#220 A Book on Diversity Leadership in Research Management

A book conversation on diversity literacy, leadership and global research

Check out the episode website

In this episode I’m joined by Jakob Feldtfos Christensen, Director of DIVERSIuniTY and co-host of the Diversity in Research Podcast, to talk about his new book: Diversity Leadership in Research Management: A Practical Guide. We unpack why he felt the need to write it now: research management is maturing as a profession, diversity is becoming more deeply embedded in research funding and project work, and yet many of the conversations around it remain too abstract, too polarised or too detached from the practical reality of running international collaborations. Jakob wanted to write something different — a short, practical book that research managers can actually use in their everyday work.

From there we go into the substance of the book. Jakob explains why diversity literacy is one of the key concepts: not just representation or values statements, but a real professional skillset for people working in research support, project development and international collaboration. We talk about how the book moves from leadership to the research support office and then to the individual research manager, and why this matters more and more in a world of Horizon Europe gender analysis requirements, expanding global collaboration, AI-supported writing and growing geopolitical tension. It’s a conversation about a book — but also about the future of research management as a people profession.

Time codes:

01:40 Guest introduction and fly in

06:03 Background and Motivation

18:42 The Book

32:45 The Work

48:46 Finalization and Release

54:59 The toughest challenge