This guide from the employers network for equality & inclusion considers how bias and discrimination are often built into organisational practice. By exploring a number of themes such as diversity, talent and workplace retention, it aims to offer some practical tips on how to remove such bias and discrimination.
The conclusions of a recent Equality and Human Rights Commission report stated that: “We need a comprehensive national picture of prejudice towards all equality groups. This will help us to understand the nature and extent of prejudice and provide a baseline against which to measure change.”
Although we may not presently have such a baseline in which to measure prejudicial change, our knowledge of the nature of bias, stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination is robust.
Taifel and Turner developed the concept of social identity theory, the idea that a person’s sense of self is based on their membership of social groups such as social class, sports clubs, gender, age, faith, and family. These groups provide us with important sources of pride and self-esteem.
