacity within research centres and departments across the University of York (eg coordinate the embedding of EDI into research ethics processes)

Priority areas

1. Dismantling systemic inequities through and within research

The Centre will support the development of research environments where all researchers have equal opportunities to engage in quality research; and where support and encouragement is provided to engage in:

• research which seeks to tackle:
  • the presence of unequal access to services (eg health services and education)
  • biases in lived experiences (eg sexual harassment and bullying)
  • policies and regulations which negatively impact certain groups (eg who gets to do what research)
• research which explores, identifies and celebrates accomplishments in relation to the upheaval of inequity in the lived experiences of marginalised communities and social groups; and in various professional settings
• research which prioritises considering positionality

2. Inclusive research methods and methodologies

The Centre will promote the advancement of inclusive research practices in relation to:

• research teams (including individual and organisational partners/ collaborators)
• the theoretical frameworks embedded in research fields
• the research methods used 

3. Decolonising research

The Centre recognises the inherent biases within the research process and that research is not neutral. It will therefore support the creation of a disruptive research culture characterised by a radical shift away from the existing research power hierarchies where:

• authority continues to be given to research and research findings from the Global North and research from the Global South is judged as of lower value
• colonisation and coloniality are maintained

This culture will prioritise the critical examination of the research process itself, seeking to destabilise colonial research power dynamics by considering:

• the power dynamics that shape research
• Global North research processes and approaches
• research ethics

4. Pedagogical research and the scholarship of teaching and learning

The Centre will nurture the creation of a research culture which prioritises high quality research into the university student experience and readily applies robust findings in relation to:

• authentic assessments which enable all student groups to demonstrate the extent of their learning
• improving students’ sense of belonging not only in academic activities (eg decolonising the curriculum), but also in the wider university context (eg the supervisor-student relationship, cohort relationships)
• diversity of student applications and minimising attainment gaps at the undergraduate and postgraduate level
• equitable opportunities to develop employability skills and access to career-related activities, with the aim of plugging the leaky pipeline