Diversity in science

Diversity drives innovation and science needs innovators. Therefore, we want to build a culture in science education where difference is valued and part of what makes science inspiring.

Diversity in Science: Disability Virtual Event

Angela Lamont, Science producer and presenter leads an interesting and practical discussion on how studying science can lead to fulfilling careers for people with disabilities. It is a career path that can be challenging without the right support and encouragement, so the panel discusses what some of the barriers are, and what educators and teachers in schools and universities can do to help overcome these barriers.

Panellists include:

Jesse Dufton, a Principal Patent Engineer who has a degenerative condition which has led to blindness.
Dr Batul Daulby, an Educational Psychologist, specialising in diagnostic assessments for children and adults with learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, intellectual disability and ADHD.
Matt Mears, a Senior University teacher at the University of Sheffield, who has a genetic condition which has led to hearing loss and he has also been diagnosed as bi-polar.

Watch the discussion

Interview with Professor Brown

Hannah, the Head of Science Assessment for Pearson, caught up with Dr Brown, a professor in teacher education from Stanford University, to further discuss diversity in science. Dr Brown's research explores the relationship between student identity, discourse, classroom culture, and academic achievement in science education. He provides some fascinating insights and practical tips on how to embed diversity and inclusion in your classroom.

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Our 2020 virtual event

We kicked off our Diversity in Science virtual discussions in the summer of 2020. Our first event aimed to work towards our mission of supporting science education that is universally accessible, relevant and engaging to all learners.

This event aimed to work towards our mission of supporting science education that is universally accessible, relevant and engaging to all learners.

Privacy and cookies

By viewing this third-party content from www.youtube.com you agree to their terms and conditions, privacy notice and acknowledge they may use cookies and pixels for information and analytics gathering.

Meet the event panel

Our panel of experts discussed learnings from their own experience, the initiatives they have developed so far and how they could further support diversity in science. Find out more about who was on the panel below.

Andrew Bazeley (Chair)

Andrew is the Policy, Insight and Public Affairs Manager at the Fawcett Society, the UK's leading gender equality campaign charity. He has been with Fawcett for four years and leads the organisation's projects, through from the research stage to parliamentary and stakeholder advocacy. He has led on two key Fawcett commissions, on Gender Stereotypes in Early Childhood and on Women in Local Government, as well as campaigns on equal pay, misogyny hate crime and lobbying for equality law to be fit for the 21st century.

Before joining Fawcett, he spent three years working in Parliament and four working on policy and research in local government. He has a Master's degree in Public Policy from Birkbeck College and has been a nursery school Chair of Governors.

Payal Jain

Payal is a Managing Director at JCURV, a management consultancy company whose mission is to increase the agility of organisations by helping companies radically change the way they deliver transformational change. Prior to this, Payal held several executive roles in the Banking and Finance industry over the past 20 years.

Payal is the Chair of Women in Data, whose mission is gender parity in all data roles, especially at a senior level. In 2020, Girls in Data was launched to inspire girls in STEM subjects and fundamentally enhance the pipeline. In 2016, Payal was recognised as the most influential data professional in the DataIQ Top 100 leaders in the UK. In 2019, Payal was recognised in the HERoes Top 100 Women Executives in the UK and highly commended in the category of Digital and Technology in the Asian Women of Achievement Awards.

Penny Tysoe

Penny is Projects Director at EDT and leads Industrial Cadets Partnership and Marketing teams. Combining a passion for creating opportunities for young people and a background in communications, business development, project management and partnerships has led to Penny working at EDT for 14 years.
Working in collaboration with industry, education and partners, EDT are working to a vision of a society where young people across the UK have equal access to engage with STEM subjects and fulfil their potential.

Penny is delighted to join Pearson’s Diversity in Science Roundtable. She looks forward to a discussion on a very important topic and hopes EDT can share and learn with all involved.

Emma Swift

Emma is the trust-wide subject lead for science for the David Ross Educational Trust (DRET). Emma has a particular interest in curriculum design, diversity and initial teacher training.
As part of her role at DRET, she set up and coordinates the National Mathematics and Physics SCITT (NMAPS) hubs in Lincolnshire and Humberside and the East Midlands. She is also the subject lead on the University of Buckinghamshire Physics PGCE.

Aadil Laher

Aadil has worked in Bradford throughout his career as a teacher and a leader. He started working as an NQT science teacher almost 14 years ago and has progressed from a teacher to middle leader and, more recently, to a senior leader at Star Academies. Aadil has completed several leadership programmes, such as the NPQSL. To address issues in diversity, Aadil believes great leadership is vital.

Throughout his career, Aadil has always had a mission to improve the life chances of students by addressing educational disadvantage in form. He thoroughly enjoys working with a range of students from many different backgrounds and making a difference to their lives.

Henna Nathwani

Henna is the Product Manager for GCSE Sciences at Pearson. She joined the team in 2014 after teaching chemistry in schools in and around London. Henna first started working on designing the new GCSE Science specification, assessments and supporting materials.

Henna is passionate about the accessibility of our qualifications and making science fun and exciting for all students. She loves talking to teachers and learners, to make sure Pearson are doing everything they can to support all things science.

Ade Gachegua

Ade is a Subject Lead for Pearson's Higher Education Qualifications division, with a specialism in developing HE qualifications in healthcare, social and community work, and early education.

Alongside this role, Ade is a Workstream Lead for the Pearson Employee Resource Group that represents people of minority ethnicities (PRIME). Her research and passion for ensuring young people from underrepresented communities are not disadvantaged, or disengage in their learning through curricula and systems of education, has led to her work in PRIME to develop a set of guidelines and resources that support the embedding of equity, diversity and inclusion principles related to ethnicity in all Pearson qualifications and educational products.

Ade taught and managed Health, Social Care & Early Years departments in large FE colleges for over 20 years, prior to joining Pearson in 2016.

Mary Howell

Mary Howell works with science teachers, supporting their professional development, with a key emphasis on making science accessible and engaging for all.

She works for STEM Learning, who provide education and careers support for schools, colleges and others working with young people across the UK, and also as a freelance science educator and adviser. She has worked on a number of projects to promote inclusion in the UK and abroad. Prior to this, Mary taught science and was a subject leader in 11-19 state schools in England for many years.

Mary’s main areas of interest are inclusive curriculum development and resources, literacy through science and developing accessible practical work.

Jesse Dufton

Jesse is blind due to a genetic condition. In his professional life he is a Principal Patent Engineer for Intelligent Energy, a global Hydrogen Fuel Cell manufacturer. He holds a Ph.D. in Materials Chemistry, specialising in photovoltaic solar cell materials, and an MChem, both from the University of Bath along with a Postgraduate Certificate in Intellectual Property Law from Queen Mary's University of London.

In his free time he is an avid rock climber. Recognised by Guinness World Records when he climbed The Old Man of Hoy. Jesse has completed a roster of hard climbs all over the world, including first ascents of previously unclimbed mountains in Greenland. He is also a world class competition climber representing GB Climbing's Paraclimbing team.