Equity

The world is continuing to take steps towards equality, however, being fair and equal is not always so simple. Sometimes, people need different, more personalized treatment to make their opportunities the same as others. This is called equity. If you’re confusing equality and equity, don’t worry, people often do so. And although both promote fairness, equality makes this possible by treating everyone the same regardless of their needs, while equity achieves fairness through treating people differently DEPENDENT on their needs. Nevertheless, this different treatment may still hold the key to reaching true equality.

Equality and Equity

In other words, equality ensures everyone has the same opportunities and gets the same treatment and support. Equity is about giving people precisely what they need to make things fair. Equity is giving more to people who need it, proportionate to their circumstances, to ensure everyone has the same opportunities. A good example can be providing more support to disadvantaged students so they can reach their full potential. If we follow this example, fairness through equality would mean providing all students with the same level of support, while achieving fairness through equity would mean providing disadvantaged students with extra support so they can have equal opportunities for success. This doesn’t mean that some students will get less, but simply that others, who need more support, will receive it.

Another good example is gender equity. Gender equity is when we treat men and women fairly based on their needs. This may include equal or different treatment, but it is still considered equivalent in terms of rights, opportunities, benefits, and obligations. Equity plays an important role in reaching gender equality because the current inequalities mean we have to provide more to ensure all genders have equal opportunities. For instance, women are seriously underrepresented in the STEM workforce. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), only 21% of engineering majors are women, and only 19% of computer and information science majors are women. This suggests that women may need more encouragement and support to enter this industry and that we must take action to make it as accessible to women as it is to their male counterparts. To put it simply, give more support for equal opportunity.

Equity in the Workplace

Organizations committed to positive change are slowly but steadily taking actionable steps toward better diversity, inclusion, equity, and Access (IDEA). Diversity and inclusion in the workplace are already known concepts to forward-thinking organizations and institutions. But in recent years, increased awareness of social exclusions faced by marginalized groups has pushed the term ‘equity’ to the forefront of conversations around diversity and inclusion.

As leaders continue to work out ways to fo

…