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Diversity and inclusion in the workplace
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace

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Week 2: Diversity characteristics and discrimination – Part 1

Introduction

Last week you explored some diversity definitions, enhancing your understanding of diversity and inclusion. You considered some of the associated social and legal responsibilities, and learned about the benefits a diverse workforce can bring.

As you discovered in Week 1, the Equality Act 2010 outlines a range of legally protected diversity characteristics. The aim of this week is to provide an overview of some of these characteristics, addressing the basics while also introducing some of the more recent thinking.

In order to cover a wide range of useful topics throughout this 8 week course, it is not possible to cover every protected characteristic in detail. However, you will focus on many of the most relevant in terms of discrimination experienced in the workplace. If you wish to know more about those that are not covered in detail during the course, see Further Reading for a variety of useful links.

Now watch this short introductory video, where our employers share some of the ways they support colleagues with the diversity characteristics you’ll be exploring this week.

Download this video clip.Video player: Video 1: Introduction to Week 2
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Video 1: Introduction to Week 2
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By the end of this week, you will be able to:

  • describe key aspects of discrimination due to disability, race or sex in the workplace
  • reflect on a range of issues related to disability, race or sex in the workplace
  • identify actions that you could take personally and organisationally to address these issues.

You’ll start the week by looking at disability and neurodiversity in the workplace.