BABAO represents biological anthropologists and osteoarchaeologists with diverse professional expertise, interests and roles. We are a community brought together by shared interest in the study of skeletal remains of past and present communities. As a group we are diverse in gender, age, nationality, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability, religion, socioeconomic background or family status, and in our work we seek to study the nature and experience of many of these characteristics in the past.

We recognise the benefit of reflecting on issues like equality of opportunity, inclusivity and individual experiences of discrimination or marginalisation in our workplaces for our discipline. We also recognise that as a professional organisation, BABAO offers our members an individual voice to raise concerns and identify problems, as well as a collective influence that has the potential to effect positive change for everyone.

BABAO believes that diversity is a strength, and that as professionals and students we should support and promote equality and inclusivity in all of our activities. We recognise that members may have encountered negative experiences such as discrimination, bullying or exclusion and that the demographic profile of our discipline reflects underrepresentation of certain groups within society. As an organisation we wish to do everything in our power to address such problems.

What do we do?

The BABAO Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (ED&I) sub-group was set up in 2018 to deliver BABAO’s aims to support ED&I in our organisation and professional community.

We aim to:

• Provide advocacy for ED&I within our discipline
• Raise awareness of ED&I issues
• Ensure BABAO activities, including outreach activities, conferences, website, and email forum are inclusive and welcoming to all
• Share resources via this web page to enable members to promote ED&I in their own workplaces and practices
• Share relevant information with members via the mailing list
• Celebrate diversity within BABAO
• Work to address ED&I issues within our discipline, offering support to members where possible

This page will be updated regularly to reflect our activities and membership.

Find more resources in our dedicated page

Who are we?

EDI Trustee · Matthew Lee edi@babao.org.uk

EDI Secretary · Alice Rose edisecretary@babao.org.uk

As well as the BABAO Board of Trustees, the EDI subgroup includes the following members:

If you have any issues or topics you wish to bring to the attention of the ED&I sub-group,
please don’t hesitate to contact us via our anonymous feedback form