Project Management Teams: the Science of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The Science of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) event at AtkinsRealis on the 20th of May 2025 - Speaker: Professor Nira Chamberlain

Opening statement:

1. Every individual can feel safe and sense of belonging
2. Treating EDI as a science problem
3. Mathematics can be for everybody

Nira shared his enthusiasm earlier this year when interviewed on the BBC and made the statement “Mathematics is indisputably the greatest subject in the world” on live television. He shared his insight on EDI being in an underrepresented groups and that we EDI using quotes such as “The essence of mathematics is not to make things complicated, but to make complicated things simple” by S Cuddler.

Nira shared a measurement of equality invented by Karl Pearson as follows:

x^2 = Sum of ((Actual-Expected)^2)/Expected
A common theme was that organisations are looking to achieve diversity targets, rather than a more realistic measurement of the log of relative opportunity. A tool that Nira shared to help apply this was the equality RAG matrix; a visual tool that assess risk

The Q&A part of the event was lively, with 8 questions being asked ranging from the improvements of under-represented groups to how unconscious bias plays into EDI. In response to one question, Nira recommended that the next steps for organisations is to do ‘real calculations’ such as the measurement instead of relying on KPIs that don’t necessarily reflect lived experience.

More information on similar topics can be found in the Association of Project Management (APM) annual report and within Nira’s peer reviewed paper being published next month. “

Speaker: Professor Nira Chamberlain OBE, Technical Fellow for Mathematical Modelling, AtkinsRéalis - Linkedin

Nira Chamberlain is Mathematical Modelling Technical Fellow for AtkinsRéalis is also a Visiting Professor at Loughborough University. With over 30 years’ experience of mathematical modelling, simulation, and developing algorithms that solve complex engineering and commercial problems, Nira was the President of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications from 2020 to 2021 and was the President of The Mathematical Association in 2023. In 2018, Nira was the winner of the Big Math Off title “World’s Most Interesting Mathematician” and is currently the Chair of the Black Heroes of Mathematics Conference. Nira is certified Advanced Data Scientist Professional and was awarded an OBE for services to mathematical sciences in 2022.

Nira has very kindly allowed his presented material to be made available for viewing. The slides on Slideshare are now available in our APM resources area and also embedded below for reference.