Research Culture Takeover Week 2025 | ‘“We deserve more than just a seat at the table, we deserve to feel safe sitting there”: Real inclusion and research culture’ [hybrid]

“We Deserve More Than Just a Seat at the Table, We Deserve to Feel Safe Sitting There!”

Date: Monday 2 June 2025

Time: 12:00-13:00 BST (followed by a buffet lunch).

Location: George Davies Centre, Lecture Theatre 2

Book your space.

Inclusion in academia is often reduced to symbolic presence, an empty seat at a table filled by an underrepresented or marginalised person, responding to organisational or an institutional historical inequity.  In this keynote, Professor Morris will reframe inclusion as collaboration, which is more than symbolic presence; it is about co-creating conditions of safety, trust, and dignity, especially for those historically marginalised in Higher Education. Drawing on insights from collaborative leadership, Professor Morris explores how research culture might shift from territorial control by the few to relational engagement for the many, where collaboration is not about agreement, but about shared responsibility for belonging in decision making spaces.

She examines the tension between academic identity and personal identity for the global majority persons working in Higher Education and, how the underrepresented scholars are often expected to fragment or soften aspects of who they are to meet institutional norms. She will reflect on, real inclusion demands more than intellectual participation; it requires an environment where scholars can show up fully, without having to edit their voice, values, or lived experience to be legible in academic spaces. When personal and professional identities are allowed to converge, research becomes more human, impactful, and just.

“Real inclusion means building new tables, not just offering fragile seats at old ones.”

— Professor Lisa-Dionne Morris

Professor Lisa-Dionne Morris is a distinguished academic and industry leader, serving as the Professor of Public & Industry Understanding of Capability Driven Design at the University of Leeds, School of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Her pioneering work bridges design engineering, user-centred innovation, and inclusive development, with a particular focus on assistive technologies and frugal innovation. She is renowned for her strategic leadership in embedding Sen’s Capability Approach into design and organisational practices, advocating for a non-deficit, “Capability Plus” model that empowers individuals and communities by leveraging their inherent strengths.

With over 30 years of consultancy experience and two decades in academia, Professor Morris has significantly influenced both sectors. She founded the Black Female Academics’ Network (BFAN), a global initiative supporting Black women in academia, and directs GEMS Executive Coaching Limited. Her commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion is further exemplified through her role as a national champion of the EDI Hub+, a collaborative effort among UK universities to promote inclusivity in engineering and physical sciences.

Professor Morris’s contributions have been recognized through various accolades, including being named Winner in the Outstanding Woman in STEM category at the PRECIOUS Awards. Her work continues to inspire and drive meaningful change across academia and industry, fostering environments where capability and inclusivity are at the forefront of innovation.

“Inclusion is not about being invited to sit quietly at the table, it’s about having the courage, and the safety, to speak, shape, and redesign the tabled discussion.”
— Professor Lisa-Dionne Morris

LinkedIn Prof Morris & the Black Female Academics’ Network

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisadionnemorris/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/black-female-academics-network/?viewAsMember=trueProf. Lisa-Dionne Morris