Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA) is one of the three parts of the European Commission's Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM). It brings together six academy networks, representing around 120 academies across Europe. Its new Strategy on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) sets out how SAPEA will embed EDI across all of its scientific advisory work. That covers everything from the nomination and selection of experts to deliberation, communications, and outreach.
The one-hour webinar was aimed at SAPEA's academy networks and their member academies in Europe. It had three aims: to present the Strategy, to share good practice on EDI in academia, and to strengthen alignment between SAPEA, its networks and Europe's academies. SAPEA has embedded EDI principles since it was created in 2016, and the new Strategy builds on that work.
The conditions for real change
Professor Mustafa Özbilgin, Associate Dean for Equity and Inclusion and Professor at Brunel University of London, opened by asking why EDI strategies in higher education matter now. He described EDI as facing political and populist backlash in Europe and internationally, with EDI programmes being withdrawn even as formal progress continued. He noted that the European Union has worked to move EDI from the margins to the centre of academic life. Since 2022, for example, gender equality plans have been an eligibility criterion for Horizon Europe funding. Yet formal progress has not been matched by cultural change: women make up 50% of PhD graduates in Europe, he pointed out, but only 30% of Grade A professors, the most senior rank.
Özbilgin also emphasised that efforts have mostly focused on raising awareness. He argued that the shift needed is towards accountability with consequences, and towards changing the institutions that produce unequal outcomes rather than trying to fix individuals. He called for intersectional data, since efforts have focused on gender alone and women are not a monolithic category. He cited UniSAFE data, noting that 62% of staff and students in academia experience gender-based violence, and that rates rise further when ethnicity, class and sexual orientation are taken into account. He also cautioned against treating equality as something that stops at the campus gate, recommending that universities engage with industry and future employers. He highlighted that innovation in EDI required more bottom-up, context-specific solutions.
The Strategy: five objectives, clear targets
Dr Jennifer McMahon, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Limerick and Chair of the SAPEA EDI Working Group, presented the Strategy. It was developed by a core working group of six, with one member nominated by each of SAPEA’s academy networks. YASAS (the Young Academies Science Advice Structure) holds the chair. McMahon noted that this put early- and mid-career researchers at the heart of the process. The group drew on an analysis of SAPEA's EDI performance from 2016 to 2026, a literature review by Cardiff University, a review of other science-policy bodies' policies, and an expert workshop convened by YASAS in February 2026.
McMahon highlighted SAPEA’s progress to date, with several earlier targets met or exceeded, including those for early- and mid-career researchers, for women among selected experts, and for experts from widening countries (those eligible for targeted EU support to strengthen their research performance). Gaps were also outlined, which tend to start upstream: only 32% of nominees were women, and only 4.8% were early-career researchers. The Strategy therefore sets working group targets across five characteristics: discipline, expertise from beyond academy fellows, career stage, gender and geography. These include at least 10% early-career and 30% mid-career researchers, no more than 60% of any one gender, and at least 23% of experts from widening countries, up from the previous target of 18%.
The Strategy rests on five strategic objectives:
- Building diverse and inclusive expertise: diversity criteria in every call for nominations, structured and transparent selection, and dialogue with nominating academies about unintended bias in their nominations.
- Making participation truly inclusive: principles of engagement for all working groups, covering respect, power dynamics, psychological safety, equal speaking opportunities and transparency about dissent, along with facilitation guidance for chairs and ways to contribute beyond meetings.
- Achieving diverse, accessible and inclusive communications and outreach: diverse speakers, no single-gender panels, captions and plain language.
- Strengthening EDI awareness and capacity: peer learning workshops and webinars with academies, certificates of participation, and a growing network of young academies.
- Building a robust monitoring and learning framework: voluntary, GDPR-compliant self-declared data, a method for qualitative EDI observation in working groups, and reflective moments during their work.
Implementation is phased. In its first year, SAPEA will apply the new widening-countries target, introduce the principles of engagement, review its nomination calls and hold its first academy webinars, starting with this one. An internal review in early 2028 will inform a revision of the Strategy.
The panel: three approaches
In a panel moderated by McMahon, three academy representatives described what their institutions had done, what had been challenging, and how they tracked progress.
Dr Soňa Ehlerová, Member of the Academy Council of the Czech Academy of Sciences, described how the Academy has made the rules of all its excellence programmes clear and transparent. For example, researchers returning from a career break can now see exactly what to expect. She also described a difficulty that arose in a recent evaluation: although the Academy sought a gender-balanced pool of international experts, women declined invitations at a much higher rate than men, resulting in final panels that were less diverse than the initial shortlist. She noted that long-term monitoring shows success rates in the Academy's programmes do not depend on gender, but the share of women still falls at later career stages. She advised academies to stay courageous, value small steps, and collect and use data, but without losing sight of the human side.
Dr Yensi Flores Bueso, immediate past Co-chair of the Executive Committee of the Global Young Academy (GYA), explained that EDI is embedded in the GYA's constitution. After joining the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), the GYA revised its selection process to recognise a wide range of contributions and career paths. The GYA no longer uses journal impact factors or similar metrics in selection and involves most members as peer reviewers. Its main challenge, she said, is defining excellence across very different contexts. The GYA's Global State of Young Scientists (GloSYS) studies, covering Asia, Africa and Latin America, help ground that definition in researchers' real conditions. Flores Bueso added that the GYA tracks demographics and qualitatively assesses collaboration, interdisciplinary projects, and new ideas arising after annual meetings. She advised putting context first, because standardised metrics miss the value that different perspectives bring.
Ms Jenni Dyer, Head of Diversity and Inclusion at the Royal Society (UK), said that over the past year the Society has publicly reaffirmed EDI as central to its mission and to scientific excellence, given the current political climate. Her main frustration is the slow pace of change: all Royal Society committees must be chaired by a Fellow, and the fellowship's demographics change slowly. This is because of historical lag. Meanwhile, the Society provides unconscious bias resources to its committees and collects detailed data. Its work on nominations and election procedures has increased the share of women elected as Fellows each year, reaching 26% this year, in line with the proportion of UK women professors. Her advice: it is fine to start small, guided by what the data shows.
Questions from the audience
From policy to culture. One participant asked which everyday behaviours and leadership practices would make an EDI strategy part of the culture rather than a policy document. Flores Bueso explained that at the GYA, once reviewers are trained and aware of bias, balance follows without extra weighting. A leadership course for each new cohort passes that culture on as membership rotates every five years. McMahon noted that some studies have found anti-bias training can have the opposite of its intended effect, so it was worth checking that measures work in practice. Dyer described EDI at the Royal Society as everyone's responsibility: her team supports other teams to embed it in their own processes, rather than owning it alone.
EDI in science advice, not only in science. Another participant pointed out that more diversity in science does not automatically mean more diversity in science advice. Flores Bueso described how the GYA serves as a platform for less-heard researchers, including scientists from the Global South, in international science-advice settings such as the United Nations.
First steps in implementation. Asked what matters most as academies begin implementing an EDI strategy, Dyer stressed engaging different teams collaboratively, sometimes with different arguments for different people, rather than imposing a strategy. Flores Bueso added that commitments should first be anchored in an organisation's constitution, code of conduct and selection rules, then worked through with all members. An audience member also noted that some academies admit members no earlier than three years after their PhD, which excludes doctoral and early postdoctoral researchers. McMahon agreed that strategies must address such restrictions.
Closing
In a final round, each panellist gave one closing thought. Dyer encouraged academies to start where they are. Flores Bueso urged them to involve as many people as possible, so that the change becomes theirs. Ehlerová stressed transparency and making sure no one is excluded. McMahon closed by noting that the Strategy will come alive only if it is lived in practice.