Dr Sara Walker is an Assistant Director and Co-Investigator <\/p>\n Contact details: sara.walker@ncl.ac.uk<\/span><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Dr Sara Walker’s Profile<\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Equality, Diversity\u00a0and Inclusion\u00a0in Engineering<\/span> <\/strong><\/p>\n I recently attended and event called \u2018Data Driven Culture Change\u2019 at the Royal Academy of Engineering where the startling results of an industry survey showed:<\/p>\n That means those activities typically aren\u2019t aligned to any strategic plan and the impact of activities aren\u2019t being measured, in the majority of cases. The Royal Academy of Engineering has a vision to address the engineering skills and diversity challenge. The scale of the diversity issue is being reported more frequently in the mainstream press, particularly recently with the gender pay gap reporting hitting headlines:<\/p>\n Across the energy sector, Powerful Women report<\/a><\/span> a similarly disappointing picture for the top 80 energy companies.<\/p>\n The Supergen Energy Networks Hub wishes to better understand EDI for the community, to develop and implement good practice in EDI in the way we engage with the community, and to create a sense of belonging for all regardless of background.<\/p>\n Well firstly because it is the right thing to do. Discrimination is not something we wish to support. We intend to engage widely in a way which is inclusive to all.<\/p>\n And secondly, because it is good for research.\u00a0 Diverse teams outperform<\/a><\/span> homogenous teams for creativity and innovation, which is just what we are looking for in order to tackle the thorny issue of future energy networks.<\/p>\n Thirdly, it makes business sense.\u00a0 There is strong evidence that diversity in the workplace results in better financial performance (Powerful Women report companies in the top quartile for gender diversity outperform those in the bottom quartile by 35%).<\/p>\n Our approach to EDI for the Supergen Energy Networks Hub is:<\/p>\n Complete our first EDI audit here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n Get in touch if you would like more information at supergenEN@newcastle.ac.uk<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Dr Sara Walker, a keen advocate of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), discusses the EDI imbalances in engineering and how the Supergen Energy Networks Hub hopes to address it. About the Author: Dr Sara Walker is an Assistant Director and Co-Investigator of the \u00a35 million EPSRC funded Supergen Energy Networks Hub.\u00a0 Additionally she is also … Continue reading Addressing Equality Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering<\/span> ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/supergenenhub\/files\/2019\/01\/Dr-Sara-Walker-1-2-293x300.jpg\")
of the \u00a35 million EPSRC funded Supergen Energy Networks Hub.\u00a0 Additionally she is also Associate Director and Co-Investigator at CESI<\/a><\/span><\/strong>. Her research focus is regarding renewable energy technology and transitions to low carbon systems, with a particular focus on policy and building scale solutions.\u00a0She is Director of Expertise for Infrastructure at the School of Engineering at Newcastle University.<\/p>\n
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