Presentation held by Carry Hergaarden (The Dutch Research Council - NWO) during the webinar "A closer look to unconscious bias and what RFOs can do", organised by SUPERA on 16 December 2021. More info are available here: https://www.superaproject.eu/a-closer-look-at-unconscious-bias-and-what-rfos-can-do/

1. Inclusive assessment @ NWO
Carry Hergaarden
The Dutch Research Council - NWO

2. Inclusive culture
NWO wants to be an organisation
where everyone feels welcome, can
be themselves and can bring out the
best in themselves and in teams. We
therefore strive to be a diverse
organisation with an inclusive
culture.
To achieve this we are focusing our
attention on our granting policy and
employer's policy.
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3. Granting policy
Some of the efforts within NWO so far:
• Composition of boards and committees
• DORA declaration
• No use of h-indices and journal
impact factors;
• Narrative CV.
• Incentive Grants for Women in STEM
• Inclusive procedures and funding
instruments
• Inclusive assessment initiative.
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4. Inclusive assessment initiative
• Experts advice on preventing unconcious bias in the assessment of grant applications
• Part A) the development of a plan for the design and content of a training video for reviewers
and committee members;
• Part B) an overview of proven effective additional measures and interventions for optimizing
the assessment process to reduce the undesired effects of unconscious bias.
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5. Two videos
Reducing undesired effects of unconscious bias in
assessment processes
1. Written assessment
2. Assessment committee meetings
• Group dynamics
• Evaluating interviews / presentations
• Tips & tools
• broaden the often limited ideal image of what
a good researcher or a good proposal is.
• Abstract styled images
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6. Let’s watch the video on group dynamics
You can watch it here: https://www.nwo.nl/en/assessment-committee-meetings
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7. How many tips can you remember?
• Prevent biased language prompted by ideal images
• Explicate the assessment criteria
• Take notes during an interview, based on the criteria, and base your assessment on the
content provided by the applicant.
• Hold each other accountable when irrelevant characteristics or informal actions have
become part of the assessment.
• Prior to the assessment, agree on the structure of the meeting and code of conduct.
• Give the same amount of speaking time to each committee member and alternate who may
speak first.
• Take an equal amount of time for the discussion of each application.
• Argue why applications do not meet the criteria, but also why they do meet the criteria.
See factsheet for the rest
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8. Implementation
• Webpage / intranet
• Handout (infographic)
• Training for project officers
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9. Questions?
Carry Hergaarden – https://nl.linkedin.com/in/carryhergaarden
inclusiefbeoordelen@nwo.nl
For the video’s and handouts (factsheets) see:
www.nwo.nl/inclusive-assessment