PRIDE Guidelines
Pointers for Research that is Inclusive, Diverse & Equitable for LGBTQ+ fieldworkers
Attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people undertaking fieldwork can be very different from those in their regular workplace, both within and beyond the UK. This means fieldwork is not always as inclusive and safe for LGBTQ+ researchers as it is for their straight and cisgender peers.
In some countries, LGBTQ+ people face legal restrictions. Around 70 states in the world criminalise consensual sexual relations between people of the same sex according to the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
The PRIDE Guidelines project conducted a series of three focus groups with researchers from across the University of Leeds to create resources that guide best practices of safety, equity, and inclusivity for LGBTQ+ fieldworkers.
Printable Guides
The PRIDE Guidelines for LGBTQ+ inclusive fieldwork are available as an easy to digest, three-page leaflet and a single-page summary flyer.
To increase the accessibility of these documents, versions with an off-white background are available here (off-white leaflet & off-white flyer), as well as the standard unprinted background. Although every effort has been made to make the visually designed versions compatible with screen-reader software (tagged pdfs), a completely plain-text leaflet and plain-text flyer are also available.
A stable and citable repository for these resources will be made available shortly, pending final design edits.
Video Summaries
Findings from the project were collated and used to create three animated video summaries to inform safe, equitable, and inclusive fieldwork for LGBTQ+ researchers. The videos summarise:
This work is part of the research project PRIDE Guidelines: Pointers for Research that is Inclusive, Diverse & Equitable for LGBTQ+ fieldworkers. The project is funded by the Research England Enhancing Research Culture Fund and led by Professor Martin Zebracki, with Dr Robin Hayward, Dr Fiona Gill, Dr Sam Wimpenny, Dr C Scott Watson, and Helena Brown, Faculty of Environment, University of Leeds.
PDF and print guidelines were created in collaboration with Nifty Fox Creative.
Video guidelines were created in collaboration with Motus TV.
Additional Resources
Guidelines for Safe, Inclusive and Equitable Research Fieldwork
The PRIDE Guidelines were created as a follow-up to a broader project, which focused on creating Guidelines for Safe, Inclusive and Equitable Research Fieldwork for all. This work was led by Dr Sam Wimpenny as part of the UK Centre for Observation and Modelling of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Tectonics and was funded by a Research England Enhancing Research Culture Grant. It led to the publication of an article in Nature (open access version of the Nature article available here), as well as a set of expansive written guidelines, guidance on creating a code of conduct, and a series of five short videos, exploring the guidelines and their context. One of the key outputs of this project was an understanding that bespoke guidance was required to address the requirements of LGBTQ+ field researchers.
Previous work from the team includes an LGBTQ+ advocacy video and a series of blogs on subjects relating to LGBTQ+ fieldwork, created as part of the Pride in the Field project, led by Professor Martin Zebracki. This project also resulted in the publication of Inclusive LGBTQ+ fieldwork: Advancing spaces of belonging and safety, which is available open access in Area.
The University of Leeds offers a bullet-point guide to inclusive field trips as part of the Inclusive Teaching guidance.
A team of UKRI Future Leaders Fellows, including Leeds scholar Dr Katie McQuaid, have jointly produced A toolkit to support researcher wellbeing (RES-WELL), practical strategies for UK research institutions, funders, and researchers in the context of emotionally or ethically challenging research, including a focus on fieldwork.
The Royal Geographical Society and the Institute of British Geographers have compiled an extensive list of resources for inclusive fieldwork from multiple institutions. We recommend this as a reading list for best practices in accessibility and inclusivity in the field.