Support for promoting equality and diversity among social care teams

Supporting equality and diversity among the social care sector is a core element of our strategy and all our work at Skills for Care.

Supporting equality and diversity among the social care sector is a core element of our strategy and all our work at Skills for Care.

Our workforce intelligence provides key demographical insights into the sector. The state of the adult social care sector and workforce in England report highlights that 21% of the social care workforce are people with a diverse background, the workforce is predominantly female at 82%, and the average age of a social care worker is 44.

It’s vital that the social care sector provides a positive and inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds, to attract and retain high-quality people to work in the sector.

Having a social care sector which is reflective of the communities which it provides care and support to, can also mean improved levels of care and support for those who need it.

We’ve created and collated a wide selection of resources and projects to support social care managers in promoting and celebrating equality and diversity among their team – from building an inclusive working environment to ensuring fair routes for progression.

Find out more about some of our key resources to support you below.

Building leaders

Providing training and development opportunities plays a key role in supporting an inclusive workplace with equal opportunities for progression.

Some groups of people may be at a lesser advantage for career progression, and there are development opportunities available specifically designed to support progression among groups who may be at a disadvantage.

Our ‘Moving up’ programme supports leaders with Black, Asian and other diverse backgrounds who want to take the next step in their career. The programme covers skills and behaviours including building confidence, being a leader, and networking.

Encouraging conversations

Our ‘Confident with difference’ resource can be used by teams to assess and discuss how well their organisation embraces diversity.

This includes four films which are aimed to generate discussions to consider how well diversity is embraced within organisations and how to improve. Alongside the films there’s a guidance pack for managers leading the session to help them in facilitating discussion.

Encouraging open conversations is an important step in identifying how your organisation is supporting diversity, where you can improve, and creating a sense of belonging for everyone.

Supporting the workforce

Our webpage providing information for managers on supporting the diverse workforce has been updated to specifically provide support through the COVID-19 recovery.

We know that people with Black, Asian, and other diverse backgrounds have faced unique challenges through the pandemic, and that this has highlighted many of the challenges facing these communities.

On our dedicated webpage you can find a number of webinars and blogs, focused on how managers can support their diverse workforce, particularly in light of the pandemic.

Further guidance

For further support and guidance our equality and diversity webpage has lots more information about supporting a diverse workforce and provides links to useful resources and further reading.

Black History Month 2021

Skills for Care will be celebrating Black History Month 2021, recognising the important impact of Black people and other people with a diverse background on the social care sector and our communities.

We’ll be providing useful resources to support social care managers in promoting diversity and will be creating blogs and articles discussing experiences of equality and diversity in the sector. The theme for Black History Month this year is #ProudToBe and we’ll be looking at why people in the sector are proud to be a part of social care.

See our #BlackHistoryMonth2021 area for further information and follow all the activity for Black History Month on social media using #BlackHistoryMonth2021.

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