The global inclusivity
report 2022

How important is inclusion in academia?

• Almost 78% of academics say that inclusion is important to them personally, but believe it is less important to their institutions (65%) and other stakeholders, with publishers and funders seen as least committed to inclusion
• 1 in 5 academics thinks that inclusivity doesn’t provide any noticeable benefits
• Inclusion in academia is especially important to women, early career researchers, students and low and middle income countries
• More than 80% of academics say that inclusion is important in the academic workplace, in research methodology and practices, and in publishing practices
• Most academics believe that inclusion can improve academia, with 90% saying that it promotes different ways of thinking, 88% that it creates an open learning culture and 87% that it has a positive effect on creative thinking
• Find out more in 'Who cares about inclusion?'

Discrimination in academia

• Academics experience a wide range of discrimination and other anti-inclusive behaviours
• Almost a third of academics experience verbal microaggressions in the workplace
• Almost twice as many Indigenous researchers than non- Indigenous researchers experience racial discrimination (29% versus 15%)
• Find out more in 'Bullying & discrimination in academia'

Inclusion in academia

• 60% of academics say their institute is taking initiatives to drive inclusion in the workplace
• Biases in recruitment and promotion are the main challenge to inclusion in the workplace, followed by management attitudes and too much pressure on career progression
• Recruitment biases and limited funding are top barriers to creating an inclusive environment in academia
• Not enough knowledge exchange between academia and industry is the main barrier to academics playing a role in creating an inclusive society
• Find out more in 'Who's doing what?' and 'What's preventing a more inclusive environment?'

Inclusion in research

• More than a third of academics say that diversity and inclusion is of high importance in research design. However, it’s of low importance to 1 in 5 academics
• Find out more in 'Diversity & inclusion in research design'

Inclusion in publishing

• Most academics think publishers could help researchers create a more inclusive society
• More than 70% want publishers to remove paywalls, make research more discoverable, increase open access, reduce APCs, support broader research metrics, promote the real world benefits of research, and make editorial boards more diverse
• Find out more in 'What role do publishers play?'

Inclusion in Indigenous research

• Almost a third of academics conduct/have conducted research involving Indigenous peoples or communities – this rises to 57% for Indigenous researchers
• More than half say there are challenges/very significant challenges when conducting Indigenous research
• Indigenous researchers face challenges at every stage of the research process
• Academics think publishers and academia should do more to support Indigenous research
• Find out more in 'Inclusion in an indigenous context'

Next: Introduction to the report