This International Women’s Day (which is this Wednesday, March 8!), people around the world are being asked to #EmbraceEquity, particularly when it comes to women in the workplace. A big part of this year’s theme is learning the differences between equity and equality, but it can be a really confusing discussion!

That’s why we’re going to do our best to break these concepts down as simply as possible so we can all #EmbraceEquity this week.

For most of us, when we think about debates around gender equality, that’s the word we most hear and use – equality. Equity doesn’t often appear in mainstream discussions, and when it does, it’s often conflated with equality. The distinctions between the two, however, are really important!

So, let’s go back to basics.

If we think about giving people resources and opportunities for success, equality means that everyone receives the same things in the same amounts. No person gets more than another person, and that’s what people generally think of as fair.

On the face of it, that makes sense – but what happens when some people start off with less in the first place? Giving everyone the same thing means some people are still ahead of others, which doesn’t solve the problem.

That’s where equity comes in. Instead of each person receiving exactly the same resources, equity means looking at people’s individual circumstances and giving them what they need to reach the benchmark of success.

It’s still confusing, right? Let’s look at it in terms of the most common visual representation of equity: this cartoon of some baseball fans!

In the cartoon, there are three people of different heights standing behind a fence, trying to watch a baseball game. But because of the fence in the way, only the tallest can see. For equality, we give each of them the same resource: a box to stand on.

Now the middle person can see over the fence, but the third person still can’t see – and the tallest person didn’t need the boost in the first place!

So, if we approach the scenario with equity in mind, we don’t give each person a box to stand on; instead, we give the shortest person two boxes, the middle person one box, and the tallest person no box – because they don’t need one. Now, everyone can see over the fence!

That’s the basic difference between equality and equity: it’s the difference between a blanket solution, which can still leave some people behind, and a tailored solution that addresses individual needs.