Source: https://www.fenews.co.uk/exclusive/edi-policies-are-under-attack-what-do-we-do-about-it/
From The US President to some of the world’s largest corporations, a battle is raging around EDI policies and principles. The impact will be felt everywhere, so for those of us who believe in the value and importance of equity, diversity and inclusion, how should we respond? First, we have to determine the audience. Are we addressing this threat internationally, nationally, locally or within the narrow sector of education? We have to work out for ourselves, on what level we can be effective, rather than wasting energy raging against an unlistening opposition. It will be vital to know what things we can impact and change, and to separate them from the rest of the noise around the issue. Speeches and statements of intent have their value, but hard evidence will always be more compelling. A powerful business case will always carry more weight than the moral arguments.
For example, it’s easy to say, the gender pay gap is a bad thing. It’s rather more persuasive to point out using hard data, as the independent McGregor-Smith review did a whole eight years ago, that eliminating that gap would add a whopping £24 billion pounds to the UK economy – around £30 billion today. Change is Coming The Employment Rights Bill currently navigating its way through Parliament will have a significant impact on EDI policies and practice. Gender pay gap reporting for larger companies will now have to be accompanied by action plans, explaining how the business concerned intends to address the problem. Coming down the tracks will be an Equality (Race and Disability) Bill formalising a requirement for ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting. It would be odd if such a move was not also accompanied by a similar requirement for action plans. Companies are going to need support in how to implement both of these, and FE would seem to be ideally placed to formulate and offer such training.
At Milton Keynes College we’ve been voluntarily conducting and publishing ethnicity pay gap reviews for the past three years, and the data is very revealing. A decade ago, it felt as if the desirability of EDI was largely unquestioned by the public at large and particularly, those in authority across the political spectrum. Things are very different now. When it comes to the voices raised against EDI initiatives, we can no longer expect them to be ignored and shouted down, and perhaps that’s actually a good thing. It is so easy in this space to listen to win, rather than listening to learn. If people in our communities or even in our institutions have objections, we need to understand them, rather than simply trying to win a debate. Opposition to EDI often comes from a position of weakness. People expressing it feel themselves disadvantaged.
Our explanations of why EDI is a “good thing,” can no longer be about why it’s beneficial for particular sectors of the community, but why it’s of benefit to everyone, including those who are deeply sceptical – and then prove the case with hard data. But, to be able to make that argument and demonstrate its efficacy, we must first understand where their objections lie. A visit to social media will quickly reveal questions like, why are you talking about women all the time? Why are you talking about race? Why are you constantly talking about trans rights? We might instead talk about more equitable initiatives or policies that benefit everybody. To come up with change that can be effective and popular, we need to ensure that our organisations’ processes are transparent. We’ve all heard those complaints that so-and-so only got a job because they are black/a woman/have a disability (insert your preferred disadvantaged group here). Such resentment runs deep and feeds into the arguments against EDI as a barrier to progress for others.
