Equality versus Equity: Getting to Equal In light of International Women’s Day and COVID-19 Pandemic
Originally posted in LinkedIn on March 17, 2020
In the past month, the question of “when you say equity, do you mean equality?” has been a question that has come up several times during a new project I’ve been working on. Many of you might already know my work is focused on the IDEA: Inclusion = Diversity + Equity + Accessibility to build culture (and brand) from the inside out, which means conversation regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is my daily norm.
Because of this, I had initially started the draft of this article to showcase the difference between equality and equity to highlight International Women's Day and how equality and equity have played a role in the evolution of women’s rights. However, since March 8th (and actually months before), a new focus has been dominating the global news, the coronavirus. The COVID-19 has spread beyond the borders of China and Central Asia to Europe and to the US, especially in my city, Seattle – the first epicenter for the US. So, what do these two, International Women’s Day and COVID-19 have in common when it comes to equality and equity?
By definition, equality is stated as “the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities" by the Oxford dictionary. In turn, the definition of equity is "the quality of being fair and impartial."
What does this truly mean? For many of us, we understand the concept of equality and equal-ness. We know that if we cut a sandwich, for example, equal means we cut it in half, and we each get the same half-size quantity of the sandwich.
Equity, on the other hand, gets confusing for many during DEI conversations. For those who hear "equity" for the first time in context to diversity & inclusion tend to think it means equality. In contrast, others might think of it as terms of finances – equity in our compensation package or investments. We "know it," but we don't really "know it."
However, both equality and equity try to get to equal, but just differently. Equality means you and me, we are given the same equal opportunity. Did you know, for example, women could run for political office and held positions (1) before we were allowed to vote? Women were allowed to vote after the 19th amendment passed in 1920. This meant men and women, both genders (realizing this language isn’t taking into consideration our gender-fluid/non-binary friends), were given equal rights to vote. But are we equal? No matter if you are a Republican, Democrat, or affiliated with another political party, we all know equality for men and women in the political sphere isn't equal either. Equality means women and men can run for political office. Still, the judgment and the standards for women are held at a much higher and different criterion(2) versus the men. This is not equal.
All we have to do is look at the gender pay gap to know, we are not equal. Women are still paid an average of $0.80 - $0.85 per dollar to men(3). Equality would only mean that each person, no matter the starting salary, would get equal pay raise. For example, employee 1 and employee 2 both get equal pay raise of 5% because they have the same job, and both perform at the same level. However, employee 1's salary is at $100K at 5% raise gets them to $105K versus a 5% raise for the employee 2’s salary of $80K is $84K.
Hispanic women will have to wait until 2224, and Black women will wait until 2130 for equal pay.
INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN'S POLICY RESEARCH
However, that does nothing to bring equity if they both have the same job and perform at the same level. So, where does equity comes in? Below is an image that was shared with me by a colleague working on the project with me, and I think it explains equality versus equity well. If we look at the above example and look at equity at this time, if a man and a woman with the same title doing the same job but their pay difference is woefully unequal ($100K versus $80K), the equity thing to do would be to recalibrate the salary to bring the other to equal.
Where does the COVID-19 come into play when it comes to equality versus equity to get to equal? One area is something I'm experiencing, as many parents and guardians are for school-aged children. For me, I am faced with no school for my son until at least April 27th. I understand how lucky and privileged I am that our son has two parents that aren’t in the service industry (restaurants, bars, theaters, and more) affected by business shutdown(4)…no, not "work from home" but total closures. Our son has a computer, internet access, two parents who can cater to his online learning, and who don't have to worry about his welfare, safety, and food.
This is not the case for many students. Equality means that educators could send homework and online curriculum that students could work on at home during their COVID-19 dismissal from school. Technically that’s fair. It would be available for all. However, it’s not equitable. Not all students have access to home computers, laptops, or the internet to access the online curriculum. Equity would mean all children would get access to computers, internet, and safety of shelter and time to work on their school curriculum at home (if there is a home). How is that possible when some children ( 30 Million) go without food(5) unless they are at school or without the safety of shelter unless they are at school. That is not getting to equal.
Here are some resources for you to do your part in how to think about equality versus equity to get to equal from voting rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, children’s rights to people living with disability rights.
Gender equity for women and girls is #5 in the 17 Goals to Transform Our World by the UN: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
Did you know many of the LGBTQ+ community cannot give blood? They can vote, can get married (equality) but not seen as equal in giving blood for life-saving needs (Equity). American Redcross would like to change this https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/how-to-donate/eligibility-requirements/lgbtq-donors.html
Center for the Study of Social Policy want to bring Racial Equity in Child Welfare: https://cssp.org/our-work/project/alliance-for-racial-equity-in-child-welfare/
DEI tends to leave behind our peers with disabilities where basic equality isn’t even met let alone equity: https://disabilityin.org/what-we-do/disability-equality-index/
The #1 solution to close the gender pay gap is transparency to pay: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/11/data-shows-pay-transparency-could-close-the-gender-pay-gap.html
Know your privilege and know what you can do to bring equity to the foreground and not just equality. If you have any other resources regarding equality versus equity to get to equal, please share it with me.
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CITATIONS
(1) Astor, M. (2019, February 11). The New York Times. Retrieved from 'A Woman, Just Not That Woman’: How Sexism Plays Out on the Trail: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/11/us/politics/sexism-double-standard-2020.html
(2) Braf, N., Brown, A., & Patten, E. (2019, March 22). The narrowing, but persistent, gender gap in pay. Retrieved from Pew Research Center: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/
(3) CAWP. (2020). Milestones for Women in American Politics. Retrieved from Center for American Women and Politics: https://cawp.rutgers.edu/facts/milestones-for-women
(4) Gilbert, D., Vinh, T., & Paul, C. (2020, March 15). Washington state to shut down restaurants, bars, and cap gatherings at 50 to stop spread of coronavirus. Retrieved from The Seattle Times: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/king-county-and-washington-state-to-act-on-bars-restaurants-and-gatherings/
(5) Hess, A. (2020, March 14). Widespread school closures mean 30 million kids might go without meals. Retrieved from CNBC Make it: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/14/widespread-school-closures-mean-30-million-kids-might-go-without-meals.html
