Originally published here 

The purpose of this study was to help inform Innovate UK’s future work on promoting diversity and inclusion in business innovation. The main focus was to identify opportunities, challenges, barriers and support needs for Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities and for disabled people to participate in business innovation.

Research questions 

Building on the existing knowledge base, the overarching research questions guiding the study were as follows: 

1. What are the barriers, challenges, opportunities and support needs for ethnic minorities and disabled people to participate in business innovation? 

2. How can programme initiatives effectively promote diversity and inclusion in business innovation? 

Research design The study took place during 2019 and comprised three phases: 

1) a review of the literature on the involvement of people with disabilities and from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities in business innovation;

2) a survey gathering primary data to strengthen the evidence base and fll gaps in current understanding; and 

3) in-depth focus groups to gather qualitative data to supplement the survey data. 

Summary of key findings 

• Participation in business innovation is influenced not only by minority status, but also by intersections with other social categories, such as gender, age and class/socioeconomic status.

• Commonalities between different minority / under-represented groups are often more striking than the differences, but some significant differences nevertheless emerged, in terms of perceptions, attitudes, motivations, barriers and support needs.

• More ambitious, cross-governmental policy initiatives, aimed at transforming the system, are necessary to tackle structural discrimination and the root causes of inequality and exclusion. 

Recommendations 

• To develop a clear policy rationale for increasing diversity and inclusion in business innovation that recognises the structures of exclusion and the moral imperative, beyond the economic business case; 

• A hybrid/blended approach - evidence-based targeting of underrepresented groups alongside increased efforts to embed diversity and inclusion into mainstream programmes, to address multiple disadvantage; 

• Greater collaboration - joined-up policy and partnership approaches, across initiatives / government agencies, combined with bottom-up initiatives, co-designed with minority communities themselves. 

To read the full research report, click here