What do equality, diversity, equity and inclusion mean?

Posted 4 years ago

To start, we’re going to explain what equality, diversity, equity and inclusion mean.

First of all, equality. This means offering the same rights and opportunities to all people.

Second, equity. This means offering those rights and opportunities fairly, which means catering to people’s differences, so they are given fair access to the opportunities.

Third, diversity. This is understanding that each person is unique. It means embracing the range of human differences, including people’s beliefs, abilities, preferences, backgrounds, values and identities.

And, inclusion is an extension of all these things. It means that all people, without exception, have the right to be included, respected and appreciated as valuable members of the community.

Let’s put these words into context.

Imagine that you send a company-wide email to your colleagues and invite them out for coffee – this is an example of inclusion because everyone has been invited.

A handful of people accept the invite and within the hour you’re at the coffee shop and a barista asks you all, in turn, what you’d like to order. This is an example of equality – because every member of your group is given the same opportunity to order from the same menu.

A member of your group has deteriorating eyesight so they need extra consideration in order to have fair access to this opportunity. The barista demonstrates equity by offering your colleague the choice between a menu with large text or a menu with braille, so they can make their order. Now, everyone has an equal opportunity and fair access to it.

And finally diversity. This is represented in the order itself! Between you all, you order two cappuccino’s – one with chocolate on top, a skinny latte, two americanos – one decaf, a hot chocolate, two English breakfast teas, and a hot water with lemon. And interestingly, none of you, not for a moment, consider that there’s anything unusual about the differences in your drink choices – no one makes a comment or even thinks anything of it.

…Now, imagine a world where we all accept each other’s differences as naturally as we accept each other’s drink orders…

Sadly, the reality is, many of us struggle to accept the things that make someone different from us – and instead – we allow these differences to separate us from other people. We forget that someone else’s uniqueness is just as important as our own – because even though we’re all different, we’re all human beings, and we are equals.

So our Equality, Diversity, & Inclusion Training Course has been designed to offer a refreshing take on why it’s so important for us to treat each and every person as our equal, and how this can be put into practice.

This course will look cover the protected characteristics, discrimination, victimisation, and unfair treatment within a professional environment and can be completed in just 60 minutes.

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