Gender equality
Gender Equality Scheme
This forms part of the RCN’s response to the 2006 Equality Act. The Gender Equality Scheme sets out how the RCN intends to promote equality of opportunity between men and women as well as eliminate unlawful harassment and discrimination on the grounds of sex or gender.
In this scheme the RCN seeks urgent action on behalf of nurse employers to close the gender pay gap and end the chronic low pay of nurses and those involved in the caring professions.
The schemes can be downloaded Gender Equality Scheme (PDF 155.5KB) [how to access PDF files].
Gender Equality Duty (GED)
This means public authorities have a positive duty to promote gender equality and eliminate discrimination based on a person’s sex. Further guidance is available on the Equal Opportunity Commission website.
European Women’s Lobby
The European Women’s Lobby (EWL) is the largest umbrella organisations of women’s associations in the European Union (EU).
Advancing equality between women and men through the better provision of care services in the European Union is organised by the European Women’s Lobby.
The European Women’s Lobby aims at promoting women’s rights and equality between women and men in the European Union. EWL is active in different areas such as women’s economic and social position, women in decision-making, violence against women, women’s diversity etc. EWL works mainly with the institutions of the European Union: the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU Council of Ministers.
More information is available on the European Women's Lobby website:
Harnessing the power of difference- race, gender and the future workplace
The Fawcett Society has published a ‘think piece’ for the Gender Equality Forum called ‘Harnessing the power of difference - race, gender and the future workplace’ which highlights the experiences of ethnic minority women at work.
The report outlines a series of recommendations for employers, government and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
Recommendations for employers
The authors argue that employers need to take clear steps across their operations to respond to the need to include and appropriately reward ethnic minority women. These steps include:
Mapping pathways through the organisation
The report says that organisations need to understand the obstacles and barriers faced by ethnic minority women as they move through an organisation. They suggest that organisations map the experience of ethnic minority women at key stages such as promotions and maternity leave returners.
Excellent workplace practices for women have a particular benefit for ethnic minority women
Flexible work practices as well as good maternity and paternity leave arrangements are likely to be particularly valued by ethnic minority women in the workplace both for practical reasons and for the signal they send out about an organisation’s values.
Deliver on governance best practice
The report comments that the severe under representation of women in senior levels undermines organisational claims to good governance. The report asserts that organisations need to ensure that their boards, executives and senior management layers reflect the diversity of the populations that the organisation serves.
The report Harnessing the Power of Difference - race, gender and the future workplace is available to download on the Fawcett Society website.