Staff at the UK’s national institute for artificial intelligence and data science have expressed “serious concerns” about the organisation’s approach to diversity after it appointed four men to senior roles.
A message sent to the top officials of the Alan Turing Institute (ATI) expressed concern about the “ongoing issue of lack of diversity in the organization’s senior scientific leadership.”
A document, endorsed by over 180 individuals, raises concerns about ATI’s fulfillment of their promise to promote inclusive employment practices and implores the organization to address gender imbalances in their higher-level positions.
The letter, directed towards the institute’s chief executive Jean Innes, chief operating officer Jonathan Atkins, and chief scientist Prof Mark Girolami, suggests that now is an opportune moment to contemplate if all perspectives are being considered and if the institute’s dedication to inclusivity is being fully implemented in our hiring and decision-making procedures.
The Guardian received a letter that addressed ATI’s decision to hire four male academics for top positions in sustainability, fundamental research, health, and defense and national security. The letter also mentioned that this followed the appointment of two men to special adviser positions.
The letter stated that our goal is not to diminish the accomplishments of our respected colleagues, and we are excited to collaborate with them. Instead, we want to bring attention to a larger problem in our institute’s approach to diversity and inclusivity, specifically in scientific leadership positions, with a focus on gender diversity and inclusivity.
The individuals who signed the document posed a set of inquiries to ATI’s executives regarding the procedure for appointing individuals, such as what strategies were implemented to attract more candidates from marginalized groups and the level of gender diversity in the shortlists for the positions. The correspondence mentions ATI’s action plan and strategy for promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion, which aims to display strong leadership in this area.
ATI issued a warning about a pressing problem of unequal distribution of investment in AI last year, citing a report that revealed only 2% of AI startup deals were made with female-led companies in the past ten years.
In the letter, ATI states that at the scientific leadership level, there are six women and 13 men who lead research on AI. This results in a gender split of approximately 32% women and 68% men. Of ATI’s 560 employees overall, 53% are male and 47% are female.
The annual diversity in tech report by the Tech Talent Charter, a government-supported industry group, reveals that 25% of senior tech employees in the UK are women, and 14% are from minority ethnic backgrounds.
The CEO of ATI stated that the partially government-funded organization is dedicated to growing the representation of individuals from marginalized communities in the fields of AI and data science.
“We choose our appointments based on open and unbiased competition and merit,” she stated. “We acknowledge the significant value of having diverse leadership and are open to discussing with our community ways in which we can further improve. As the country’s institute for data science and artificial intelligence, we are dedicated to promoting greater representation of marginalized groups in these fields.”
Source: theguardian.com
