Diane Saunders on the power of mentoring

Professor Diane Saunders is Head of the Crop Genetics department at the John Innes Centre, and a new member of the Rank Prize Nutrition Committee. In 2024 she was awarded the Royal Society Rosalind Franklin Award and Lecture for her support of women in STEMM. To mark International Women’s Day 2026, Professor Saunders shines a light on the problem of female representation in wheat research and explains what her mentoring programme, Women in Wheat, is doing to tackle it.

First of all, can you tell us a bit about your current role at the John Innes Centre and your career trajectory so far?

I am a group leader at the John Innes Centre (JIC) and Head of the Crop Genetics department. My fascination with plant pathogens began during my undergraduate studies at Exeter University, which led me to pursue a PhD studying rice blast, one of the greatest threats to rice production worldwide. Securing a post-doctoral position at The Sainsbury Laboratory with Sophien Kamoun was a pivotal moment in my career, immersing me in plant immunity research at a world-leading plant-microbe interactions institute. Within this stimulating environment, which has nurtured many prominent figures in plant immunity, I built a solid scientific foundation and learnt many essential transferable skills that then enabled me to successfully establish my own independent research career.

I feel privileged to have further developed my career at the JIC, an institute built on innovation and collegiality. My team’s research focuses on investigating (re-)emergent plant health threats that pose significant risks to agriculture. Together, we have made many notable discoveries, including pioneering innovative disease diagnostic approaches and identifying new potential sources of wheat rust resistance as practical solutions to help curb these devastating diseases. As an international centre of excellence, JIC also supported me to develop and lead a globally focused research programme, collaborating with researchers worldwide to maximise the impact of our discoveries in regions where they are most needed. Beyond my research, I have been actively supported in pursuing my passion for advocating for gender parity and mentoring early-career researchers. A passion equally shared by our incredible director, Cristóbal Uauy. These diverse opportunities have been highly enriching and continue to support my development as a more well-rounded scientist.

Can you tell us how the field of wheat research in the UK is faring in terms of gender parity? Is it difficult to attract women into the sector in the first place, or do the problems lie elsewhere?

We are very fortunate to have a wealth of highly talented female postgraduates and postdoctoral researchers working in wheat research across the UK. However, sadly this strength is not reflected at the independent career stage, where the disparity becomes most evident. Although women in academic STEMM roles as lecturers (43%) and professors (33%) are under-represented (She Figures 2024), the imbalance is particularly acute in wheat research. For example, within one of the UK’s largest coordinated wheat programmes – the Delivering Sustainable Wheat (DSW) Institute Strategic Programme (ISP; 2023 – 2028) – women comprise only 22% of listed Co-I’s, declining from 24% in the previous Designing Future Wheat ISP (2017 – 2023). With so few senior female role models, breaking this inequality cycle remains incredibly challenging.

You set up the Women in Wheat Champions mentoring programme in 2019. What motivated you to establish this scheme and what does it seek to do? 

The low number of women at the independent career stage in wheat research has made the field far less attractive for women considering their next career steps. Having worked across several research areas, I noticed when joining the wheat research community that there was a clear and pressing issue with female representation. Wheat is a critical staple crop, and to ensure a wheat secure future depends on diverse scientific thinking, something that can only be achieved by broadening representation within the community. This led me to establish the Rosalind Franklin Women in Wheat Champions programme in 2019 in collaboration with Graham Moore, the then head of the UK Designing Future Wheat programme. The programme aims to help close this gap by providing targeted career development support to early-career female researchers, ensuring we don’t continue to lose these talented women to other research fields.

Do you think mentoring schemes like Women in Wheat are enough to enable women to progress to leadership roles in wheat research, or are there other institutional or societal challenges to address separately?

In addition to the support we provide to early career researchers, it is equally important to equip senior managers to better recognise potential barriers. Our programme recently had the opportunity, through additional BBSRC support, to examine other unconscious barriers to female career progression. Through this initiative, we enabled senior researchers of all genders to undertake inclusive leadership training. This equipped the group with deeper knowledge, skills, and practical tools to mitigate unconscious gender bias in recruitment and evaluation processes, and to identify organisational barriers that could hinder women’s career advancement. This training proved hugely impactful, seeding new knowledge and resources across multiple organisations within the UK wheat research community. However, women and other under-represented groups continue to encounter an array of barriers and societal challenges as they progress through their careers, that warrant better recognition.

Alongside Women in Wheat, you have also organised training courses and workshops abroad. Do you see the same issues surrounding gender inequality in wheat research internationally, or is there a different set of challenges?

Overall, gender balance across the international wheat research community remains skewed, and the level of support for career progression varies considerably between countries. To address the international angle my colleague Maricelis Acevedo leads the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum Awards, an initiative that recognises the contributions of early-career female scientists worldwide. Together, our programmes have interconnected to expand and enrich opportunities for participants in both programmes to network and take part in joint career development activities.

How might female scientists in wheat, or other areas of crop science or nutrition, go about getting involved in a mentoring programme like Women in Wheat, or even setting up their own one?

We actively promote our programme across the wheat research community to encourage participation and are always keen to welcome new members. I have been fortunate to work alongside a group of highly enthusiastic colleagues who share my commitment for addressing the gender balance in wheat research. This has naturally created a strong network of dedicated mentors to support the women in our programme as they navigate career transitions. Building and nurturing this foundation is essential for success, and once established, there are many excellent programmes that can serve as models to anyone keen to establish their own.

What can organisations like Rank Prize do to encourage greater female representation at senior levels of science?

The Rank Prize already promotes the visibility of senior women through invitations to Rank Prize events, the awarding of prizes, and active inclusion of female early-career researchers in workshops. In addition, I recommend considering inclusivity training for senior researchers to enhance awareness and develop inclusive leadership skills across all genders. In our programme, research leaders at all stages of independence, from earlier career fellows to institute directors, participated in expert inclusive leadership training provided by hfp consulting. This training was highly enlightening, generating a wealth of new ideas and opportunities to improve diversity across our organisations. Importantly, it also created a supportive network of senior leaders capable of driving the transformational change needed to build and sustain more inclusive research communities.