The British Science Association are looking for proposals from organisations that are interested in working with us to create an equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) learning programme for staff, Council and our volunteers, which will transform our organisation and ultimately enable us to improve the inclusivity of our programmes and the diversity of our audiences.

The EDI learning programme will be delivered over a period of 24 months commencing in April 2019. The programme is mission critical for the BSA; its aim will be to build capacity and capability in EDI across the organisation and, in so doing, drive transformational change. The BSA is now looking for a provider to help turn its vision for equality, diversity and inclusion into reality.

This invitation to tender is part of a wider programme of work that the BSA is undertaking with regards to equality, diversity & inclusion following the receipt of a grant from the Wellcome Trust in 2018. Over the next three years, we aim to transform the diversity and inclusion of our organisation, its programme audiences and the wider science engagement sector. We are seeking to catalyse change at the BSA, and within the wider science engagement sector, to make science more representative, equitable and relevant. Diversity is a critical issue for science engagement. Not because of a lack of enthusiasm from the sector, but because historic educational and institutional structures exist that limit the speed of progress. At the BSA, for example, while our governance structures have evolved, we are still operating within systems created for those already engaged in science. Our ambition is to challenge organisational and social inequalities, and this invitation to tender will support us in making these changes happen.

Download the invitation to tender document (pdf)

Download FAQs (pdf)

Submission requirements

Tender documents should be returned by email in PDF format with “Tender for EDI learning programme” in the subject line.

Your return must include a signed declaration of any interests or connections you, or any sub-contractor you intend to use to provide the services, have with BSA employees or officers.

Tender submissions must be returned via email to [email protected] by 5pm on 18 February 2019. Late submissions will not be accepted.

The content of the tender document is pasted below in full.

Organisation overview

Thank you for your interest in working with the British Science Association (BSA). 

The BSA is a charity founded in 1831, established under Royal Charter. Our vision is of a world where science is at the heart of society and culture, and our mission is to transform the diversity and inclusivity of science, reach under-served audiences, and increase the number of people who are actively engaged and involved in science. We want to create a world where science is seen as a cultural activity alongside areas such as sport, politics and the arts. Science is often seen as the preserve of professional scientists, and 76% of the UK public identify themselves as not interested or inactive towards science (King’s College London, 2016). A key challenge is the lack of diversity within science, and those who traditionally engage with it; this is captured by our audience model.

The BSA has three programme teams – Cultural Development, Education and Engagement – which organise several major annual programmes including the British Science Festival, British Science Week, CREST Awards for schools and bespoke activities for science communicators, the media, policymakers and business. We have a network of over 30 volunteer branches across the UK. We seek to influence and collaborate with stakeholders from across science, business and policy.

The BSA has an annual income of approximately £3.1 million and is managed by a professional staff of around 30 people based in London including a Senior Management Team (Chief Executive and two Directors) and four Heads who manage the programme teams and marketing/communication team.  We have a Council of 11 members which forms the board of trustees. We are funded by a mix of grants, sponsorships, donations and earned income.  

The BSA has experience of targeting and reaching underserved audiences through programmes such as the British Science Week Community Grants, which provide micro-grants to community leaders to run science initiatives for communities unrepresented in science. Since our change of mission in 2018 – to actively transform the diversity and inclusivity of science – we have commenced new work such as the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Diversity and Inclusion in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) which aims to promote the inclusion and progression of people from diverse backgrounds in STEM, and to encourage government, parliamentarians, academics, businesses and other stakeholders to work towards a STEM sector that is representative of the population. 

Background and context to this invitation to tender

In 2018, the BSA received a ‘Sustaining Excellence’ grant from the Wellcome Trust to undertake a three-year transformational programme of work to transform the diversity and inclusion of our organisation, its programme audiences and the wider science engagement sector. We are seeking to catalyse change at the BSA, and within the wider science engagement sector, to make science more representative, equitable and relevant. Diversity is a critical issue for science engagement. Not because of a lack of enthusiasm from the sector, but because historic educational and institutional structures exist that limit the speed of progress. At the BSA, for example, while our governance structures have evolved, we are still operating within systems created for those already engaged in science. Our ambition is to challenge organisational and social inequalities, and this invitation to tender will support us in making these changes happen.

Using the Wellcome Trust’s support, we have designed a theory of change that aims to give the BSA the evidence, capability and networks to develop and change its programmes to enable underserved groups to be more engaged in science.

The three-year programme will aim to improve the BSA’s:

1. Evidence: We need to understand how people from different backgrounds engage with science, what this means for good science engagement and what we and other organisations can do to change the programmes we offer. We will createtwo tools – a programme review process to enable the BSA’s senior leaders to review the suitability of our current programmes to reach underserved audiences and a programme development tool which can be used to develop new projects and programmes to engage key unrepresented groups identified in our research. 
2. Capability: We are creating a programme to invigorate a cultural shift in our approach to equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) within the BSA and the sector. This will include building an internal learning programme for our Council, staff and volunteers to develop the capability and confidence to champion EDI and implement changes – the focus of our requirements in this invitation to tender. The programme will also look at other areas such as recruitment and selection processes and our supply chain. 
3. Networks: We aim to have the networks to drive diversity and inclusion across the science engagement sector, which will ensure the sustainability and continued relevance of the BSA’s learning and development. The BSA will run an annual programme of activities targeted to organisations and individuals to catalyse long-term change in the sector and position the BSA as an organisation that can challenge and influence others to create a common purpose around improving diversity and inclusion. 

To initiate the BSA’s EDI journey, in 2018 we appointed a Diversity Adviser on a fixed-term contract. Her initial assessment of the BSA concluded that:

• Diversity is an important part of the culture at the BSA – there have been some key external success including promoting gender equality.
• However, the BSA has a low baseline of formal learning or organisational development work in diversity and inclusion.
• The majority of BSA employees are white and female, including the Chief Executive and Senior Management Team. Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people as well as disabled people are currently underrepresented at the BSA as well as across the science sector.
• There is a huge appetite and readiness from staff to engage in the programme, learn more about diversity and inclusion and support the organisation-wide programme.

The BSA subsequently commissioned a diversity audit which highlighted the gaps and areas for development for the staff team and organisation to focus on as part of the EDI programme. They included:

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion refresher training.
• Recognising unconscious bias in recruitment/ decision making.
• Training on how to undertake Equality Impact Analysis.
• Common biases and barriers to equality in the UK STEM sector.
• Trans awareness and understanding of gender identity.
• Understanding and embracing cross-cultural differences.

The current audit didn’t identify specific areas for development for our Council members and our volunteers, so this is one of our requirements for this tender process. It’s worth noting that training for volunteers may have to be delivered using an e-learning module as it isn’t possible to bring everyone together on a regular basis. However, we do already run a training and development workshop with the volunteer Branch Chairs once a year.

Our requirements

We are looking to procure the provision of an EDI learning programme for staff, Council and our volunteers that will transform our organisation and, ultimately, enable us to improve the inclusivity of our programmes and the diversity of our audiences.  The EDI learning programme will be delivered over a period of 24 months commencing in April 2019. The programme is mission critical for the BSA; its aim will be to build capacity and capability in EDI across the organisation and, in so doing, drive transformational change. The BSA is now looking for a provider to help turn its vision for equality, diversity and inclusion into reality.

The successful provider will be given access to the results of the recent diversity audit and will be expected to conduct a brief training needs analysis to finalise the exact requirements.

Tenderers are asked to provide the following in their proposal document:

• Your approach to the evaluation of learning and organisational development (OD) programmes.
• Qualifications: your experience and approach to providing learning solutions in EDI for previous clients and the impact on their business, results or organisational effectiveness (ideally presented as case studies).
• Your approach to the provision of an EDI learning programme and suggested timescales. It would be helpful if this could include a costed menu of possible options.
• Other relevant experience especially regarding working in the not-for-profit sector.
• CV’s (experience and qualifications) of directors, consultants and other associates that would be working on the assignment and details of how they are contracted to you.
• Breakdown of fees and daily rates of consultants proposed.
• Two references for clients for whom you have undertaken similar work, ideally within the last 12 months. We will only follow up with the references of the successful bidder.

Tender evaluation criteria

We will evaluate proposals using the following criteria (in no particular order):

• Experience and track record in successfully delivering EDI OD programmes;
• Cultural fit between the provider and the BSA;
• Calibre of team;
• Cost-effectiveness;
• Capacity for innovation and value add during the contract period.

Contact

We encourage you to make contact should you require further information or clarification prior to the submission of your proposal.

1. Jon Fitzmaurice (on paternity leave until 6 February), Head of Cultural Development, [email protected]

2. Gill Riches, Director of Strategy & Operations, [email protected]

Procurement timetable

The table below presents the scheduled dates for the procurement. Failure to meet the dates set out may result in exclusion from the procurement process. The BSA reserves the right to amend the timetable. Unless otherwise stated, all deadlines are set as the close of play for the dates below.

Closing date for tenders	18 Feb 2019
Tenders evaluated & shortlisted	21 Feb 2019
Suppliers contacted to confirm if through to second stage	22 Feb 2019
Presentations & interviews from shortlisted suppliers	1 and 4 March 2019
Suppliers notified whether successful	8 March 2019
References & due diligence	11-15 March 2019
Contract awarded	18 March 2019
Kick off meeting	28 March 2019
Programme starts	8 April 2019

Submission requirements

Tender documents should be returned by email in PDF format with “Tender for EDI learning programme” in the subject line.

Your return must include a signed declaration of any interests or connections you, or any sub-contractor you intend to use to provide the services, have with BSA employees or officers.

Tender submissions must be returned to: [email protected] by 5pm on 18 February 2019. Late submissions will not be accepted.

We would also like to see evidence of the following documents included in the proposal, ideally as appendices:

• A summary of the last two years’ accounts;
• Company registration number and registered address;
• Evidence of Professional Indemnity and Public Liability Insurance;
• Your Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.

All tender documents submitted to us will remain confidential.

Presentation

Successful tenders through the first stage of the process will have an opportunity to give a presentation on the content of their tender submission to a panel which would include our Chief Executive, Director of Strategy & Operations and Head of Cultural Development.

Presentations will be held at our London offices on 1 and 4 March 2019. Tenderers should inform us if they’re not available on these dates as soon as possible.

Enquiries

Any enquiries in relation to this invitation to tender must be submitted by email to [email protected] and [email protected] Please note that any responses given may be circulated to other potential tenderers.

Where a tenderer considers that an enquiry or response will relate to commercially confidential information relevant only to itself and that it should not be circulated to other tenderers, it must include in the email heading “In Commercial Confidence – Not to be circulated to other Tenderers” and set out its reasons in the body of the email.

If we consider that, in the interests of a fair and open competition, we cannot respond to the enquiry on a confidential basis, we will notify the tenderer and treat the enquiry as withdrawn. It will then be for the tenderer to resubmit the enquiry without the requirement for confidentiality if it requires an answer.

If we consider that the request for a confidential response is justified, then we will provide a response which is not circulated to other tenderers.

Feedback for tenderers

We will offer feedback to all tenderers. We reserve the right to control the format and content of any such briefing, and to limit it in any way believed by us to be appropriate.