Equality vs Equity

 

[Image 1. A brass scale standing centre of the image, against a orange background. On the left scale it reads Equality; on the right it reads Equity. At the top it reads Equality vs Equity]

I have spent 30 years talking about disability, access, and inclusion but I realised that I have never written a post that answers, "What's the difference between equality and equity?"

When I was first diagnosed, my secondary school’s attempt at “inclusion” was to send me to the library every day with my classwork brought down to me. All my lessons were up a flight of stairs, yet no one suggested moving classrooms so I could learn with my peers. I was physically at school, so what’s the problem?

University was meant to be the land of liberation, where curiosity becomes power and you find yourself, and your voice. Yet I still had to challenge lessons, working environments, and social settings to be included. I was technically “included” everywhere, but often isolated, excluded, and watching life happen around me.

Life continued that way. It’s why I’ve written about ramps, buildings, attitudes, inaccessibility, complicit and implicit ableism, structural and interpersonal ableism, institutional harm, and the quiet ways disabled people are pushed to the edges. I have unfortunately lived experiences that have taught the difference between inclusive tokenism and being welcomed, valued, and fully included.

I don’t fully know why I've never named the equality and equity distinction. Maybe partly because disability rights have been furthered these last 15 years, so wasn’t, at first, necessary. I think another reason is that, for years, I was simply surviving systems rather than analysing them. When you’re navigating harm, you don’t always have the language to name it. All your energy and fight is focused on challenging the barriers you face.

The Revd Canon Dr Tim Goode and I discussed this last week. He said the Church is good at inclusion and understands equality, but not equity. That hit me. I knew exactly what he meant, but wondered if others do. Hence this post. A space to now discuss it further.

Equality and equity are often used interchangeably. Both are good, needed, and aim for fairness, but they are different and, when mishandled by well‑meaning people, have opposite consequences.

Equality gives everyone the same thing: the same rules, process, expectations, and treatment. It looks and feels fair. It’s also what many of us fought for decades — the same rights, access, opportunities, and recognition that we exist. Equality became the chant, banner, and rallying cry. That fight still matters, because disabled people are still implicitly and explicitly excluded.

This is where lived experience speaks. When I was first diagnosed, my school didn’t know how to include me. I studied at home for 12 weeks because they couldn’t work out what inclusion looked like. My mum fought for me to have a normal teenage life. Full of friendships, laughter, even the rough edges of bullying and tolerance. The intention was equality: allowing me to be in school, not isolated at home. Nevertheless, I was isolated on school grounds in the name of equality.

Equity is different. Equity gives people what they need to have the same chances. It adapts rules, adjusts processes, and recognises that fairness doesn’t always look equal. It is the quieter word that uncomfortably sounds and feels like the person is asking for something special. It can feel like favouritism, but it isn’t. It’s honest.

This is where confusion appears. Equality feels safe because it treats everyone the same. Equity feels risky because it treats people differently. Equality gets you into the room but leaves you disadvantaged. Equity removes the disadvantage so you can participate fully. Disabled people know that sameness is not fairness. Equal treatment can still create unequal outcomes.

Cue the well‑known meme.

[Image 2. There are 2 similar boxes together. In the lefthand box 3 individuals stand by a fence looking into a sporting arena. This box is titled Equality. It show a tall person, a medium height person, and a wheelchair user all with a wooden box each. Only the wheelchair user is blocked by the fence. The image on the right, titled Equity, is nearly identical. The distinction is listed below]

Equality gives everyone a box, but only two people see over the fence. The wheelchair user still can’t. Equity gives the tall person nothing, the average person two boxes, and the wheelchair user a platform, allowing everyone to see without harm.

That is the difference.

Disabled people live this daily. Equality says everyone follows the same process. Equity adapts the process. Equality assesses everyone the same way. Equity understands disability throughout the assessment. Equality treats everyone the same. Equity recognises that sameness can be discriminatory. Discernment is essential.

This is where tokenism appears. Institutions love equality because it is tidy, measurable, procedural. It avoids discomfort and responsibility. It allows them to say they treat everyone the same. It permits diversity without change. They can include disabled people without supporting or empowering them.

Equity challenges all of that. It asks institutions to change, recognise inherited harm, understand lived experience, and take responsibility. Equity sees the person, not the process.

My recent ordination experiences showed this clearly. I was treated equally, not equitably. The process, expectations, and language were the same for everyone. The outcome was shaped by equality, not equity, which is why it felt unfair and caused harm. That is why Tim named it so clearly, and why he said the meeting was unsafe.

Equality is good. Equity is essential.

Equality welcomes. Equity includes.

Equality invites. Equity enables.

Equality is the starting point. Equity is the destination.

I needed to write this and name it. Equality and equity are not enemies. They are partners, shaping justice, inclusion, and belonging.

Nevertheless, reality, equality, equity, and justice are not the same.

[Image 3. The scene from the above meme is the same, but extended into 4 situations.  Box 1 is titled Reality. The tall person is disadvantaged into a hole at the cost of the medium person, making them as disadvantaged as the wheelchair user with words saying "Some get more that they need. Some get less. Some get what they need. Box 2 and then 3 is titled Equality and the Equity and is the same as Image 2. Box 4 is titled Justice, in which the fence is move to show that the problem is the structure, not the people]