BVA wants more diversity champions

The BVA is calling on veterinary teams to appoint an ”equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) champion” to encourage open conversations about diversity and to keep the issue on the agenda in their workplaces.

To aid the appointment and training of EDI champions within teams, the BVA has developed a template role description that can be tailored to suit individual workplaces.

Important

Key suggested responsibilities for champions include raising awareness of the importance of diversity and the impact of discrimination across teams, reviewing workplace policies and culture documents, and organising events that discuss and celebrate diversity.

The drive to appoint EDI champions stems from the BVA’s Good Veterinary Workplaces position, which recognised that good workplaces have teams that understand the barriers to equality and diversity, and are empowered to challenge discrimination or poor practice.

Conversations

Malcolm Morley, BVA junior vice-president, said: “Our Good Veterinary Workplaces activity has really highlighted the importance of encouraging open and honest conversations about equality, diversity and inclusion, hearing all views and empowering everyone to challenge poor practice or suggest improvements where needed.

“Having an EDI champion in your workplace is a great way to get colleagues talking about these important issues in the knowledge that their views are being heard and acted on.”

Starting point

Dr Morley added: “We recognise given the breadth of the veterinary sector that workplaces may want to tailor the champion role description to their specific needs and ways of operating, but we hope that our template provides a useful starting point for getting champions primed and ready for the important tasks in hand.

“We hope to see new EDI champions springing up across the veterinary community in the months to come.”