MRS Annual Conference 2024: Ten practical EDI take-aways
29 April 2024

There was so much great EDI content in the MRS Conference, Applied Transformation, from case studies and lived experiences to sharing best practice. Here’s the best of that content summarised into ten touchstone phrases that make it easy to remember the messages from the day and take them forward into our working lives.

1. Stop prioritising, start integrating

There’s a lot of talk about how organisations need to prioritise EDI initiatives but Ettie Etela, Research Director at MM-Eye took it one step further when she said that the time for prioritising is gone If something is prioritised, it can always slip down that list when times get tough or there are other pressing initiatives. Instead, EDI should be integrated into everything we do.

In the same way that there was once digital marketing and now all marketing is digital, we need to recognise that EDI isn’t a separate activity, the province of ESG teams, or volunteer groups formed by marginalised people, but should be woven through every aspect of workplace culture.

Raphaëlle Bartuschat, Consultant at C Space gave us a masterclass in EDI integration in her MRS Shorts presentation about reimagining health research for the LGBTQIA+ community.  She outlined three ways to make your research practice inclusive all the time: make it an inviting space, make it ‘person first’ without making assumptions; and champion the consumer as an expert. This session included my favourite quote of the day, when talking about inclusive screening practices: “And don’t use an ‘other’ box. It’s, well, othering.” 

These themes were also echoed by Rebecca Clayton, Senior Design Researcher, Barclays and Natalie Rehling, Strategy Manger, Firefish Group in their MRS Short about representative qual in the d/Deaf community. They encouraged us to empower participants, emphasise human connection and never stop growing – be open to sitting with discomfort and engaging with people with lived experience.

2. Listen

This idea of engaging with lived experience takes us to the session celebrating the 2023 MRS Changemakers. This session was inspiring and reminded us that the first thing we need to do to integrate EDI into the every day is to listen to what people in marginalised groups are telling us.

Katya Des-Etages, Senior Research Executive, Channel 4 said, “We need to be way more connected to each other and listen to each other’s stories. Stop saying what we are doing and publishing positive EDI surveys that don’t reflect lived experience. We need to be listening and amplifying voices so they can be heard.”

Tom Richer, Inclusive Researcher, Open Inclusion added, “It feels like an exciting time, especially around disability, as we’ve not before had that platform to make that progress, so people should stop ignoring it.

3. Storytelling is everything

If we all need to listen, what do we need to listen to? One of the questions put to the Changemaker session was, “Is storytelling a big part of helping senior leaders to engage?”

As an sector, we are all about capturing people’s stories and helping others to hear them, so this should be right up our street.

Katya Des-Etages answered by saying “Storytelling is almost the entire job; speaking to senior people about the lives of people they don’t have in their immediate network. I feel like people really overcomplicate understanding what normal people are doing and what their lives are like. Storytelling is a massive part of getting senior stakeholder buy-in and understanding where change needs to happen and where they can support.”

4. Be the change you want to see

This is a well-known mantra which calls to those of us that see injustice and feel that things are wrong to step up and share our stories. Tom Richer put it best when he defined Changemaking as, “That feeling inside of you that, sometimes, it’s something that has to be done and you feel really strongly about it, sometimes there isn’t even an explanation, it’s just something that you have to do because it’s the change that you want to see. Christina Lai, Consultant User Researcher and fellow Changemaker added that it means “Standing by your values, even if it scares you”

But acting on this can’t be left to those in marginalised groups. Too often, EDI initiatives are left to those who feel the injustice to step up, to act and to educate others. That’s why we add the next mantra, calling on everyone – and especially leaders – to step up and be the change too.

Dr Mark Thorpe, Board Director, Truth and Changemaker panel judge summed it up by saying that what the Changemakers had done “With no money and no support from their organisations is nothing short of amazing but it’s also nothing short of disgraceful that it’s 2024 and we are having to rely on change coming from people who are doing it all themselves.”

5. We must all be allies

Georgie White, Director of Customer Experience & Insight, Holland & Barrett, and chair of Stream 3 at the conference spoke about the poor attendance at the Changemakers session.

“The bit that broke my heart was EDI changemakers did an incredible session… the most inspirational thing I've heard today, and it was the worst attended. So it can't just be that the allies turn up. Everybody's got to become an ally. And it's just a damning indictment of how few senior leaders were listening to that session. And we've got to change that dynamic.”

This is not an isolated incident. Christina Lai also shared that she had convened an EDI panel at a previous conference for agency leaders, and that nobody had attended.

Dr Mark Thorpe called out that there were senior leaders from the MRS in the room and that the MRS has made huge strides in EDI, not least giving the Changemakers a dedicated conference session.

But overall, the group agreed that leaders must step up and do more. In the same session, Dr Shivonne Gates, Impact and Evaluating Lead, Frontline, had a reflection on the problem:

“I think one of the biggest challenges I've seen with leadership is with people not being willing to kind of do the hard self-reflecting that's needed to make changes… people are not being brave enough”

6. The minority is the majority.

This mantra builds on the idea that we must all be allies by highlighting that many of us belong to marginalised groups in one way or another and we should all be allies for each other. Rania Benameur, Associate, Flood & Partners presented an MRS Short session on representation in research. She highlighted that as nat rep sample hasn’t traditionally had quotas for ethnicity, disability and LGBTQIA+, we’ve been missing out on around 30% of the market.

But if we then add women as a minoritised group, and if we add people with mental health issues and chronic health conditions, and if we recognise that as we age, more of us will become disabled, we quickly see that we are all likely to be, know or love someone who needs an ally.

7. Create space

So how do we come together as allies? Dr Shivonne Gates spoke about her focus on creating space that doesn’t exist currently for people to support each other, creating the sense of community that people crave, rather than pushing for change from leadership.

“While we are impatiently waiting for the larger systemic changes we want to see in the sector, we’ve got space for us to exist, come together and keep us motivated to overcome the challenges.”

There is also a role for leaders in creating psychologically safe spaces in their organisations so that diverse people are nurtured and feel supported to speak out and tell their stories. This leads to the next mantra which reminds us that we can recruit a wide range of people into our organisations and feel like we have ticked the diversity box – but if our efforts stop there, we have failed.

8. You are only as healthy as your habitat

In a session that looked at the insight function of the future, Sarah Jenkins, MD, Magenta shared what happened when they brought a bioinspired consultant into the organisation to help them learn from nature. She told us how we should all be more like elephants at the watering hole, building social cohesion into our work.

“We really realised that you are only as healthy as the habitat that you provide. There is no point in going out and recruiting a hugely diverse workforce, a range of individuals who have completely different needs, if you don't then provide them with the environment in which they can grow and flourish in their own time. So first lesson of today, get your own house in order.”

9. It’s never going away

For anyone who thinks that they can get their house in order, and that will be enough, think again. Katya Des-Etages reminded us that, “Diversity and inclusion is an ever-evolving thing; it’s never going away. We’re not aiming for a point where we don’t have to talk about it again, we’re aiming for a point where we are comfortable talking about it every day for the rest of our lives.

10. Progress not perfection

And our final touchstone phrase is another familiar one, but one that propels us forward and gives us hope when it all seems too hard. One great example of progress is that last year’s Changemakers award was celebrated at a separate event but this year it was part of the main conference. Perhaps next year it won’t be in a stream but will be a keynote so that everybody attends. There were also three times as many applications for the award this year as last. Progress.

As the conference closed and the drinks were served, the conversation reflected the great EDI content and the theme of progress over perfection.

“It was fantastic to see that there are now over 100 signees to the Inclusion Pledge.  This is an issue close to our hearts as many of these have signed up to the Pledge for Independents that the ICG has been working closely with the MRS to develop. It is fantastic to see the diversity of our sector continue to be a key focus.” Annabelle Phillips, Diversity and Inclusion Lead for the ICG

“The conversation around inclusive and representative insight feels like it’s gaining momentum. Some talks spoke to ensuring representation within the organisations and brands we work for, some to the ethics and guidance around who trains and uses AI, and some to researching vulnerable groups. Seeing what sits at the crux of our industry – representing people – being approached with considered thought and nuance was refreshing and emboldening.” Danielle Todd, MRS ED&I Council member.

Here's hoping that these ten phrases for change will help us all to feel refreshed and emboldened and to join in the efforts to make our industry a fairer place for all.

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