Women in Agriculture Development Programme: equality impact assessment

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The WiADP training is specifically aimed at adult women of all ages, from 18+. Given the fact that the 16-17 age group is much more likely to be in education and employment (see evidence above), and that there are other routes available to them, this training programme is justified in being aimed at women 18+ to allow educational opportunities to those who are less likely to have access to them.

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The Be Your Best Self courses have received applications of interest from women of all ages including several in their 60s. We will use images of both younger and older women in our promotional materials in order to communicate that this training is open to women across the age range. It is the intention to have mixed-age groupings for the courses, in an effort to advance equality of opportunity and to promote good relations between younger and older women.

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See above

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Disability is no barrier to taking part in the training – particularly the personal development training (Be Your Best Self), which is about recognising the fact that everyone has strengths and challenges in their life and reflecting on how these are dealt with.

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Potentially it has the opportunity to advance equality, by being inclusive towards those with disabilities. Although we cannot ask applicants questions about their health because of GDPR requirements, once they have accepted a place on the course, we can ask them whether there are any adaptations they will require to take part.

Venues will have disabled access as standard and other disabilities will be provided for where possible e.g.: sight impairment / hearing impairment should be taken into account for the 1:1 coaching sessions and the workshops themselves. Course content and materials needs to be made accessible to the individuals attending e.g.: translation into BSL or Easy Read versions if appropriate.

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The courses will potentially bring disabled people together with non-disabled people in a positive environment. The Be Your Best Self courses are particularly focused on identifying strengths and challenges – this could potentially be a very useful learning experience for non-disabled people to learn from disabled individuals about their challenges and how they manage their disability. Equally it could be very affirming for those with disabilities to have their voices heard and their strengths acknowledged.

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The training is aimed at improving women's confidence and developing their skills, to enable them to participate more fully within the agricultural industry. This should (along with the Unconscious Bias training) begin to change the culture within agricultural organisations and potentially help to eliminate discrimination (which undoubtedly takes place currently in some agricultural organisations, even if it is indirect or unintentional).

Men cannot take part in the training programme, however this is justified on the grounds of taking positive action to address the inequality experienced by women, which is clearly evidenced within the research report and the Taskforce's recommendations.

Measures which are targeted at people with protected characteristics are permitted if they are a proportionate means of meeting the legitimate aim of enabling or encouraging persons to overcome or minimise disadvantage; or meeting the different needs of the protected group; or enabling or encouraging persons in protected groups to participate in an activity.

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This is the most fundamental aim of the WiADP and the Taskforce's recommendations. Training seeks to advance equality of opportunity by developing the skills that women need to access the opportunities available and to become better represented – particularly on the boards of agricultural organisations and in positions of leadership.

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Despite the concerns of some individuals that this policy could be divisive, the long term aim of the WiADP is for women-only training to become irrelevant and unnecessary. This is a specific intervention to shift the culture, get more women involved at every level of agriculture, and once that change has occurred, then training for women and men together will become the norm. Overall this programme will help to develop better relations between men and women as they work more closely together and there is less gender segregation in the industry. All of our communications about the WiADP have focussed on the idea of making agriculture as a whole more resilient and successful by using women's talents and potential.

Eliminating unlawful discrimination

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We have specifically asked women about their caring commitments in order to arrange the training at convenient times of day – a key barrier normally to accessing training for women in farming. Women who are pregnant or nursing are welcome to sign up and we have offered that babies can attend with mothers, if that helps. Alternatively we can accept applications from those who have just given birth and offer them a place on a course much later in the year.

Advancing equality of opportunity

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We aim to be as inclusive as possible towards women who are pregnant or who have children, as this represents most of the target audience for our training.

Promoting good relations

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See above.

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The WiADP is open to anyone who identifies as a woman. Our policy is simple and straightforward. There would be no reason to ask about a person's trans status or to exclude any trans woman in this context. We do not collect data on this characteristic.

As the personal development training particularly focuses on 'traditional' gender roles and the socialisation process, we should ensure that any training materials and discussion are carefully worded and sensitive to all women. Our training is predicated on the fact of gender inequality and that women (including trans women) experience inequality of opportunity compared with men in agriculture. It must therefore examine this issue.

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See above

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This really depends whether any trans women in farming / crofting apply for the training and also wish to be open about their trans status. If they were, that would certainly afford an opportunity for positive relations between the women on the courses to develop.

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The WiADP does not discriminate on the grounds of sexual orientation. We do not collect data on this and there would be no particular reason for this to arise as an issue.

We should ensure that all training materials are careful to use gender neutral language when discussing relationships e.g.: that we don't talk about 'your husband' or use gendered pronouns carelessly, and (as relationships may be a focus of the personal development training) that we avoid any indirect discrimination through assumptions about people's relationship status or sexual orientation.

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This training programme is aimed at all women to advance their access to opportunities in the agricultural industry.

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There is an opportunity within the training programme to have speakers who identify as LGB+, which would be a good opportunity to promote positive relations.

Furthermore if LGB+ women apply to come on the training programme, this will be another opportunity to develop good relations.

If the training leads to their increased representation in farming organisations, this would also be a benefit.

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The WiADP is open to all women regardless of ethnicity. We do not collect data on this and it would not have any relevance to participation.

We should ensure that all training content and materials take account of different ethnic identities and do not exclude Minority Ethnic women.

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We will think about ways to encourage Minority Ethnic women to apply e.g.: using images of women of different ethnicities in the promotional materials, as they tend to be under-represented in images of agriculture.

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This depends on whether any Minority Ethnic women apply to take part in the training.

There is an opportunity here to highlight the role that many women from Eastern European countries play in Scottish agriculture as seasonal workers, as these women are often overlooked and less visible within the industry.

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The WiADP is open to all women regardless of religion or belief. We will make reasonable adjustments to take account of any religious requirements of individuals to allow them to participate in the training sessions e.g.: avoiding major religious holidays; dietary requirements; room for prayer etc.

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See above

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It is likely that the training courses will include women of faith and women of no faith. The personal development training offers a particular opportunity for understanding and positive relations to develop between these groups.

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The WiADP is open to women who are married, those in civil partnerships and those who are neither. We do not collect data on this and it has no relevance to participation.