As the UK’s cultural relations organisation, the work of the British Council involves developing relationships with people from a wide range of backgrounds. Engaging positively with the richness of this diversity is central to the role of the British Council and in line with its core values.
Equal opportunity is focused on legislating against unjustified discrimination and the fair treatment of specific groups. It’s about treating people fairly, identifying and removing barriers that get in the way of this and redressing existing imbalances, so that groups which continue to be disadvantaged gain access to opportunities for full participation in the workplace and in wider society.
Diversity is focused on making effective use of the differences and similarities between people. It’s about creating working environments that value a range of differences, believing that understanding and managing these can lead to organisational and societal benefit.
Commitment to equal opportunity and diversity practices helps to ensure that there is no unjustified discrimination on any basis in the recruitment, retention, training and development of staff. It also benefits employees and potential employees and helps achieve dignity at work and contributes to providing the best possible services to partners and clients.
When we talk about equal opportunity and diversity in the British Council, we focus on 7 main areas of diversity:
AgeWe believe the best way to manage diversity is to ensure that it is built into all processes and functions, considered as part of all policy decisions, and present in the planning of all programmes from start to finish. This is what we mean by mainstreaming diversity. The British Council will progress its Equal Opportunity Policy through its Diversity Strategy and its Integrated Equality Scheme.
Our Diversity Team has developed a number of tools and initiatives to help us promote equal opportunity and manage diversity. Our Global Diversity Network comprises, on average, two members from each of the 12 British Council regions. They support management teams across all British Council offices to build equal opportunity & diversity into all aspects of our work.
For complete details of our corporate approach to Equal Opportunities and Diversity see our corporate website.
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