Building Inclusive Leadership: A Biosciences Approach

Abstract

One-size-fits-all Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) strategies and provisioning are no longer suitable for a growing and diversifying higher education landscape; as each research discipline faces its own unique challenges to inclusion. High impact research needs reliable, decisive, and holistic approaches to leadership, but managerial and leadership skills are often considered an add-on as opposed to a necessity in modern research environments. An estimated 70% of EDI initiatives in UK Higher Education Institutions fail to flourish (Marchiondo et al. 2023) - a combinatory effect of conservative approaches to change, cultural adaptation, and departmental stability. We developed an Inclusive Leadership Programme to empower bioscientists to work autonomously and inclusively. Using a co-creation approach, the Inclusive Leadership Programme collectively defined inclusive leadership traits to create a resource. The interactive resource shares inclusive approaches to communication, feedback, recognition, and development - prioritising the experiences of those typically excluded from leadership conversations. By embedding a self-reflective scoring system, we share changes in approaches to inclusivity. After using the resource, self-perception normalises in distribution, indicating the resource provides a baseline for best practice, and space to understand personal approaches to inclusive practice in biosciences. Ultimately, the Inclusive Leadership Programme and Resource offers a template for other biological research, learning, and teaching environments to build their own tailored approach to integrating inclusivity and empowering all members to work as autonomous and inclusive leaders, regardless of seniority.