UKRI diversity data raise alarm bells among academics

Researchers criticise gender and ethnicity gaps in grant success rates from national research funder

Academics have expressed dismay at diversity data released by the UK’s largest public funder of research and have called for greater efforts to address “systemic” inequality.

According to data published by UK Research and Innovation, the 2018-19 success rate of minority ethnic principal investigators was 10 percentage points lower than that of their white counterparts—at 17 per cent compared with 27 per cent.