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Tackling Inequalities

A group of protestors carrying a coloured flag by the Coliseum in Rome

Our passions drive our research, from tackling religious intolerance and online violence against women and girls to the inequalities LGBTQ+ people face, racial and ethnic educational disadvantages and unequal access and opportunities for disabled people.

Inequalities impact people’s lives at a structural (macro), socio-cultural, and personal (micro) level. We deliver change through multidimensional transformative research.

OU researchers work here because they believe in our social mission. They understand tackling issues such as migrant inequalities requires an intersectional approach because race and ethnicity are experienced through situated contexts, including poverty, education, gender, and geopolitics.

Our academics are campaigners and changemakers. They seek to understand and tackle inequalities by working together to bring the best knowledge and expertise to bear on our world's existential challenges. Our interdisciplinary team of researchers build long-term active collaborations with people, communities, non-governmental organisations and policymakers to transform lives, institutions and policy through robust research evidence that makes a difference.

Our passions drive our research, from tackling religious intolerance and online violence against women and girls to the inequalities LGBTQ+ people face, racial and ethnic educational disadvantages and unequal access and opportunities for disabled people.

Tackling Inequalities news and articles

The Open University logo with the words 'Why Riot' against a yellow background

Youth-led education key to reducing youth violence in Belfast, new report finds

Giving marginalised young people access to a youth-led, innovative and flexible education programme delivered by frontline youth workers in their local areas can change lives and lay the groundwork for long-term, peaceful change.

3rd June 2025
A foodbank, with people standing behind boxes of food and bottles of waters

Food poverty: Bournemouth foodbank wins OU funding to research issue

The Open University has awarded funding from its Open Societal Challenges programme for a new project, titled ‘Sustaining Bournemouth: The Changing Face of Our Foodbank During Financial Crisis’.

3rd April 2025
Two people on a stage with a screen and flipcharts, in front of an audience

Science that matters: How the CARE-KNOW-DO model transforms education

Dr Alexandra Okada’s research for CARE-KNOW-DO has been recognised as one of the top 10 publications in the field, earning a finalist spot for the prestigious “Research Worth Reading” award by the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST).

3rd April 2025
Tackling Inequalities | The Open University

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