Ableism – discrimination against people who have a disability.
Ageism – prejudice or discrimination on the grounds of a person's age.
Bisexual – a person who has romantic and/or sexual feelings towards more than one gender. People who identify as bisexual may also identify as pan, queer, and more non-monosexual or non-monoromantic identities.
Bullying – can be described as unwanted behaviour from a person or group that is either offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting, and/or an abuse or misuse of power that is meant to undermine, humiliate or cause physical or emotional harm to the recipient(s).
Cisgender – a person whose gender matches the body they were born with.
Cisnormativity – the belief or suggestion that cisgender people are normal or right and others are not.
Classism – treating people differently because of their social class or perceived social class.
Direct discrimination – treating someone with a protected characteristic less favourably than others.
Diversity – the fact of many different types of people being included; a wide range.
Embedding – in the sense of this toolkit, we mean the incorporation of EDI as a part of daily practice, in all areas of an organisation.
Ethnic minority/minority ethnic – racial/ethnic groups that are a minority within a certain population.
Equality – having equal opportunities and rights, being treated fairly and being able and supported to reach your potential.
Equity – everyone being treated fairly according to their needs.
Gay – sexual or romantic attraction to people of the same gender.
Gender identity – how an individual perceives their gender. This may not be the same as their sex assigned at birth.
Harassment – unwanted behaviour that violates someone’s dignity or creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person.
Heteronormativity – the assumption that heterosexuality is the norm.
Indirect discrimination – putting rules or arrangements in place that apply to everyone, but that put someone with different characteristics at an unfair disadvantage.
Inclusion – the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised.
Institutional bias – prejudice and stereotypes that lead to resources, policies and the practice of institutions benefitting some individuals and/or groups of people above others.
Intersectionality – the interconnectedness of different characteristics that people possess.
Lesbian – a woman who has romantic/sexual feelings towards women. Some non-binary people may identify with this term.
LGBTQIA+ – an inclusive acronym incorporating a variety of sexualities and gender identities.
Non-binary – people whose gender identity is not simply male or female.
Performative - this term can be used when the motives behind EDI efforts are done to only appear more inclusive rather than resulting from a genuine want to be inclusive and progressive to a particular cause or goal.
Pronouns – words used to reference a person’s gender, e.g., he/she/they
Psychological safety – where a person feels safe and included, without the worry of being embarrassed or discriminated against.
Sexual orientation – the fact of someone being sexually or romantically attracted to people of a particular gender or more than one gender.
Stereotype – a set idea that people have about what someone or something is like.
Tokenism – something that a person or organisation does that appears to support or help a group of people who are treated unfairly, but which is not intended to provide lasting or effective change.
Transgender – denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth.
Unconscious bias – social stereotypes about certain groups of people that individuals form outside their own conscious awareness.
Victimisation – the action of singling someone/some people out for cruel or unjust treatment.
