Making progress on our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) strategy

At Cancer Research UK, we believe that placing EDI at the heart of what we do and setting ourselves ambitious targets is not only the right thing to do but, will also see us make the greatest progress in beating cancer together.  

There’s still much more that we need to do, but below is an update on the work we've done over the last six months across each of our EDI strategy’s priorities: cancer inequalities, research, our people, leadership and engagement. 

Reducing cancer inequalities 

Lung cancer takes more lives than any other cancer type, but people living in England’s most deprived areas are more likely to die from it. Having campaigned to see a targeted lung screening programme introduced, we’re delighted that this will now be rolled out across England and we’ll keep calling for the same across the UK. Given smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer and cancer inequalities, we’ve continued work with MPs through our Smokefree UK campaign to help people stop smoking and prevent others from ever starting.   

We published and led a debate on the critical 'All Things Being Equal’ report, together with the Welsh Senedd Cross-Party Group on cancer highlighting that around 2,000 extra cancer cases a year are linked to deprivation in Wales and sparking important conversations in the Senedd. We look forward to more action from the Welsh Government and NHS Wales in dealing with inequalities directly. 

We continue to tackle cancer inequalities through our community engagement work, raising cancer awareness and supporting people to make positive health changes in deprived areas of the UK where cancer rates are higher. Since April, our nurses have already reached over 22,000 people through our Cancer Awareness Roadshow. We’ve also been delivering our Talk Cancer training in different languages to help increase reach and impact among more diverse communities. 

A more diverse and inclusive research community   

We recently published our third grant diversity data report, providing us with important insights to help identify and address inequalities in our research community. We've made progress in applications (23%, up 9%) and successful applicants (21%, up 8%) of researchers from an ethnic minority background. However, there is more to be done as women only made up 35% of lead applicants, and 2% of lead applicants declared a disability. 

To help reduce any potential unconscious bias, we’ve been reviewing and improving how we fund research, launching a new 50% target for the proportion of women on each committee and reaching 51% overall for the first time.  

I’m delighted that we’ve now recruited the first students to our Black Leaders in Cancer PhD scholarship scheme and are looking to expand this through partnerships as we open to the next round of applicants. 

In March, Cancer Grand Challenges invited researchers to apply for up to £20m to take on its Cancer Inequities challenge, which seeks to understand how genetics, biology and social factors affect cancer risk and outcomes in diverse communities.  

An inclusive and diverse culture – our people 

Our January staff survey saw people’s sense of inclusion at Cancer Research UK reach our 79% target (up 5.3%). This was not sustained across all demographic groups, so our focus now is on understanding how experience can differ among employees. Responding to staff feedback, we’ve set up a peer support group for neurodiverse colleagues.  

The Valuing Difference campaign, where we engage staff on various aspects of EDI through content and events, has been shortlisted for a ‘best EDI campaign’ award by the Institute of Internal Communications.  

Through the relaunch of our refreshed Workplace Adjustments guidance, we’re better supporting staff with long-term health conditions and disabilities, or those who need temporary adjustments.  

The proportion of ethnic minority staff organisation-wide has increased to 14.1% against a target of 16% by the end of 2023. Achieving this is a priority which is why we’re exploring further inclusive recruitment initiatives. 

Leadership 

The overall proportion of female staff working at Executive Board or Director levels at Cancer Research UK has slightly increased to 51.5%, exceeding our 50% target.  

Whilst we are making progress on the ethnic minority representation in leadership positions, currently at 7.3% (up from 4.7%), it’s taking longer than we had hoped. This is in part due to lower turnover at these grades and means that we’re below our target of 12% by 2023.  

Our talent programme, Ignite, which has been co-produced with ethnic minority staff, is a competitive programme for those who show the potential and have the ambition to move into a leadership role. Following its success, we intend to run the programme again next year.  

We continue to focus on minimising essential criteria in job adverts and balancing shortlist demographics before interviewing.  

Inclusive engagement 

We’re making important strides in improving the accessibility of our web information, 98% of our new and updated health and patient information pages now have a reading age of 9-11.  

We’re seeking out new voices to feature in our communications that represent all those who have cancer. Fashion blogger and breast cancer survivor Adobea speaks passionately about the need for the cancer community and health services to be more inclusive in the people featured in advertising and marketing campaigns and take the concerns of people from ethnic minorities seriously.  

We have done a large amount of work to identify the audiences we aren’t reaching with our information, services and fundraising, and make sure we‘re doing the right activities to rectify this. It’s an area that takes time to get right but one that we see as a priority. 

What's next? 

Whilst we’ve continued to make progress on our EDI strategy, there are still areas where we are falling short, and I’m committed to listening, learning, and working to create the change that we want to see to better beat cancer together. 

We’ll also ensure that EDI is key to our Manifesto for Cancer Research and Care launching in autumn. Aimed at the major political parties, this will provide clear, actionable long-term policies to beat cancer for everyone ahead of the next General Election.  

Our three-year EDI strategy ends in December. We’re in the process of refreshing our EDI strategy and plan for the coming years, which I’ll share more on in my next update.