Equality & Diversity

Introduction
In this course, we will cover:

• what equality and diversity mean and how they affect you
• barriers that can prevent equality from being realised
• key legislation and both employers’ and employees’ responsibilities in relation to it.

Riddle

A young boy and his father are in a car accident. The father dies at the scene. The boy is transported to the hospital,
taken immediately into surgery but the surgeon steps out of the operating room and says, “I can't operate on this
boy – he is my son”.

How is this possible?

The surgeon is the boy’s mother.

Because of gender stereotypes and conditioning, some people can’t come up with a solution to this simple riddle.
The surgeon could be the boy’s mother. Of course, this does not mean that anybody unable to answer the riddle is
sexist, but it does say a lot about gender roles, relationships, and our expectations of certain careers.

For most of us, treating people equally and appreciating people’s differences is the basis of being a good citizen.

For public, private, and voluntary organisations, it is essential to their success; so much so that many ensure that
the workforce they employ reflects the different customers they serve.

But what do we mean when we talk about equality and diversity, and what is the difference between the two?

Equality

The term ‘equality’ means that everyone should be treated equally. It recognises that everyone has individual needs
and that they have the right to have their needs respected. Equality also means that everyone’s voice and opinion
should carry equal weight, regardless of background, age, sex, and other protected characteristics.

Equality is not quite the same as equity; an equitable solution for fairness goes further than the even distribution of
tools and resources. Instead, it allocates the exact resources and support that each individual needs for them to
access opportunity. Equity exists to address the imbalances of society to make it more equal.

For example, children from low-income backgrounds may require more support and funding to attend the same
university as their friends. To meet the needs of those without sufficient home internet access, a library or
community centre in one area may have longer opening hours, more computers and printers, or more frequent
support sessions than a community centre in another area.

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
Diversity

The term ‘diversity’ means that our background, knowledge, skills, aptitudes, and experiences are all different and
that our differences should be valued and appreciated through inclusion, discussion, and shared space.

Employers and services have ignored certain differences such as background, personality, and work style. However,
individual and group diversity needs to be considered to ensure that everybody's needs, and requirements are
understood and responded to. This is particularly true within employment practice and service design and delivery.
These approaches recognise that to provide accessible services, and to ensure we promote inclusive working
environments, organisations need to respond differently to both individuals and to groups.

Why do equality and diversity matter?

According to government figures, the facts are that:

• ethnic minorities made up 13 per cent of the UK population at the last census.
• in 2019/20, around 14.1 million people in the UK reported a disability, which represents approximately
22 per cent of the population.
• in 2019 in the UK, around one in five people were aged 65 and over, but by 2039 this figure is projected
to increase to around one in four.

But inequalities still persist

• The gender pay gap among all employees in the UK in 2019 was 17.3 per cent. This means that
on average, women were paid approximately 83p for every £1 that men were paid.
• Children growing up in poorer families emerge from school with substantially lower levels of educational
attainment. Disabled people are still more than twice as likely to be out of work than non-disabled people.
• 78% of white people were in employment in 2019, compared with 66% of people from all other
ethnic groups combined.

Gender Bias

In the 1970s, the top five orchestras in the US employed fewer than five percent women. But over the next few
decades this number steadily rose.

How do you think they achieved this?

How did they do it?

In the 1980s and 90s, many orchestras began to hold blind auditions, in which the musicians would play behind
a screen. Those on the jury did not know the sex of whoever was playing and as a result many more women
were hired.

Those on the jury were not necessarily conscious of any gender bias but they still applied different standards to
men and women.

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
This sort of scenario applies to us in everyday life. Imagine you were hiring; you probably would like to be fair
in your selection, but as much research has shown, men still have a better chance of success.

The situation is getting better; in the year 2000 employment rates for women were 65.9% and for men 79.2%.
In 2019, there were 72% of women employed compared to 80.3% of men.

By being aware of bias, we can challenge the motivations for the actions and decisions we make.

Unconscious bias

Unconscious bias describes how we are all shaped by our prior experiences and the social and cultural values that we
assimilate throughout our lives. We develop assumptions about people and create our own personal stereotypes.
People often feel more comfortable around those that are like them.

For example, we usually prefer to spend time with people of a similar age or familiar background. Unconscious bias
is a natural result of this, but it can cause unintentional prejudice. It often contradicts what we believe about
ourselves, as most people would not describe themselves as ‘biased’ against certain types of people.

Example
Jack returns to the office car park after work, but his car won’t start. He looks for a male
colleague to help him.

In this situation, Jack feels much more comfortable asking a man to help, and his cultural norm
backs up this instinct.

Unconscious bias can affect our behaviour in many ways, but if the bias is against a protected characteristic it could
lead to illegal discrimination. In the workplace, this can affect recruitment, progression, recognition and much more.

Example
Nadia is recruiting for a vacant position in her team, currently made up of nine women and
one man. She invites three candidates for interview, all of them female, despite the applications
being from an equal mix of men and women.

Nadia’s unconscious bias leads her to select three women for interview. The team has always been
predominantly female, and she instinctively feels that a woman will fit into the team more easily and quickly.

There are many forms of bias. See how these common types affect Nadia’s decision-making:

Affinity bias

This leads us to prefer people with whom we feel a connection.

Example
Nadia discovers in the interview that she and Candidate A grew up in the same town.
They reminisce for a while, and following this pleasant chat Nadia’s unconscious affinity
bias leads her to believe that this candidate would be best for the job.

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
Halo bias

A person might have one single characteristic or achievement which makes us rate them more highly overall.

Example
Candidate B has previously held a similar senior post at a highly regarded competitor.
Nadia’s unconscious halo bias leads her to believe that this means that the candidate would be
best for the job and does not ask many questions about her other previous employment.

Horns bias

The opposite of halo bias, where one quality that we dislike in a person makes us dismiss them more easily overall.

Example
Candidate C arrives late to her interview. Nadia’s unconscious bias means that she finds it
hard to overcome her irritation. Her belief that the candidate must be generally disorganised
means that she does not make as much effort to get to know her in the interview.

Barriers to equality
We may feel that we treat everyone fairly and value their differences but ask yourself if you have ever been
guilty of any of the following:

Prejudice – where you pre-judge a person or group of people without prior knowledge of them.

Stereotyping – where you assume people have certain behaviours or attitudes that a ‘type’ of person is
expected to exhibit.

Unfair discrimination – where a person or a group of people is treated less favourably than another based on their
colour, ethnic origin or nationality, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion or belief or marital status.

But what about positive stereotypes?

Sometimes stereotypes exist that may not be negative, but all stereotypes are damaging. ‘Positive’ stereotypes can
put pressure on those who do not possess certain traits but ‘should’ and can sometimes set high expectations for
certain people. This can cause feelings of alienation.

The celebration of difference makes for a strong and well-rounded society, but it is important to remember that
people are individuals, not just representatives of an ethnicity, disability, faith, gender, sexuality, or other
characteristic.

The concept of the high achieving ‘model minority’ is sometimes projected onto members of a minority group, most
often in relation to their race. This means that certain people are perceived to be more intelligent and productive
than those belonging to other racial groups.

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
You should recognise people’s differences, but you should always remember that single characteristics do not
necessarily relate to a person’s interests, abilities, or wider identity.

True inclusivity is about accepting people for who they are, not who you expect them to be.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 came into effect in October 2010 and in doing so consolidated and streamlined a huge amount
of existing legislation, much of which had been developed over the last 40 years.

As well as reforming discrimination law into a single Act, it also strengthened the law to support the country’s
progress on equality.

The Equality Act 2010 details a list of ‘protected characteristics’; these are the grounds upon which it is unlawful to
discriminate against people.

Protected characteristics are:

• age
• marriage and civil partnership
• sex
• disability
• race
• sexual orientation
• gender reassignment
• religion or belief (or lack thereof)
• pregnancy and maternity.

These protected characteristics are very important when issues of discrimination arise.

The main types of discrimination

The main types of discrimination are:

• direct discrimination (including perceptive and associative discrimination)

• indirect discrimination
• victimisation
• harassment.

Direct discrimination

Direct discrimination is where someone is treated less favourably than another person because of a protected
characteristic they have or are thought to have (perceptive discrimination), or because they associate with someone
who has a protected characteristic (associative discrimination).

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
Perceptive discrimination is direct discrimination against an individual because others think they possess a particular
protected characteristic. It applies even if the person does not actually possess that characteristic.

Associative discrimination is direct discrimination against someone because they associate with another person who
possesses any one or more of the protected characteristics.

Indirect discrimination can happen when there’s a condition, rule, policy or even a practice in your organisation that
applies to everyone but particularly disadvantages people who share a protected characteristic.

An example of indirect discrimination could be a fitness centre requiring all staff to wear shorts as part of their
uniforms. This would discriminate against people whose religion and beliefs state that they should dress modestly.

Another example could be imposing a minimum height restriction on a job. This would indirectly discriminate against
people from some ethnic origins as they tend to be smaller in stature.

Indirect discrimination

Like direct discrimination, indirect discrimination is unlawful whether it is intentional or not, unless it can be
fully justified.

Employers can only justify indirect discrimination if they can show that they acted fairly and reasonably in
managing their business (eg in order to achieve a legitimate aim) and they would need to show that they
had considered other, less discriminatory alternatives.

Victimisation

Most of us will understand the word victimisation to mean singling someone out for exploitation or
unfair treatment.

For the purposes of this course, in this context, it is when an employee is treated badly because they have made or
supported a complaint or raised a grievance under the Equality Act; or because they are suspected of doing so.

An employee is not protected if they have maliciously made or supported an untrue complaint.

Harassment

The law defines harassment as:

“unwanted conduct related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose
or effect of violating an individual’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading,
humiliating or offensive environment for that individual.”

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
Positive Action
Organisations can take positive action to target their goods, facilities and services to a particular group or groups,
where they have the relevant protected characteristics and the organisation believes they are under-represented
or disadvantaged amongst their customers.

This would involve doing some research to find out about the needs of their existing or potential customers and
then taking steps to promote or design goods or services that cater for this group. However it is the organisation’s
own choice about whether they do this.

For example

Having identified that its white male pupils are underperforming at maths, a school could run supplementary
maths classes exclusively for them.

In relation to a company’s recruitment and employment practice if both a male and female candidate apply for
a role within an organisation where women are under-represented, the employer can appoint the female as long
as she is more or equally qualified as a male candidate. It would be unlawful to appoint the female if the male
was more qualified.

But what about so-called ‘reverse’ discrimination?

Some individuals may identify actions or opinions as ‘reverse’ discrimination, which means that a member of a
majority or historically dominant group may feel that they are being discriminated against because of this. The term
‘reverse discrimination’ itself implies that ‘normal’ discrimination only goes in one direction, with a majority group
dominating or maltreating a minority group.

Contrary to this traditional understanding of discrimination, some people belonging to the majority may claim that
they were discriminated against in favour of a minority or disadvantaged group based on their race, sex, or other
protected characteristic.

Examples may include:

• recruitment practices that favour women over men despite the men being more qualified
• rejecting a white job applicant in favour of a black applicant where the former has skills
better suited to the job.

‘Reverse’ discrimination and so-called positive discrimination are illegal in the UK.

Historically, the negative effects of a majority group discriminating against a minority group far outweigh the
negative effects of a minority group being favoured over a majority group.

Positive action is not the same as discrimination, and describes measures targeted at a particular group to put right
past discrimination or increase the participation of under-represented groups. Positive action is legal in the UK.

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
The Public Sector Equality Duty
Since 2011, public sector organisations (local authorities, hospitals, educational settings,
the police etc) are required to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation or any other behaviour that is unlawful.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic,
as well as those who do not share one.

Regarding the last point on equality of opportunity, organisations need to:

• Remove or minimise any disadvantages suffered by people who share a protected characteristic.
• Take steps to meet any differing needs of people with a protected characteristic.
• Encourage people who share a protected characteristic to take part in public life or in any other
activity where their participation is low.

What must employers do?

It makes good sense for every organisation to have an equality and diversity policy. If an employer had to defend
themselves at an employment tribunal, they would need to demonstrate that they take equality and diversity
seriously and without a written policy, providing evidence would be very difficult. But having a policy also
demonstrates to employees, potential employees and customers and suppliers alike that the organisation
respects people’s rights and values their differences.

What should an equality and diversity policy look like?

A policy should state the organisation’s commitment to:

• complying with all employment and equality legislation

• treating all employees fairly and with dignity and respect regardless of their employment status
• valuing the contribution that all employees make to the organisation’s work
• appreciating people’s diversity and valuing their differences
• paying due regard to selection, recruitment, training and development processes to ensure that
candidates are selected for their aptitude and ability
• giving all employees equal opportunities in the workplace in accordance with all protected characteristics
• creating a culture where discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation is totally unacceptable
• dealing with problems quickly, thoroughly and confidentially
• mitigating unconscious bias; for example, through training and awareness programmes.

The policy should then describe what the organisation is doing in each area; for example, it could deal with
problems by operating a whistle-blowing policy or putting a confidential telephone line in place.

All staff must be made aware of the policy and receive training on it. They should know that a breach of
it will be regarded as misconduct that could lead to disciplinary action.

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.
Finally, the policy should be a ‘living’ document that is monitored, regularly reviewed and reported on.
A senior, named person should be responsible for making sure that it is adhered to.

What must employees do?

• Comply with the law and with the organisation’s employment and equality and diversity policies
and treat everyone with respect and dignity.
• Not make derogatory comments, unfairly discriminate or act in a way that might cause distress
or embarrassment to co-workers or customers, whether intentionally or not.
• Not engage in harassment or bullying behaviour.
• Respect people’s beliefs.
• Report inappropriate behaviour immediately.

Summary
In this module, we have covered:

• what equality and diversity mean and how they affect you
• barriers that can prevent equality from being realised
• key legislation and both employers’ and employees’ responsibilities in relation to it.

This concludes your course on Equality & Diversity and we trust you have found it informative.

Please visit the ‘Resources’ section of the course which contains much more information and guidance
to extend your knowledge. You are now ready to complete the corresponding questionnaire.
Click ‘Questionnaire’ to begin the questions.

Whilst Tes Global Ltd have made every effort to ensure that the courses and their content have been devised and written by leading experts who have ensured that they reflect best practice in all
aspects, Tes Global Ltd exclude their liability of the consequences of any errors, omission or incorrect statements to the fullest extent permitted by law and Tes Global Ltd make no warranty or
representation as to the accuracy, completeness or fitness for purpose of any statements or other content in the course.

No part of this material may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system
without permission in writing by Tes Global Ltd.