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Why Promote Equality and Diversity?

Equality and diversity is a complex issue, not least because it can be sensationalized in the media. It is useful to go back to basics and clarify what equality and diversity really mean for individuals and for the organisation before embarking on persuading others – whether they are colleagues, learners or stakeholders – of its value.

When putting forward the case for equality and diversity it is useful to have the facts and arguments at your fingertips. You need to truly understand what you are talking about and believe in it yourself in order to be convincing

Equality characteristics of the sector’s workforce and learners

The UK’s further education sector is made up of around 437 general further education colleges, specialist colleges and sixth form colleges and employs around 305,243 staff. The work-based learning (WBL) sector comprises some 2,096 publicly funded WBL providers, including FE colleges, employing around 41,524 staff. This workforce is integral to meeting the learning and skills needs of millions of individual learners across the UK.

Ensuring that equality and diversity are at the heart of strategy and policy making, planning and training is a core priority of the workforce strategies for both the further education sector and the work-based learning sector.

However, equality data for the further education sector reveals that in 2007/08:

teaching staff made up just over half (52.9%) of the workforce and managers 6.7%

around 44.2% of staff held degree-level qualifications or above

over half (58.6%) of staff worked part-time

more than a third of staff (34.7%) were aged 50 or over compared to 22.4% in the labour market as a whole, and staff in this age group were more likely to be managers or in senior positions than staff in other age groups

staff in the youngest (under 25) and oldest (60 and over) age groups were more likely to be employed on a fixed term or casual basis

almost two-thirds of the workforce (63.9%) are female

the gender pay gap was 9.9%, with women being paid approximately £2,300 a year less than men

females were more likely to be in administrative and secretarial roles

male staff were more likely to be in management roles than female staff (7.3% compared to 6.6%) and almost twice as likely to be in senior management positions (5.3% compared to 2.8%)

only 2.7% of staff had a declared disability compared to 17.9% in the general population and 14.4% in the learner population

staff with a declared disability had similar occupational and qualification profiles to those without a declared disability

83.3% of staff were from a white ethnic group, 3.4% were Asian, 2.9% black, 1.3% Chinese and 0.8% were of mixed heritage

the proportion of black and minority ethnic (BME) staff was slightly lower than in the general population (8.5% compared to 10.6%), but considerably lower than in the learner population where over a fifth of learners (20.9%) were from BME groups

staff from BME groups had similar occupational roles to white staff, but although they appeared to be better qualifies than their white counterparts (with 47.3% of staff of mixed heritage to 55.0% of Chinese staff qualified to at least first degree level compare to 43.7% of white stuff), they were less likely to hold senior management positions than those from white ethnic groups (1.8% compared to 4.0%).

in 2010 only 36% of the 353 further education colleges principals in England are women, showing some progress since the late 1990s when women accounted for only 25% of college principals in England, and since 2006 when they accounted for only 28%5

Of the 4,621,300 learners participating in further education (learners who are studying on a course at a further education college or training provider, learners who are studying a course within their local community, employees undertaking an apprenticeship, and employees undertaking other qualifications in the workplace) in 2009/10:

54.9% were female, 45.1% were male

12.1% of learners declared a learning difficulty, disability or health problem

17.5% were from a Black or minority ethnic background

23.7% were aged under 19; 16.6% were aged 19-24 and 59.3% were aged 25 or older.

Of the 491,300 participating in apprenticeships (paid jobs that incorporate on and off-the-job training leading to nationally recognised qualifications) in 2009/10:

46.9% were female, 53.1% were male

37.9% were aged under 19; 42.9% were aged 19-24 and 19.1% were aged 25 or older

9.7% of learners declared a learning difficulty, disability or health problem

7.0% were from a Black or minority ethnic background

Of the 491,300 participating in learner responsive learning (further education learning delivered mainly in a classroom, workshop, or through distance or e-learning) in 2009/10:

54.0% were female, 46.0% were male

15.5% of learners declared a learning difficulty, disability or health problem

21.0% were from a Black or minority ethnic background

39.7% were aged under 19; 14.1% were aged 19-24 and 46.1% were aged 25 or older.

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