What is Equality and Diversity ?

Equality/Equalities

Equality is about creating a fairer society where everyone can participate and has the same opportunity to fulfil their potential. Equality is backed by legislation designed to address unfair discrimination based on membership of a particular group. A more detailed list is provided in our course but some of the Acts you may be most familiar with are - Race Relations Act 1976, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, Disability Discrimination Act 1995.

Key Points:

• Equality of outcome
• Compliance with legislation
• ‘Owned’ by experts
• Risk management (of litigation)

Diversity

Diversity is about recognising that everyone is different in a variety of visible and non-visible ways. It is about creating a culture and practices that recognise, respect and value difference. It is about harnessing this potential to create a productive environment in which the equally diverse needs of the customer/client can be met in a creative environment. It is about generating a workforce who feels valued/ respected and has their potential fully utilised in order to meet organisational goals. Diversity is not an ‘initiative’ or a ‘project’, it is an ongoing core aim and a core process.

Key Points:

• Recognising difference
• Linking diversity to business goals
• Diversity as ‘mainstream’ vision
• Benefits of diversity are stressed