Equality, Equity, and Agency

From classroom to career: how equality, equity, and agency shape our working lives

In education, the concepts of equality, equity, and agency are often used to describe how students access learning. Equality ensures everyone receives the same resources. Equity adjusts those resources based on individual needs. Agency empowers students to take control of their learning journey. These principles are not confined to classrooms, they are foundational to how we experience and navigate our working lives.

As individuals move from education into employment, the structures and supports they encounter can either reinforce systemic barriers or dismantle them. Understanding how equality, equity, and agency manifest in the workplace is essential for individuals seeking to grow and for organisations aiming to unlock the full potential of their workforce.

This article explores how these principles affect our careers, the challenges they help address, and the strategies - both personal and organisational - that can foster a more inclusive, empowered, and productive working environment.

Equality in the Workplace: The Starting Point

What Equality looks like

In the workplace, equality means treating everyone the same, offering identical opportunities, resources, and expectations regardless of background, identity, or circumstance. This principle is often embedded in policies such as:

• Standardised hiring practices.
• Uniform training programmes.
• Equal pay for equal work.
• Consistent performance evaluation criteria.

Equality is rooted in fairness and is often the first step toward building inclusive workplaces. It ensures that no one is overtly excluded from opportunities due to bias or discrimination.

Limitations of equality alone

While equality is a noble goal, it often fails to account for the uneven playing field that employees bring with them. For example:

• A new hire from a disadvantaged background may lack the same professional network or cultural capital as a peer from a more privileged background.
• A neurodivergent employee may struggle with a one-size-fits-all onboarding process.
• A working parent may find it difficult to attend after-hours training sessions.

In these cases, equal treatment can inadvertently perpetuate inequality by ignoring individual needs.

A real-world example

Imagine a company that offers all employees the same online leadership course. While this seems fair, it may disadvantage employees who:

• Have limited digital literacy.
• Speak English as a second language.
• Learn better through hands-on experience.

The result? Some employees thrive, while others fall behind, not because they lack potential, but because the support wasn’t tailored to their needs.

Equity in the Workplace: Tailoring Support

What Equity looks like

Equity goes a step further than equality. It recognises that people start from different places and need different kinds of support to reach the same outcomes.

In the workplace, equity might involve:

• Providing mentorship programs for underrepresented groups.
• Offering flexible work arrangements for caregivers.
• Adjusting performance metrics to account for different roles or contexts.
• Creating targeted development programs for high-potential employees from marginalised backgrounds.

Equity is about fairness through differentiation. It acknowledges that treating people the same doesn’t always result in equal outcomes.

Challenges addressed by equity

Equity addresses systemic barriers and individual differences. It acknowledges that:

• Not everyone has had the same access to education or career development.
• Bias, whether conscious or unconscious, can affect hiring, promotion, and evaluation.
• Life circumstances (e.g., disability, caregiving, trauma) impact performance and potential.

A real-world example

A company that offers tailored development plans - including coaching, language support, or job shadowing - helps employees grow based on their unique strengths and needs. This approach fosters inclusive growth and reduces attrition among marginalised groups.

Equity also plays a role in pay transparency. While equal pay for equal work is essential, equity demands that we examine pay gaps across gender, race, and other dimensions and take corrective action.

Agency in the Workplace: Empowering Growth

What Agency looks like

Agency is the ability to make choices, act independently, and shape one’s own path. In the workplace, agency is about empowerment, giving employees the tools, trust, and autonomy to take initiative, solve problems, and pursue meaningful goals.

Agency is the bridge between support and self-determination. It transforms employees from passive recipients of policy into active participants in their own development.

Why agency matters

Agency is a key driver of:

• Engagement: People are more motivated when they have control over their work.
• Innovation: Autonomy fosters creativity and experimentation.
• Resilience: Empowered employees are better equipped to navigate change.
• Retention: Employees who feel trusted and valued are more likely to stay.

A real-world example

A company that allows employees to design their own learning paths, propose new projects, or take on stretch assignments is cultivating agency. This not only benefits the individual but also drives organisational agility.

Agency also manifests in career mobility. Employees who can explore lateral moves, switch departments, or take sabbaticals are more likely to find fulfilling paths and contribute meaningfully.

Common Workplace Challenges and How These Principles Help

Strategies for Individuals: Getting On in Life

Here are some actions for you to take, to move your career on faster.

Short-term actions

• Self-assess: Understand your strengths, needs, and learning style.
• Seek mentors: Find people who can offer guidance tailored to your journey.
• Ask for what you need: Don’t be afraid to request accommodations or support.
• Use available resources: Tap into training, coaching, or peer networks.

Longer-term strategies

• Build your agency:
  • Set personal goals.
  • Take initiative in projects.
  • Reflect regularly on your growth.
• Invest in learning:
  • Choose formats that suit you (e.g., podcasts, courses, hands-on).
  • Learn beyond your role to increase adaptability.
• Advocate for equity:
  • Support inclusive practices.
  • Share your story to help others.
• Develop resilience:
  • Accept setbacks as part of growth.
  • Build emotional intelligence and adaptability.

Mindset shift:
Moving from a mindset of entitlement (“I deserve this because I work hard”) to one of empowerment (“I can shape my path and help others do the same”) is key to long-term success.

Strategies for Employers: Investing in People

Corporate leaders need to work with HR to think deeply about how best they can build their workforce.

Equality-focused practices

Start by ensuring everyone begins on the same footing. These strategies emphasise fairness through uniform standards and consistent access to resources.

• Transparent pay structures.
• Standardised hiring criteria.
• Equal access to benefits.
• Uniform onboarding programs.

Equity-focused practices

Move beyond sameness to address real differences. These actions tailor support and remove systemic barriers so all employees can thrive.

• Inclusive leadership development programs.
• Targeted support for underrepresented groups.
• Data-driven analysis of promotion and retention patterns.
• Accessibility audits and adjustments.

Agency-focused practices

Empower individuals to shape their own work experience. These approaches foster flexibility, autonomy, and shared ownership of decisions.

• Flexible work models (hybrid, asynchronous).
• Internal mobility and job crafting.
• Innovation labs or employee-led initiatives.
• Feedback loops and participatory decision-making.

Case Study: A Holistic Approach

A global tech firm implemented a three-tiered talent strategy:

1. Equality: All employees received access to a digital learning platform.
2. Equity: Underrepresented employees were offered additional coaching and sponsorship.
3. Agency: Employees could design their own “growth sprints” and pitch projects to leadership.

The result? Increased engagement, improved retention, and a more diverse leadership pipeline.

The Role of Leadership

Leaders play a pivotal role in embedding these principles:

• Model equity by acknowledging privilege and adjusting expectations.
• Foster agency by trusting teams and encouraging experimentation.
• Champion equality by enforcing fair policies and challenging bias.

Leadership is not just about setting direction, it’s about creating conditions where everyone can thrive.

Conclusion: From Fairness to Flourishing

The journey from equality to equity to agency mirrors the evolution from fairness to flourishing. While equality ensures a fair starting point, equity ensures a fair chance, and agency ensures a fulfilling journey.

In education, we’ve learned that students thrive not just when they are supported, but when they are empowered. The same is true in the workplace. Individuals who are given the right tools, the right support, and the right to choose their path are more likely to succeed, and to help others succeed.

For individuals, this means embracing your own growth, asking for what you need, and taking ownership of your journey. For employers, it means designing systems that are not just fair, but transformative: systems that recognise difference, respond to need, and release potential.

In a world of accelerating change, the organisations that will thrive are those that invest not just in talent, but in human potential... through equality, equity, and agency.