Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan

Set out by our Working Group on EDI in 2023, this Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Plan is developed alongside and should be read in tandem with the ECPR Gender Equality Plan. ECPR is committed to implementing its objectives and action plans to develop an integrated plan that will supersede each individual document.

Principles

ECPR (hereinafter ‘we’) acknowledges that all persons dealing with the ECPR represent human beings who are diverse with a multitude of varying talents.

1. We acknowledge that academia cannot reach its full potential unless it benefits from the talents of all.

2. We commit to building and mainstreaming sustainable structures and cultures to promote equality, value diversity, and foster inclusion, recognising that initiatives and actions that support individuals alone will not suffice. We acknowledge that initiatives addressed at the individual level tend to locate the problem as a deficit in individuals and are thus not effective at making structural changes.

3. We acknowledge that promoting and advancing, equality, diversity and inclusion demands commitment and action from all levels of the organisation and in particular active leadership from those in senior roles.

4. We commit to upholding the values established in the ECPR Code of Conduct and to ensuring that all stakeholders are able to work in an environment conducive to open and equitable exchange and discourse.

5. We will not accept discrimination or less favourable treatment or recognition on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, gender re-assignment, class background, size, or any combination thereof and we commit to understanding how the intersections of these identity markers can contribute to discrimination and marginalisation. We will not tolerate any disrespectful, discriminatory, inappropriate or unprofessional behaviour or harassment towards other scholars, postgraduate students, colleagues, staff, volunteers or contractors of the ECPR.

Definitions and aspirations

Equity

Equity refers to the concept of fairness and justice in the distribution of resources and opportunities, taking into account individual differences and circumstances. Unlike equality, which aims to treat everyone the same, equity seeks to address and rectify systemic disadvantages that certain groups may face by providing additional support and resources to level the playing field. The goal of equity is to ensure that everyone has an equal chance to succeed, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Equality

Equality is ensuring individuals or groups of individuals are not treated less favourably, on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, disability, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, gender re-assignment, class background, size, or any combination thereof. Equality seeks to advance equality of opportunity in access to all areas and operations of the ECPR.

Equity is concerned with promoting fairness so that everyone starts from the same place. This includes measures to achieve greater equality of outcome.

Diversity

Diversity speaks to the range of differences, as it relates to age, ethnicity, gender, religion, ability and sexual orientation. In the academy aspiring to diversity means to seek to create an understanding and recognition that there are structural inequalities, making some differences valued, privileged and rewarded, and others not. This understanding applies to appreciating and embracing differences and practicing mutual respect for qualities and experiences that are different from those of the majority.

Inclusion

Inclusion is a sense of belonging. It involves feeling respected and valued and feeling support and commitment from others so that one can achieve their best at work.

Action Plan

Objective

The objective of the EDI Plan is to ensure that the ECPR’s events and activities and also those of its component parts meet the EDI principles set out above. ECPR will not tolerate discrimination and exclusionary practices.

Responsibilities

Responsibility for the EDI Plan lies with all members of the Executive Committee, convenors of Standing Groups, Academic Convenors of the Methods School, those hosting ECPR events, everybody involved in ECPR publishing, and ECPR staff.

Monitoring and planning

The ECPR will establish an EDI sub-committee to examine the implementation of the EDI Plan throughout the ECPR’s governance and at all levels of participation in its activities. The EDI sub-committee will aim to foster an open and inclusive environment at the ECPR, in which people feel safe, where differences are respected, engagement is apparent and the contributions of all are encouraged and valued. The EDI sub-committee will work to attract and retain members, supporters, staff, volunteers, Trustees, contractors, consultants and visitors that reflect the diverse communities in which it operates and who are committed to these core values of equity and inclusion. The EDI sub-committee will review how these aims can be assessed regularly.

ECPR will ensure that the above-mentioned EDI principles are maintained when considering awards and prizes. In the communication about prizes, ECPR will stress the importance of ensuring that the group of nominees accurately reflects the diverse organisational structure of its members. ECPR will aim to ensure that juries of awards and prizes are composed of a diverse membership base that will reflect the diverse organisational structure of the ECPR.

ECPR will strive to have equality, diversity and inclusion considered when planning its panels and activities.

ECPR will train its staff and volunteers, including Trustees, Chairs of the Standing Groups, and consultants to carry out this policy and embed EDI principles into all relevant training.

Next steps

This action plan represents a live document. The new EDI sub-committee will be tasked with planning subsequent action points, which could include the following:

To track progress on EDI matters and report back to the ECPR Council once a year. The EDI sub-committee will also consider EDI matters in ECPR publications. It could also review existing prize or possibly develop a new prize. The EDI sub-committee may want to consider a number of criteria that it wants to focus on in terms of determining whether EDI criteria have been considered. These could include but are not limited to considerations such as gender, nationality, country of origin, size of university, seniority in the profession, accessibility, financial means and so on.

ECPR could consider funding research into the presence and experiences of racially minoritized scholars in political science across Europe. Collecting such data is essential in order to obtain an accurate picture of the presence of minoritized scholars in the discipline of political science and their experiences. The ECPR could consider creating spaces for radical thinking on these issues.

ECPR could seek to address the inequalities between the Global North and the Global South by seeking ways to facilitate participation opportunities for scholars to attend ECPR events. To this end, ECPR will could explore ways to build closer relationships with other regional pertinent networks and political science associations in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

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