Professional bodies team up with Equality Commission to promote diversity

Professional bodies team up with Equality and Human Rights Commission to promote diversity - July 2010.

In July, the Commission launched the report Equally Professional: Like minds on different journeys. It sets out the process by which the members of Equally Professional (20 professional bodies from a range of disciplines) work to promote equality and diversity in, through and beyond their organisations. The publication records the collaborative projects members of the Equally Professional network have been involved in, and showcases examples of their diversity practice.

It will be mailed to 290 or so professional bodies not connected to the network, encouraging them to join the growing number of professional bodies committing to improving their diversity practice via participation in the Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) Diversity Special Interest Group.

Andy Friedman, Director of PARN, said: 'Professional bodies particularly appreciate the opportunity to learn from each other, ask difficult questions among their peers and benchmark themselves against similar organisations. This is the process that underpins the success of the Equally Professional network and the Diversity Special Interest Group around which the Commission's engagement with the professions is built.'

The Commission facilitates a network of professional bodies called 'Equally Professional', committed to promoting equality and diversity in and through their memberships, and thereby widening access to opportunity. The network believes that, to deliver the highest professional standards in a diverse society, professional bodies must reflect that same diversity in their membership.

The network also recognises that as the British demographic changes, the future of the professions depends on their ability to attract and retain entrants from all sections of the community. It seeks to inspire and equip the professions so that they in turn will inspire and equip people from under-represented groups to join them.

Source: Equality and Human Rights Commission

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