Promoting diversity and equality

 1. Evaluate your team! - Carry out a mini survey to find out what your workforce looks like now. Is it diverse? How could you make it more diverse?

2. Offer training - Many people are unaware of the details relating to equality, diversity, and inclusion, welcome the chance to learn more. This is especially important in terms of “unconscious bias”, where we tend to favour people who are very much like ourselves. You could invite in an expert to talk to your staff.

3. Celebrate holidays - Why not have an international calendar, based on the nationalities or cultures of your staff and students, and organise an event for different special days. You can also encourage people to bring appropriate food and music.

4. Leadership must come from the top - Make sure that initiatives to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion are taken by senior management, not only employees. 

5. Anonymous feedback - Give your staff a questionnaire about various equality, diversity, and inclusion issues. Make sure their name will not appear on it. This could relate, for example, to furniture and staircases, or types of photos used in marketing. This will help anyone who feels uncomfortable to voice their opinion.

6. Mind your language! - Take care of the kinds of words and phrases you and your staff use. This applies to both spoken and written language. This can relate to how people refer to each other (using descriptions, instead of names). Check that company documentation is appropriate. This could include changing the use of personal pronouns, for example using “they” instead of “he”. (NOTE TO MYSELF: what a challenge in Spanish!)

7. Interview panel - Make sure that when you are selecting new staff, you have a diverse range of interviewers.

8. Cultural practices - Be aware of the different ways in which your staff behave. Making sure there is regular open dialogue on these sorts of issues will help promote understanding, and avoid unnecessarily offending anyone, or discriminating against them.


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