Embracing E&D

What are UK professional bodies doing to embed

equality and diversity into their organisations?

PARN Fast Facts

PARN International Benchmarking Surveys 2006-2009

Contents

01 Foreword

02 Diversity policies

03 Composition of the governing body

04 Information on members around diversity

strands

05 Diversity in strategy and member recruitment

06 Specialist member groupings around diversity

strands

07 Engaging with diversity

08 Conclusion

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Foreword

Diversity: are UK professional bodies on the case?

Traditionally, professions have been associated with exclusivity and homogeneity rather than diversity. As the profile of UK society has become more diverse, and particularly with the expansion of education opportunities in further and higher education, changes have occurred in the profile of professionals in the UK. However, these changes have not led the extent of diversity in the professions to reflect that of UK society. However some professions have become substantially more diverse, particularly with respect to gender. Sensitivity towards issues of diversity differs widely across the professions and among professional bodies. Some have been developing policies to encourage and support a diverse membership body. For some, the issue is hardly on their radar; they are not aware of what they could be doing or how such actions could contribute to their overall aims and objectives. For others, efforts made towards addressing diversity issues have met resistance or negative reactions from parts of the membership, sometimes even those who the policies are intended to support. To what extent do professional bodies in the UK embrace equality and diversity? In this ‘Fast Facts’ report we present the results of the PARN International Benchmarking Survey 2009 and 2006, which amongst other issues addressed the questions of embedding equality and diversity into professional bodies’ governance, operations and membership strategies.

Sarah Ellis Andy Friedman Research Project Leader Director

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Diversity policies

PARN’s 2008 Diversity Toolkit defines a diversity policy as “a formal commitment to organisational ethics and values that embrace equal opportunities and diversity”. The Toolkit suggests several areas to include in a policy:

the strands of diversity or other differences, e.g. age, gender, disability, social background

the function or activities of the professional body, e.g. education, training, qualifications, research, recruitment, promotion, accreditation

the groups affected, e.g. members of all grades, employees, stakeholders, applicants, service users

commitment to fulfilling legal duties and complying with legislation and how this will be achieved

the actions, e.g. increasing awareness, reducing obstacles, challenging discrimination, monitoring the impacts of policies, consulting on impact of policies, training, reporting on progress, promoting good relations between people from different groups

the obligation of employees and others such as contractors or third party service providers

69% of survey respondents have a Diversity/Equal

opportunities policy.

16% have a diversity policy regarding the composition of their governing body.

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Composition of the governing body

Does the composition of the governing body reflect the profile of organisation’s membership in terms of …?

* option not offered in 2006

Just over a third of respondents indicated that composition of their governing

body reflects membership profile in terms of gender; a quarter – in terms of

age; 15% - in terms of ethnicity and 6% to 9% - in terms of disability, sexual

orientation and religion/belief.

There has not been much change compared to 2006.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

2009

2006

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Information on members around diversity

strands

Does your organisation request the following information about its members/registrants?

* option not offered in 2006

Organisations collecting information on their members around age and gender

has remained much as in 2006, but there has been a marked increase in the

number collecting information on ethnicity (from 32% in 2006 to 46% in 2009)

and disability (from 22% to 32%) and 6% of respondents collect information on

sexual orientation and religion/belief.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

2009

2006

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Diversity in strategy and member

recruitment

Are diversity strands mentioned in your organisation’s strategy documents/member recruitment campaign?

* option not offered in 2006

Though there has not been much positive change in the number of

organisations mentioning diversity strands in their organisation’s strategy

documents/business plan, there has been an increase in the number of

organisations referring to the diversity strands in their member recruitment

campaigns.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

2009

2006

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

2009

2006

Strategy documents Member recruitment campaign

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Specialist member groupings around

diversity strands

Does your organisation recognise/resource specialist

member groupings around diversity strands?

* option not offered in 2006

More organisations recognise specialist member groups, especially around

gender, ethnicity and disability and more support such member groups around

age, gender, ethnicity and disability.

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

2009

20060%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

2009

2006

Recognise Resource

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Engagement with diversity

To what extend are UK professional bodies engaged

with diversity?

Overall, organisations’ engagement with diversity is low, with 50% scoring

between 3 and 35, out of 178, on a scale of diversity engagement1.

Organisations with higher levels of diversity engagement are:

In the Health sector

With 50%+ of their members working in the public sector

Regulatory bodies, especially those whose regulatory functions

are underpinned by legislation

With larger membership base

With increasing membership

With 70%+ of potential UK membership as members

With more paid staff

1 Diversity engagement scale summarises organisations’ responses to the equality and diversity questions

asked in the survey. It is constructed to reward pioneering organisations with higher scores.

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Conclusion

PARN has observed that interest and commitment to equality and diversity

amongst professional bodies is becoming more mainstream and more

widespread. The strongest results we found were a substantial rise in

professional bodies both recognising and providing resources for specialist

member groups around gender, ethnicity and disability.

The PARN and Equally Professional Special Interest Group (SIG) provides a

focus for this interest and a way for professional bodies to share knowledge

and ask those difficult questions amongst their peers. For further information

on this SIG, please contact dyon@parnglobal.com.

Keep an eye out for the forthcoming report from the Equality and Human

Rights Commission (EHRC), Equally Professional: Like Minds on Different

Journeys.

About PARN

The Professional Associations Research Network (PARN) is a

member-led organisation providing a research enriched

network for professional bodies. We have around 130

members in the UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Kenya,

and offer specialist knowledge-based services and events on

subjects such as governance, CPD, ethics and standards and

member relations.

Visit www.parnglobal.com for further information.