Our work on equality, diversity and inclusion is an important part of what we do to support you. We believe that inclusion is an overarching culture, encompassing diversity and equality for the benefit of all.
Inclusion means that no one is negatively affected by uncontrollable factors such as ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, class or whether they have a disability. Being inclusive means that we all benefit from different experiences and perspectives.
We are committed to the principle of equal opportunity for all members, and as part of this commitment we ask members to tell us about themselves. These requests are not compulsory but the information you provide will help us monitor representation of the profession. We want to better understand how the profession is made up and how well we’re doing at representing the people within it.
Dentistry was arguably once a very male dominated and sexist profession. Things have improved markedly – in 2020 50.9% of UK registered dentists were female - however, it would be naïve to think that sexism has simply ceased to exist.
Gender and diversity training has been a useful step in the right direction. However, we’re listening to members concerns and we are aware that this is the start not the end of an important conversation.
We have made equality, diversity and inclusion a priority area, and have started a programme of work under the guidance of an appointed committee, led by board members Shareena Ilyas and Laura Cross.
One of the first pieces of research carried out by the committee was a survey of racism in dentistry. This significant piece of research was a joint project with the Faculty of General Dental Practice and has provided us with a rich vein of data on the reality of racism in dentistry.
It's clear that we still face a significant problem with racism within dentistry. Our Chair, Eddie Crouch, has encouraged us all to recognise the reality of this, rather deny its existence. This would be an important step towards progress for our profession.
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Our EDI committee ensures the profession’s voice is heard equally in decision-making making processes that impact the profession.
