Employers can do a great deal to ensure a sustainable tenure for their employees, in order to secure continued recruitment beyond temporary positions. This requires considering the entire period of employment so that people feel both integrated and welcomed. 

When it comes to diversity and representation, the focus often ends up on formal procedures such as recruitment. At the same time, far more cases of discrimination are reported in informal settings, such as offhand remarks and lack of inclusion (Erdal, Knutsen & Midtbøen, 2019). 

One indicator of how inclusive a working environment is is to look not only at who joins, but who stays. The focus is often on mechanisms in the recruitment phase.

KARMA also encourages you to take a critical look at who is in the leadership team and how diverse the permanent staff are. Representation and demographics among senior researchers and leaders are noticed. If there is diversity in temporary positions but a homogeneous leadership team, this sends a signal about the type of people who are likely to obtain permanent positions. 

Even if a department has international diversity among its staff, it is also important to critically observe what type of diversity this represents. Here, we encourage people to think broadly about diversity: both visible (such as gender) and invisible, such as academic background, social class, hidden disabilities, language skills, or regional background.  

What you can observe

• What is the diversity of staff appointments like, including among the permanent employees? Does the diversity among administration, permanent staff and temporary staff reflect the diversity of the population? Are there any patterns?
• Who is responsible for equality, diversity and inclusion in the academic community, and how is this work carried out?
• How is epistemic diversity addressed? Is there openness to different methods, perspectives and opinions? Who sets the standard for what is considered ‘good research’?
• Is there transparency for employees regarding what is focused on for promotions and career opportunities? How is career guidance for young employees conducted? How are formal and informal expectations communicated consistently within the staff group, and do some individuals receive more information or support than others?
• Are there any measures you think could be implemented based on these observations? For example, a mentor programme for new employees?