Ottoline Leyser: ‘I’m not going to pussyfoot about’

“It won’t just be down to one person – or me – but will require people on grants panels, those making assessments, to give themselves permission to make these changes,” she said. People on grant panels have been given permission to make changes for years and it amounted to no change. Adopting a failed strategy is not a strategy.

Things like 'diversity' are only going to happen through concensus, when enough people actually think that way. Box-ticking exercises like Athena Swan may recognise an institution which is diverse as far as gender equality is concerned, they won't make one become diverse! It's inappropriate to link such things to grant awards anyway, we need to build reseach capability by picking the best projects and research teams, not the most 'diverse' ones. Now, if the theories behind diversity are correct, those WILL be the best research teams anyway :)