Glossary of EDI

The EDI Glossary provides definitions for key terms related to EDI, taken from the ONS Census 2021 and the Equality Act 2010.

Term	Definition
Age	A person belonging to a particular age (for example, 32 year-olds) or range of ages (for example, 18 to 30 year-olds).
Carer	Someone who provides unpaid care for a person who needs help due to illness, disability or old age.  This includes a wide range of responsibilities, such as helping with personal care, emotional support, or practical tasks.  While the Equality Act does not explicitly list “carer” as a protected characteristic, it does protect carers from discrimination by association with a person who has a protected characteristic, like disability.
Disability	A person has a disability if she or he has a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
Diversity	Refers to demographic differences of a group, often at the team or organisational level.  Often, diversity references protected characteristics in UK law: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Due regard	To ‘have due regard’ means that in carrying out all of its functions and day-to-day activities, a listed public authority must consciously consider the needs of the general equality duty: to eliminate discrimination; advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations.
Equality Act 2010	The Equality Act 2010 legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.  It replaced previous anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, making the law easier to understand and strengthening protection in some situations.  It sets out the different ways in which it’s unlawful to treat someone.
Equality	Means equal rights and opportunities are afforded to all.  The 2010 Equality Act defines equality as ensuring equal opportunities and rights for all and treating everyone fairly.  It also emphasises the importance of enabling individuals to reach their full potential while receiving the necessary support.
Equity Recognises	Treating everyone equally has shortcomings when the playing field is not level.  An equitable approach emphasises that everyone should not be treated the same, but according to their own needs.
Gender	Refers to a person’s sense of their own gender, whether male, female or another category such as non-binary.  This may or may not be the same as their sex registered at birth.
	Gender identity is different from sex registered at birth, but no specific identity is given.
Gender Reassignment	A person is protected if they are proposing to undergo, is undergoing, or has undergone a process (or part of a process) for the purpose of reassigning their sex by changing physiological or other attributes of sex.
	Non-binary is someone who is non-binary does not identify with the binary categories of man and woman. In these results, the category includes people who identified with the specific term “non-binary” or variants thereon. However, those who used other terms to describe an identity which was neither specifically man nor woman have been classed in “All other gender identities”.
Inclusion	Is often defined as the extent to which everyone at work, regardless of their background, identity, or circumstance, feels valued, accepted, and supported to succeed at work.
Intersectionality	Refers to the interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination and disadvantage.
Low Income	Often defined as having a household income below 60% of the national median income, which is the midpoint of all incomes.  For example, in the year ending March 2024, a couple without children would be considered in low-income with a household income up to £20,400 before housing costs or £17,600 after housing costs, according to GOV.UK.
Marriage and civil partnership	A person is either married or in a civil partnership.  Marriage in England and Wales is legally recognised in the form of both civil and religious unions and is open to opposite sex and same sex couples.
Protected characteristics	These are the grounds upon which discrimination is unlawful.  The characteristics are age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race/ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Pregnancy and maternity	Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby.  Maternity refers to the period after the birth and is linked to maternity leave in the employment context.  In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth, and this includes treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding.
	The Equality Act 2010 protects pregnant women and new mothers from discrimination in the workplace and other areas.  The Act also covers pregnancy-related illnesses and ensures protection during the “protected period”, which starts when a woman becomes pregnant and ends when she returns to work after maternity leave or, for those not entitled to leave, two weeks after the birth.
Race	Refers to the protected characteristic of race.  It refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, and nationality (including citizenship), ethnic or national origins.
Religion/beliefs	Religion refers to a person’s faith or lack of faith.  Belief includes religious and philosophical beliefs, including a lack of belief.  Generally, a belief should affect your life choices or the way you live for it to be included in the definition.
Rural Residents	Rural areas are broadly defined as those areas outside of settlements with populations of 10,000 or more, including smaller towns and villages, hamlets, isolated dwellings, and the open countryside.  This definition is used in the Rural-Urban Classification from GOV.UK.
Sex	Referring to the biological aspects of an individual as determined by their anatomy, which is produced by their chromosomes, hormones, and their interactions.
Sexual orientation	Referring to whether a person’s sexual attraction is towards people of the same sex, people of the opposite sex, or people of either sex.  This encompasses heterosexual, homosexual (gay or lesbian), and bisexual orientations.
Trans man	A trans man is someone who was registered female at birth, but now identifies as a man.
Trans woman	A trans woman is someone who was registered male at birth, but now identifies as a woman.
Woman	Under the Equality Act 2010, defined as a biological female or girl.  This definition was confirmed by the Supreme Court in a ruling in April 2025, which clarified that “woman” and “man” in the Act refer to biological sex, not a person's gender identity.  It did not include transgender women who hold gender recognition.