Equality Diversity Inclusion

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Training
This course has been written to familiarise its readers with the concepts of equality, diversity and
inclusion, anti-discrimination legislation and policy implementation.

The aim of this course is to enable the readers to learn more about the meaning and importance of
equality, and to understand peoples' rights and responsibilities in relation to these concepts in the
work environment.

Learning outcomes:

Understanding what is meant by diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination
Knowing how discrimination might occur in the work setting, both deliberately and
inadvertently
Knowing ways of how to reduce discrimination
Being aware of key legislation
Understanding agreed ways of working (where these apply) relating to equality, diversity,
discrimination and rights
Providing inclusive support
Knowing how to ensure that service providers own work is inclusive and respects the
beliefs, culture, values and preferences of the service users
Knowing where/how to access information, advice and support about equality and inclusion
Knowing who to ask for advice and support about equality and inclusion.

The key learning objectives are:

Understanding what is meant by diversity, equality, inclusion and discrimination
Knowing how discrimination might occur in the work setting, both deliberately and
inadvertently
Knowing ways of how to reduce discrimination
Being aware of key legislation
Agreed ways of working (where these apply) relating to equality, diversity, discrimination
and rights
Providing inclusive support
Knowing how to ensure that service providers own work is inclusive and respects the
beliefs, culture, values and preferences of the service users
Knowing where/how to access information, advice and support about equality and inclusion
Knowing who to ask for advice and support about equality and inclusion

Equality of Opportunity

Equality of opportunity is actually a really simple concept but it is often misunderstood.

For instance, some think that equality of opportunity only applies to people from minority groups.
Others think that it is about treating everyone exactly the same, even if they have different
capabilities and needs. And some think that equality is all about actively favouring minority groups
for jobs, housing and other services.

The reality is that equality is simply about treating people fairly.

To understand equality of opportunity you need to know the following: Equality of Opportunity
Equality applies to everyone. After all we all want to be treated fairly!

Equality is about making the playing field level and fair regardless of any differences. In order to do
that, it is necessary for some people because of their capabilities or needs to be treated differently
to ensure that they do have an equality of opportunity.

Equality is not about favouring minority groups over others, it is about treating everyone fairly
regardless of any visible or invisible factors such as a persons gender, disability, age, race, ethnic
origin, sexual orientation, faith or religious beliefs.

What is also important to remember about equality of opportunity is that it is encompassed by
legislation which makes treating someone unfairly not only immoral but also unlawful.
The following section will introduce to you to the current equality legislation and the protected
characteristics it covers.

First though, it is important to understand what is meant by the term diversity and how it works in
relation to equality of opportunity.

DIVERSITY

You already know that equality of opportunity which is governed by legislation is principally about
preventing less favourable treatment on the basis of a range of specific factors. These are known as
protected characteristics.

So what is diversity all about?

Well, diversity is about understanding and valuing that each individual is unique and
recognising and valuing the range of visible and invisible differences that exist between
people.

It is not by any means a replacement for equal opportunities, nor is it about language or
political correctness.
It does not distract the business needs and it is also more than demographic profiles.

VISIBLE AND NON-VISIBLE DIFFERENCES

Visible differences generally refer to those things we cannot change and are associated with our
outward appearance, for instance our age, race, gender and physical attributes. Equality & Diversity
- Visible Differences

When we refer to non-visible differences we are talking about the attributes that are not generally
outwardly noticeable yet make up our person, for example, our marital status, sexual orientation,
religious or political beliefs, educational background, socioeconomic status and often disabilities.

It is the combination of these differences, both visible and invisible, that define your personal
diversity.

Whilst there may be similarities to others, your personal diversity will be totally unique to you and it
is this uniqueness that the definition of diversity refers to.

Which of the following differences do you think are visible and which are non-visible differences?

You may have noticed that the terms equality and diversity although have different meanings are
often used together or interchangeably.

Whilst diversity is about respecting and valuing differences in individuals and groups of people;
equality which is supported by legislation aims to ensure that those individuals have the same rights
and opportunities, and are equally included in all the activities & options.

When the principles of both equality and diversity are used together people are more likely to be
treated according to their individual needs without being unfair to them or others.

Well, in short there is no single way of treating people, because as it has already been explained,
everyone has their own personal needs, values and beliefs.

To overcome this organisations have to be flexible and creative in the way that employment
opportunities and services are provided which means that organisations have to be prepared to
adapt what they do to be an inclusive employer and service provider.

It is important to understand that there are times when we have to acknowledge difference and
provide services or support to address that difference e.g. personal support for disabled patients to
access medical provisions or providing space for private prayer to accommodate staff, patients and
visitors with particular religious needs.

Discrimination

Discrimination is defined as treating people differently, intentionally or unintentionally, because of
how they look (including colour of their skin), their beliefs of religious practice, ethnic and cultural
background and practices, gender, sexuality, lifestyle choice or preferences, and physical or mental
disability

Basically, discrimination essentially means to treat someone differently because of some
characteristic they have which has no relevance to why they are being treated differently.

Therefore, it is easy for people to discriminate deliberately from disliking a characteristic someone
has, or inadvertently because they are not aware that their actions are causing discrimination
without intention.

You should therefore be aware that a same situation can be a deliberate or inadvertent
discrimination, and it is important to be able to recognise the difference between the two.

Why bother with equality and diversity?

Here are just some examples of the benefits of valuing and promoting equality and diversity.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION IN THE HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE CONTEXT

In a work setting, all Health & Social Care workers, and other Healthcare Professionals, are likely to
meet and work with a wide variety of people from different cultures, with different backgrounds,
beliefs, lifestyles, preferences and physical characteristics.

Therefore, it is important to understand and promote the need to treat everyone equally and
encourage an environment where everyone, no matter how different they are, should have the
same rights to benefit and experience the same things as everyone else. Equality, Diversity &
Inclusion in Health & Social Care

This means that all Health & Social Care workers and other Healthcare Professionals have a duty of
care to challenge discrimination in a positive way and promote inclusion.
Therefore, if you suspect or have been informed that someone is or might be a victim of
discrimination, you have a legal obligation to report this straight away to your manager or supervisor
(or to a designated Equality & Diversity Human Resources Representative within your organisation.)

At the same time, if you feel you are personally discriminated against, you should report this to your
manager or supervisor immediately.

Alternatively, if you suspect that your manager or supervisor may be involved in a discriminatory
incident, you can contact a more senior or a different manager.

All Health & Social Care workers and other Healthcare Professionals are responsible for reducing the
risk of discrimination and promoting equality, diversity & inclusion.

Therefore they must:

Protect the rights and promote the interests of service users, other members of their staff,
and other individuals who they are in contact with on a professional basis.

Strive to establish and maintain the trust and confidence of service users and other
individuals.
Promote the independence of service users while protecting them as far as possible from
danger or harm.

Respect the rights of service users while seeking to ensure that their behaviour does not
harm themselves or other people.

Uphold public trust and confidence in Health & Social Care Services.

Be accountable for the quality of their work and take responsibility for maintaining and
improving their knowledge and skills.

Promoting the independence of service users

Promoting the independence of service users includes the following:

1. Promoting the independence of service users and helping them understand and
exercise their rights;

2. Using established processes and procedures to challenge and report dangerous,
abusive, discriminatory or exploitative behaviour and practice;

3. Following practice and procedures designed to keep you and other people safe from
violent and abusive behaviour at work;

4. Bringing to the attention of your employer or the appropriate authority resource or
operational difficulties that might get in the way of the delivery of safe care;

5. Informing your employer or an appropriate authority where the practice of
colleagues may be unsafe or adversely affecting standards of care;

6. Complying with employers health and safety policies, including those relating to
substance abuse;

7. Helping service users and carers make complaints, taking complaints seriously and
responding to them or passing them to the appropriate person;

8. Recognising and using responsibly the power that comes from your work with
service users and other healthcare professionals.

All Health & Social Care Workers must uphold public trust and confidence in Health & Social Care
Services.

This means you must not:

1. Abuse, neglect or harm service users, carers or colleagues; Equality & Diversity - Do not...!

2. Exploit service users, carers or colleagues in any way;

3. Abuse the trust of service users and carers or the access you have to personal information
about them or to their property, home or workplace;

4. Form inappropriate personal relationships with service users;

5. Discriminate unlawfully or unjustifiably against service users, carers or colleagues;

6. Tolerate or promote any unlawful or unjustifiable discrimination by service users, carers or
colleagues;

7. Put yourself or other people at unnecessary risk;

Behave in a way, in work or outside work, which would call into question your suitability to work in
social care services.
The practices that support equality and inclusion, and reduce the likelihood of discrimination

It is the responsibility of everyone to challenge and prevent discrimination in the work setting.

This means knowing the practices that support equality and inclusion, and reduce the likelihood of
discrimination.

The employer is legally bound to implement equality and inclusion into their policies; and employees
have a duty to treat everyone equally and fairly, and act if they observe discrimination taking place.

As a result, everyone should be aware of the practices that support equality and inclusion to reduce
or prevent discrimination, such as:

Employment policy

Assessing and employing based on ability only
Employing a variety of people if capable of doing the job to create diversity in workplace
Provide support and training to create awareness and tolerance of differences
Take complaints of discrimination seriously to deter others from discriminating

Individual practice

Integrate with others to learn and become more tolerant of those differences
Encourage people with differences to integrate and feel included
Ensure nobody feels isolated; ensure nobody isolates or intimidates others
Openly challenge those who discriminate to reduce acceptability of discrimination

INCLUSION Examples of dos & donts in the health & social care work

Be aware of how you can ensure that your own work is inclusive and respects the beliefs, culture,
values and preferences of individuals, particularly of those for whom you provide a service of care.

If you are a Health & Social Care Worker, always refer to your Care Plan as it should state the
considerations you must make when undertaking your duties of care. Beyond the care plan you can
keep a constant awareness of how you can operate in your day to day tasks in a way that is inclusive
and respectful.

Remember - Inclusion means to enable services, support, facilities and opportunities to be flexible
for everyone, regardless of what their needs are.

In your work, this means to operate in a flexible way that can adapt to the different needs of the
service user; while also being flexible to working with colleagues of many differences.

DO
DONT

Confirm with the service user if they are happy
Make assumptions based on what you think are
with what you are doing and how you are doing
their beliefs, religious or cultural practices.
it.

Give an individual the choice and right to dress, Behave differently with different people, even if
eat and practice by their personal, cultural,
the individual is mentally disabled, and only
religious preferences and values
adapt as per your training by the care plan

Understanding the basics Summary

You should now have a good understanding of what equality and diversity are all about, how they
work together and of the benefits that they can bring to an organisation, community and you as an
individual.

As it is everybodys responsibility to work in a way that is not discriminatory, it is also a responsibility
to challenge discrimination when it is encountered. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion - Basics Summary

Challenging discrimination can include:

1. Approaching and including those who are being discriminated against
2. Engaging with people who are different to you and learn from them
3. Speaking up and politely correcting those speaking discriminatorily
4. Reporting to your manager if you witness discriminatory behaviour

If your manager or other seniors are discriminating, you should approach Human Resources.

You have a legal responsibility of whistleblowing when you observe illegal behaviour like
discrimination, even in situations of confidentiality.

If these examples of how you can challenge discrimination are put into practice, gradually
discrimination will become less acceptable and it will become easier to recognise and report
thereby promoting to positive change from discrimination.

During the next section you will explore the current equalities legislation and develop a basic
knowledge and understanding of the Equality Act 2010, and other legislation.

Equality, diversity & inclusion - Key Legislation

Although Employers are legally obliged to follow legislation when enforcing equality and inclusion,
and to take action against discrimination; it is also the legal responsibility of everyone in the country
to comply with legislation against discriminatory behaviour or activity.

The key legislation that relates to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, are:

The Human Rights Act 1998

The Equality Act 2010 , which now includes: Equality, Diversity & Inclusion - Legal References

o The Disability Discrimination Act

o The Sex Discrimination Act

o The Race Relations Act

The Equality Pay Act 1970

Equality Act 2010

In this section you will gain a basic knowledge and understanding of current equalities legislation
namely The Equality Act 2010.

You will become familiar with the protected characteristics and the types of behaviours that the Act
deems to be unlawful. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion - Exploring the Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act came into force in October 2010 replacing previous anti-discrimination laws with
one single act to make the law simpler and to remove inconsistencies. The introduction of a modern,
single framework with clear, streamlined law more effectively tackles disadvantage and
discrimination.

In short the Equality Act requires equal treatment of individuals in terms of access to employment,
goods and services regardless of the protected characteristics.

The act covers nine protected characteristics, which cannot be used as a reason to treat a person or
group of people unfairly.

Every person has one or more of the protected characteristics, so the act protects everyone against
unfair treatment.

The nine protected characteristics are: Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

1. Age
2. Disability
3. Gender reassignment
4. Marriage and civil partnership
5. Pregnancy and maternity
6. Race
7. Religion or belief
8. Sex
9. Sexual orientation

Who is protected?

These are the grounds upon which discrimination is unlawful under The Equality Act 2010.


THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: AGE

Age discrimination can take place against older and younger people.

It is no longer lawful to discriminate on the grounds of age in employment.

This means you have protection against age discrimination when applying for a job, in the terms and
conditions of your contract and in promotions, transfers, dismissals and vocational training.
In other words, it is unlawful to treat someone less favourably because of their age.

THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: DISABILITY

Under the Equality Act 2010 a person with a disability is defined as having a physical or mental
impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on his/her ability to carry out
normal day to day activities.

Where a disabled person is at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with people who are not
disabled, there is a legislative duty to make reasonable adjustments to remove that disadvantage.

Reasonable adjustments might include the following, but note that this is not a definitive list:

Changing provisions, criteria or practices
Improving access to buildings, i.e. widening doorways, fitting ramps
Flexibility over hours and place of work
Providing instructions and manuals in more accessible ways. i.e. online, large print, audio
Providing additional training
Installing modified or specialist equipment, i.e. computers, chairs, loop systems

The law does not state that an organisation is legally bound to make all the adjustments necessary
to best accommodate all persons with a disability.

Instead organisations are required to make reasonable adjustments and factors such as cost,
impact on others and flexibility of hours will all help determine what is reasonable.

Types of reasonable adjustments will also vary from person to person, so it is important to involve
the person(s) that you are aiming to better accommodate in finding the appropriate solutions.

The Equality Act 2010 also includes a new protection - discrimination arising from disability.
This means that someone is treated unfavourably because of something connected with their
disability when there is no good reason to do this. For example, a person may need to use a guide
dog but no adjustments are made to allow for this.

This type of discrimination is unlawful where the employer or other person acting for the employer
knows, or could be reasonably expected to know, that the person has a disability. This type of
discrimination is only justifiable if an employer can show that it is a proportionate means of
achieving a legitimate aim.

THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: GENDER RE-ASSIGNMENT

Gender re-assignment is the process of transitioning from one gender to another.

The term transgender describes a person who identifies their gender to be different from their
physical birth.

The term transsexual usually describes someone who intends to undergo, is undergoing or has
undergone gender reassignment.

The definition of gender reassignment has been amended to cover people who have proposed,
started or completed a process to change their sex.

A transsexual person has the protected characteristics of gender reassignment.

THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: MARRIAGE AND CIVIL PARTNERSHIP

Marriage is defined as a The legally or formally recognized union of a man and a woman (or, in some
jurisdictions, two people of the same sex) as partners in a relationship'.

Same-sex couples can have their relationships legally recognised as 'civil partnerships'.

Under the Equality Act 2010 civil partners must be treated no less favourably than married couples.

THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: PREGNANCY AND MATERNITY

Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby.

Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and is linked to maternity leave in the employment
context.

It is unlawful for a woman to be granted less favourable employment upon her return to work
following statutory maternity leave.

In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving
birth, and this includes treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding.

THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: RACE

Race refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) and
ethnic or national origins, which makes this definition very broad indeed.

Under the Equality Act 2010, Gypsies and some travellers, refugees or asylum seekers or others from
less visible minorities would also be included within this definition as are Jews and Sikhs.


THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: RELIGION AND BELIEF

Religion has the meaning usually given to it but belief includes religious and philosophical beliefs
including lack of belief (e.g. atheism).

Generally, a belief should affect your life choices or the way you live for it to be included in the
definition.

Religion is a set of observances connected to faith, including codes of dress, worship and food.
Belief is defined as philosophical belief, such as humanism, which is considered to be similar to a
religion.

It is unlawful to discriminate against someone based on religion or certain beliefs and employers and
service providers must reasonably accommodate employees and service users religious practices,
unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the employer or service provider.

THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: SEX

Refers to the sex of a person male or female.

THE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS: SEXUAL ORIENTATION

Sexual orientation defines who we are physically and emotionally attracted to.

A person may have a sexual attraction towards their own sex (gay or lesbian), the opposite sex
(heterosexual) or to both sexes (bisexual).

In recent years there have been a great number of legal changes to ensure equality for Lesbian, Gay
and Bisexual (LGB) people.


Equality & Diversity - Less Favourable Treatment

There have been several references made to less favourable treatment, but what does this
actually mean?

Equality legislation states that less favourable treatment can take one of four main forms:

Direct discrimination

Indirect discrimination

Harassment

Victimisation

Discrimination

Discrimination means less favourable treatment of a person compared with another because of one
or more protected characteristics.

Indirect Discrimination

The term Indirect Discrimination covers provisions, criteria, practices or rules that are applied
equally to everyone but inadvertently and unnecessarily place people with particular protected
characteristics at a disadvantage.

Harassment

Harassment is unwanted conduct that violates a persons dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile,
degrading or offensive environment.

Victimisation

Victimisation refers to detrimental treatment because a person has made, intends to or supports a
complaint or enquiry about an equality matter.


Examples Of Discrimination

Direct discrimination might include:

Deciding not to rent to, employ or admit a person because they are from a particular
minority ethnic group

Overlooking a young female for promotion because she has just got married

Not offering training opportunities to an older member of staff

Excluding or dismissing a person because they are gay

Indirect Discrimination

Indirect discrimination is more difficult to spot as there is often no obvious link to a protected
characteristic.

For example, an employer may require all staff to work 8pm to 11pm every evening.

This on the surface appears fair but this could indirectly discriminate against women who are more
likely to be primary family carers and are needed in the home in the evening.


Harassment

Harassment can take many forms and may, for example

Occur in a face-to-face setting.

By telephone.

In written or electronic communication.

The difference between harassment and bullying?

Harassment and bullying both involve behaviour which harms, intimidates, threatens, victimises,
undermines, offends, degrades or humiliates a person.

Harassment is always linked to anti-discrimination law and so will focus on the protected
characteristics. Harassment may be a single incident or a series of incidents.

Bullying is repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect and by one or more persons
which undermines an individuals right to dignity.

Here are some examples of behaviour that is considered as bullying or harassment:

1. Offensive material that is displayed publicly
2. Verbal abuse or comments that belittle people
3. Unwelcome and hurtful jokes
4. Direct or subtle threats
5. Offensive gestures
6. Ignoring, isolating or segregating a person
7. Staring or leering in a sexual way
8. Unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature
9. Aggressive physical behaviour
10. Repeated behaviour which a person has previously objected to


Victimisation

Victimisation can take many forms.

The following list provides just a few examples of the type of behavior which could amount to
victimisation:

Penalising someone for making a complaint or enquiry of discrimination

Excluding a person from work-related activities or conversations in which they have a right
or legitimate expectation to participate because they have made a complaint or enquiry of
discrimination, harassment or bullying or supported someone who has

Creating a difficult or oppressive environment for an individual because they have made or
have supported someone who has made a complaint or enquiry whether informal or
formal of discrimination, harassment or bullying.

Discrimination by association and perception

As well as these four main types of unfair treatment, the Equality Act 2010 extends protection based
on association and perception already applicable to the protected characteristics.

Individuals who are associated with someone from one of the protected characteristics. This
is referred to as discrimination by association.

Individuals who are perceived to be from one of the protected characteristics. This is
referred to as discrimination by perception.

Discrimination by association can occur if, for example:

A parent, who has a child with a disability is refused a job because the employer fears they
will need a lot of time off to attend hospital appointments and care for that child.

An employee is overlooked for promotion because their partner has undergone gender
reassignment.

Discrimination based on perception can occur, if for example:

An employer decides not to promote a female employee because senior staff believe her to
be pregnant irrespective of whether she is pregnant or not.

A counselor refuses to work with a person because they believe them to be gay irrespective
of whether they are gay or not.


Public sector equality duty

All aspects of legislation mentioned so far apply to all organisations of all structures and sizes.
As well as setting out what constitutes discrimination the Equality Act 2010 also introduced
something called a general public sector equality duty which applies to all public sector organisations

This duty has been introduced to ensure that public services are delivered as fairly and inclusively as
possible to meet the needs of the diverse communities they serve.

The general public sector equality duty, has three aims and requires public bodies to have due
regard to the need to:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct
prohibited by the Act.

Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and
people who do not share it.

Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who
do not share it.

Having due regard means to consciously think about the three aims of the Equality Duty as part of
the decision-making and planning process. Public Sector Equality Duty - Schools

This means that consideration of equality issues must influence the decisions reached by public
bodies such as in how they act as employers; how they develop, evaluate and review policy; how
they design, deliver and evaluate services, and how they commission and procure from others.

Complying with the Equality Duty may involve treating some people better than others, as far as this
is allowed under legislation.

For example, it may involve making use of an exception or the positive action provisions in order to
provide a service in a way which is appropriate for people who share a protected characteristic
such as providing computer training to older people to help them access information and services.
The act also contains a number of Specific Duties which are intended to evidence compliance and
progress against the General Duties.

Positive action

Positive action refers to a range of lawful actions that seek to overcome or minimise disadvantages
(e.g. in employment opportunities) that people who share a protected characteristic have
experienced, or to meet their different needs.

In other words steps taken to improve the under-representation of protected groups.
For example, an organisation may target recruitment campaigns to under-represented groups.


Organisations or individuals that do not comply with legislation

This legislation is in place to offer people protection from less favourable treatment and
discrimination, so the consequences for organisations and individuals who do not comply with the
law can be very stiff and costly.

Organisations and individuals may face legal action, which is likely to result in penalties, fines and
hefty compensation payments. Furthermore, bad press and a damaged reputation can take years to
recover from.

So as you can see equality and diversity is in everybodys interest.

The equality act 2010 Summary and additional information

Having finished this section you should now be familiar with the Equality Act 2010, and the types of
behaviour that are considered unlawful.

In a gist:

The Equality Act 2010 makes discrimination illegal, and includes the remit of:

Discrimination
The protected characteristics
Race relations
Disability
Anyone who cares for the disabled

The Disability Discrimination Act is now included in the Equality Act 2010 and gives the disabled
rights to challenge discrimination, in areas of:

Employment
Education
Access to goods, facilities and services
Activities with property
Public services and activities

The Sex Discrimination Act is now included in the Equality Act 2010 and makes it illegal for
employers to discriminate against another person on the grounds of:

Gender
Marital status
Gender reassignment

The Race Relations Act is now included in the Equality Act 2010 and makes it illegal to employ, sack
or promote anyone purely on the basis of:

Colour of skin/race
Cultural background

Employers must also promote equality of opportunity and positive relationships between people of
different racial groups.
The Human Rights

The Human Rights Act 1998 gives people clearly defined personal rights, such as:

Freedom of expression

Right to life

Right to privacy

Right to a family

The Equality Pay Act 1970 makes it illegal for employers to discriminate between men and women if
they are doing the same or similar work of equal value by:

Paying them differently

Providing different pay conditions


Stereotypes, Assumptions and Bias
Often unfair treatment stems quite simply from prejudice a baseless and usually negative attitude
towards members of a particular group.
From an early age we learn to categorise or label the things we see or experience around us. These
may be learned from comments or behaviours of adults in our lives, from television, music, books
and advertising.
Categorising in itself is not a bad thing as it is a useful way to describe and differentiate between
people and groups with particular characteristics.
However, when we start to form opinions and develop pre-conceived ideas about different people
and groups, it can lead to assumptions being made that everyone in a particular group is the same.
This is known as stereotyping.
When we stereotype a group of people, we depict all of the individuals within that group as having
the same characteristics even though they are probably all very different. Homeless Person
Stereotype
Often stereotypes are generalisations based on inaccurate information or assumptions rather than
fact, and unfortunately, more often than not these stereotypes are negative.
Stereotypes fail to take into account the great diversity of people within a group and when
assumptions and stereotypes influence our attitudes, we may find that making a fair judgment about
a person or group is difficult.
This influence on judgment is called a bias and can lead to prejudice and discrimination.
For example, a common prejudice is that homeless people only have themselves to blame.
This statement has failed to take into account the fact that people become homeless for many
reasons and often through circumstances not of their own making.
This is an example of how a stereotype can influence our judgements about a group of people.
What can i do to reduce or eliminate stereotypes and prejudice?
There are a number of steps that you can take;
1. Firstly, be aware of your own stereotypes and prejudices and how they might interfere with
your ability to perceive and interact with people.
2. Secondly, focus on every person as an individual. Remember that there will be more
differences within a group than between groups!
3. You should also recognise that you are also part of many groups and none of which can
totally explain or define who you really are.
4. Finally you should take opportunities to challenge stereotypes and prejudice as you come
across them.

Accessing information & Advice about Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Information on equality, diversity and inclusion can be found in many places whether as guidelines
on what they are, or what you should do about them.
Some of the sources of information are:
Legislation can be found at legislation.gov.uk

Your manager or organisational policies
Any library that will have many books on these topics
The police will have information on these topics, as it is a legal responsibility in the
community
If you need advice and support about equality and inclusion the first point of contact should be your
manager.
However, as equality and inclusion is a legal responsibility of your employer which the human
resources (HR) department would oversee when dealing with employment.
Therefore HR would also be a good source of support and advice on the topics.

END OF THE COURSE

You have successfully reached the end of this course.

This is where you get to test your understanding of equality and diversity.

You will need to score 75% at the end to pass.

Dont worry though if you dont pass, simply go back and re-study the areas you have difficulty with
and take the test again.

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