SOCIAL INCLUSION & EQUALITY IN-BRIEF
Inspiring Young Minds, Breaking Stereotypes
Diversity of engineers within the UK is low and studies have indicated that young children perceive engineers as male, wearing hard hats and working with machinery, vehicles and construction.
At age five, children have a gendered view of who can play with particular toys or do certain occupations; this can often influence girls’ abilities to access STEM learning as well as their confidence and interest.
Let's do Engineering aimed to tackle this challenge, inspiring 3-7 year olds through innovative activities co-developed with teachers and carers.
Through EPSRC's Engagement champions award, the team trained 20 engineers, engaged over 600 educators, and reached more than 5500 children across 45 schools and 25 nurseries.
Engaging this young age group required an understanding of how children learn as well as how to empower current engineers to share their roles in innovative ways. By creating partnerships with multiple creative practitioners, including musicians, artists, film makers, circus performers and drama and dance specialists, the team of engineers and creatives generated a range of cross-curricular, engineering-related resources and activities.
Engineer role model films and interviews, and an engineer top trumps game were used to highlight the breadth and diversity in engineering, while an interactive silent film and an animated song served as an introduction to engineering.
The Engineer Song has received over 2.3 million views, with over 5000 children in Scotland participating in Let's do Engineering activities, delivered in their educational setting.
All children received a copy of the Let’s Do Engineering activity and sticker book, which showcases the diversity and breadth of engineering through dedicated activity pages featuring each of the programme’s engineer role models. The book was taken home to encourage continued engagement and involvement from families. The accompanying website also remains an ongoing resource for learning and exploration.
Inspiring the next generation and challenging perceptions by showcasing the breadth, diversity and possibilities of engineering.
Let’s Do Engineering was funded through EPSRC's Engagement champions award and IAA funding. Additional resources and delivery were developed under a Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Award.
Empowering deaf survivors of gender-based violence
The projects produced practical guidance and training to improve communication and access to support.
Deaf women are two to three times more likely to experience domestic abuse than hearing women, yet they face significant barriers when reporting abuse or accessing support. Challenges around communication, accessibility and engagement with police and other professionals can make it difficult to seek help or achieve justice.
The JUSTISIGNS-2 and SILENT HARM projects addressed these issues through a pioneering transnational research and training initiative.
The research explored the experiences of deaf, migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking communities affected by domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. It examined the barriers they encounter when reporting crimes, interacting with services, and accessing justice. In response, the team developed practical guidance and training resources for professionals across policing, healthcare, social services and legal settings.
A key focus was improving communication for deaf women who use sign language. A lot of information about gender-based violence is not available in British Sign Language, so support often relies on interpreters working within complex legal and medical contexts.
The projects produced a freely available BSL glossary to support accurate communication, alongside a comprehensive training programme, a specialist GBV toolkit, and additional materials such as guidance posters, films and video resources.
Both projects improved collaboration between interpreters and frontline services, increased awareness of deaf women’s needs, and supported more inclusive service provision. They contributed to policy development and informed further initiatives to improve access to support, particularly in areas where interpreter provision is limited. The overall impact was recognised in the EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) category in the Police Scotland Chief Constable’s Excellence Awards.
The JUSTISIGNS-2 project was funded by the European Commission, JUSTISIGNS-2 involved Heriot-Watt researchers and a consortium of European partners from Ireland, Belgium, Spain and the UK.
Ending extreme disadvantage through world-class research
The Institute for Social Policy, Housing, Equalities Research (I-SPHERE) is founded on the conviction that world-class research can drive real change for people experiencing extreme disadvantage. Its sustained programme of work has shaped landmark legislation and national policy on homelessness prevention across Great Britain and beyond. Since 2011, its Homelessness Monitor reports for the charity Crisis have provided the core evidential basis for legal reform across the UK, winning the best housing research report award in both 2021 and 2023.
The reach of this work is exceptional. In Scotland, I-SPHERE’s Director, Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick chaired the Prevention Review Group. Its recommendations shaped the homelessness prevention measures in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, extending legal duties to prevent homelessness to health, justice and social services. In Wales, Fitzpatrick chaired the Expert Review Panel whose proposals fundamentally shaped the Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Act 2026, passed with unanimous all-party support. Both Acts introduce requirements for public bodies to act up to six months before homelessness becomes likely, a transformative shift from crisis response to prevention. In England, the National Plan to End Homelessness published in December 2025 is structured around I-SPHERE’s five-stage prevention typology, and Fitzpatrick sits on the expert group guiding its implementation. Ireland’s national homelessness strategy is built on the same framework.
The impact extends to the most marginalised. I-SPHERE’s evaluation of Fair Way Scotland, a partnership supporting people with No Recourse to Public Funds, found that targeted casework and modest cash payments enabled people to meet basic needs and focus on resolving their immigration situation. These findings directly informed the Scottish Government’s decision to expand investment in the programme, and I-SPHERE is now embarking on a further three years as a formal funded action-learning partner, supporting mainstreaming into existing public services.
In Scotland, I-SPHERE’s recommendations helped shape the homelessness prevention measures in the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025.
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