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The Equality Act 2010 is the legislation surrounding the topics of equality and diversity. This can cover all areas of society, but whatever the area, it works on the basis of nine protected characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnerships
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion and belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

The Act includes a public sector equality duty. This requires public bodies, including education institutions, to:

• Prioritise the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, and victimisation
• Advance equality of opportunity
• Foster good relations between people with different traits listed as protected characteristics

To achieve this, institutions need to remove or minimise the disadvantages suffered by people from the relevant groups by taking steps to meet their needs and encourage them to participate in group activities. All of this can be tackled by combatting prejudice and promoting understanding between people with differences. These solutions can be particularly effective in educational settings such as schools and universities.
The UK’s education sector is required to work in accordance with the European Convention of Human Rights to make sure they are meeting the standards expected of them. This means pushing for:

• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
• Freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions
• Freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association with others

What Does This Mean for Education?
Academic staff have a responsibility to deliver teaching and learning that meets the required standards mentioned above. This could mean paying attention to the needs of the students, ensuring you consider inclusivity and accessibility. Additionally, make it clear to students that you have a zero tolerance policy toward discrimination by letting them know the ways you expect them to interact with each other, and deal promptly and efficiently with inappropriate behaviour if it ever occurs. By finding opportunities within your teaching to prompt students to work collaboratively in diverse groups through creative and respectful techniques, you can add value to the learning experience for everyone.
Promoting equality and diversity in education is essential for teachers, academics and students. The aim is to create a learning environment where all students can thrive together and understand that individual characteristics make people unique and not ‘different’ in a negative way. By stressing this message from early education onwards, it will have an impact on how they treat others right through to higher education such as university degrees or apprenticeships, and beyond.
Dangerous Problem
Discrimination is essentially bullying – something that is all too common in education surroundings such as in school playgrounds.
One 13-year-old girl was bullied due to having autism, a condition that put her within the disability category of the protected characteristics in the Equality Act. Fellow pupils called her names due to her mental health condition, which was present from early childhood and characterised by great difficulty in communicating with others and forming relationships. She not only endured abusive language but was also physically attacked. The perpetrators saw her condition as a difference to exploit.
She told her parents, who complained to the school about the problem. They felt the teachers’ response was inadequate and didn’t stop the bullying. The situation caused her to feel depressed and isolated, feelings that led to self-harming, and she was forced to move schools as a result.
This highlights how important it is for the education sector to push for diversity and equality. In this case, the school let the girl down and she suffered significant distress due to having to switch schools to escape the problem. Additionally, she may have left the bullies behind, but with her self-esteem at rock bottom and the prominence of social media, the issue wasn’t easily ‘fixed’. The problem should have been dealt with at its source (the bullies) much quicker, to prevent it from getting that serious in the first place.
Equality and diversity legislation such as the Equality Act 2010 needs to be followed closely within education. All people have the right to education without facing discrimination. Following the available guidelines will allow for educational diversity to become the ‘norm’ expected throughout all educational settings.

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What is equality, diversity, and inclusion in childcare?

In childcare the term ‘equality’ means to ensure that all children are treated fairly, protecting their rights and offering the same opportunities regardless of any protected characteristics. Though children may come from diverse backgrounds, they should be treated equally and inclusively at all times.

All children are unique, and some children have additional needs which must be met when it comes to their care. Through careful observation of children, their starting points, needs and interests, subsequent learning experiences must be planned and differentiated according to their differences. By dealing with these differences appropriately, it can reduce the chances of discrimination within the childcare sector.

The aim is to create an environment that all students can thrive in by understanding that individual characteristics make people unique and prevent them from seeing differences as a negative thing from their early stages of development. By stressing this from day one in childcare and education, it will have an impact on how they treat others for the rest of their lives.

Additionally, having carers that embrace diversity means all children can be treated fairly, and as a result they are given a better start in life. By having professionals that fight against discrimination, then they are setting the right example for the children to follow and creating a better environment all round.

The Equality Act 2010 is the legislation surrounding the topics of equality and diversity to protect the rights of individuals and advance equality of opportunity for all. This can cover all areas of society, including childcare, but whatever the area, it works off the basis of nine protected characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnerships
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion and belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

What you need to do

The governing body surrounding equality and diversity in childcare is the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS). They set the standards for childcare providers to follow in order to ensure children grow up in a diverse environment. They cover the first stages of a child’s care, right up until they are 5 years old. All schools and Ofsted-registered early years providers must follow the EYFS, including childminders, preschools, nurseries and school reception classes.

The EYFS pushes for an integrated approach to early learning and care by giving professionals a set of common principles and commitments so that they deliver high quality childcare. It is not only the core document for all professionals working in the foundation years to follow, it gives parents the confidence to know that wherever their child ends up, they can be assured that the same statutory commitments and principles are in practice.

In order to comply, you need to implement an effective policy around equality and diversity so that you can support the children in your care. This could be in the case of a child with a learning difficulty, this would be covered under the disability characteristic in the act, and therefore you need to make sure they are receiving the equal opportunities and developing in diverse surroundings that celebrate their differences rather than discriminating against them.

Tips that the EYFS focus on is stressing that professionals need to:

• Interact with children to promote creative thinking skills, this brings on early language and communication development
• Encourage parents to become more involved in their child’s development in the home environment
• Identify the needs a child has as early as possible, this way you can create the necessary links with professionals to support them
• Communicate with the parents regularly, offering a summary of their child’s progress between 2 and 3 years of age
• Make sure you are keeping the youngest children in mind too.
• To make a judgement at the end of the reception year on how a child learns, this means looking at the characteristics of their learning:

– Active learning

– Creating and thinking critically

– Playing and exploring

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Discrimination means treating someone differently because of who they are and the qualities they possess. When this treatment is unfair and offensive, discrimination is taking place, something that workforces need to be aware of for the simple reason they are made up of different people, and these differences can cause problems.

Direct discrimination: This is when you are treated differently and worse than someone else for certain reasons. This is much more obvious to spot because someone is being targeted simply because of who they are.

Indirect discrimination: This technique is a bit subtler, but it can have the same, if not a worse effect, as direct discrimination. This can be done by a policy or rule being implemented for everyone in the workplace, but the impact can have a different effect on some people than others. The Equality Act labels this as putting someone at a particular disadvantage.

Different Types of Discrimination:

Whether they are carried out directly or indirectly, the same nine categories are listed by the Equality Act as ‘protected categories’. In other words, these are the areas that people shouldn’t be discriminated against because of. If they are, the perpetrator is breaking the law – something that could lead to penalties such as fines and reputational damage.

Age

The act says that you must not be discriminated against if –

• You are, or aren’t, a certain age or part of a certain age group.
• Someone thinks you are, or aren’t, a specific age or in a certain age group. This is known as discrimination by perception.
• You’re connected to someone of a specific age or age group. This is known as discrimination by association.

Direct discrimination example: Your employer refuses to allow you to do a training course because they see you as ‘too old’. They allow your younger colleagues to do the training instead.

Indirect discrimination example: You’re 22 and find out you aren’t eligible to be promoted because of a policy that only allows employees with postgraduate qualifications to gain a promotion. Although this applies to everyone, it disadvantages younger people because they are less likely to have that level of qualification.

In both cases, this can be permitted if the business is able to give a good enough reason for the policy being created and the discrimination occurring. This is also known as objective justification.

Disability

The Equality Act defines ‘disability’ as a physical or a mental condition which has an impact on your ability to do normal day to day activities.

If you have a progressive condition like HIV or cancer, you are protected by the Act. You’re also covered if you’ve had a disability in the past, so if you had a mental health condition in the past which lasted for over 12 months, but you have now recovered, you are still protected from discrimination because of that disability.

The Equality Act 2010 says that you must not be discriminated against if –

• You have a disability.
• Someone thinks you have a disability; if this happens it’s known as discrimination by perception.
• You are connected to someone with a disability; this is known as discrimination by association.

Direct discrimination example: During an interview, a job applicant tells the potential employer that he has multiple sclerosis. The employer decides not to offer him the job even though he is the best candidate. This is because the business presumes he will need lots of time off.

Indirect discrimination example: A job advert is published, and states that applicants need a driving license. This limits some disabled people because they may be unable to drive. If the position is for a taxi driver then it is a justified requirement, but if it is for a teacher that needs to commute between two schools, it is much more difficult to justify.

Gender Reassignment

All transsexual people share the common characteristic of gender reassignment, but to be covered by the Act in this characteristic you don’t need to have undergone any specific treatment or surgery. You can be at any stage in the transition process. Whether you’re preparing to reassign your gender, or you already have, the Act covers you.

The Equality Act says that you must not be discriminated against if –

• You are transsexual, but it must be noted that you aren’t protected as transgender unless you propose to change your gender or have done so.
• Someone thinks you are transsexual if you occasionally cross-dress. This is known as discrimination by perception.
• You are connected to a transsexual person in one way or another. This is known as discrimination by association.

Direct discrimination example: You inform your employer that you intend to spend the rest of your life as a different gender. The result of this is that your employer moves you off your current role so that you no longer have client contact.

Indirect discrimination example: A local health authority implements a policy that stops the funding of breast implants. This has a negative impact on an individual that wants to continue her reassignment towards being a woman because she wants the implants to make her look more feminine. Although the policy applies to everyone, it puts transsexuals at a disadvantage.

Marriage or Civil Partnership

The Equality Act says you can’t be discriminated against in employment because you’re married or in a civil partnership. This can be between a man and woman, or between partners of the same sex.

Direct discrimination example: A woman working night shifts in a distribution centre is dismissed when she gets married because her employer thinks a married woman should be at home in the evening.

Indirect discrimination example: This could be requiring someone to be in a certain relationship status in order to gain a certain job.

Pregnancy and Maternity

This is when you’re treated unfairly because you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or because you’ve recently given birth. If you are treated unfavourably as a result, then you are being discriminated against.

Direct discrimination example: A woman is interviewing for a position at a new company, and once the employer learns she wants to have children in the future, she is refused the job, despite being the strongest candidate. The employer views her future pregnancy wishes as a hindrance in terms of the time off she will require.

Indirect discrimination example: The employer creates a policy limiting people in the amount of maternity leave they can have. This can cause people to be put off by the role if they wish to have children. Although the policy applies to everyone, it puts women (and more so men now too) at a disadvantage, should they ever want children.

Race

The Act defines ‘race’ as your colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins. These factors don’t always have to be the same as your current nationality. For example, you could have Chinese national origins and be living in Britain with a British passport.

You could be discriminated against because of one or more aspects of your race. For example people born in Britain with Jamaican parents could be discriminated against because they are British citizens or because of their Jamaican national origins.

Direct discrimination example: A letting agency prevents you from renting a flat because of your race.

Indirect discrimination example: A hair salon refuses to employ stylists that cover their own hair. If you were a Muslim woman or Sikh man, you might be unable to apply for the position due to wearing headwear.

Religion and Belief

This is when you are treated differently because of your religious beliefs, or lack of them. The Act says you must not be discriminated against if –

• You are, or aren’t, a member of a particular religion.
• You hold, or don’t, hold a particular philosophical belief.
• Someone thinks you are of a particular religion; this is known as discrimination by perception.
• You’re connected to someone who has a religion or belief; this is known as discrimination by association.

The Act covers any religion, from the larger organised religions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam or Buddhism, to the smaller ones like Rastafarianism or Paganism. All belief systems are relevant as long as they have a clear structure and belief system.

Direct discrimination example: A bank refuses to provide you with a loan because you’re Jewish.

Indirect discrimination example: As a Jew, you need to finish early on Fridays to observe the Sabbath. The company you work for changes the weekly team meeting from Wednesday mornings to Friday afternoons, therefore putting you between a rock and a hard place. You either miss your meeting, putting you at a professional disadvantage, or miss Sabbath, causing you to compromise your religious beliefs.

Sex

Sex can mean either male or female according to the Equality Act, and it says you must not be discriminated against if –

• You are, or aren’t, a particular sex.
• Someone thinks you are the opposite sex. This is known as discrimination by perception.
• You are connected to someone of a particular sex. This is known as discrimination by association.

Direct discrimination example: A nightclub offers free entry to women, but the men have to queue and pay for entry.

Indirect discrimination example: An employer decides to change shift patterns for staff so that they finish at 5pm instead of 3pm. Female employees with caring responsibilities could be at a disadvantage if the new shift pattern means they cannot collect their children from school or childcare.

Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation involves the expression of your sexual orientation. This could be through your appearance and the places you visit, as well as what your sexual preference is. The Act says you must not be discriminated against if –

• You are heterosexual, gay, lesbian or bisexual.
• Someone thinks you have a particular sexual orientation. This is known as discrimination by perception.
• You are connected to someone who has a particular sexual orientation. This is known as discrimination by association.

Direct discrimination example: During a job interview, a woman mentions her girlfriend. Following this the employer decides not to offer her the position, even though she was the best candidate.

Indirect discrimination example: A hotel owner creates a policy that means they refuse to provide double beds for couples that are anything other than the heterosexual pairing of husband and wife.