What does Equity mean in Diversity and Inclusion?

Equity is a key contributor and foundational to fostering diversity and advancing inclusion. It refers to fairness of treatment according to one’s respective needs.  You may have heard of the golden rule where you treat others as you would want to be treated vs the platinum rule where you treat others the way they want to be treated by you.  Equity follows the platinum rule. As a result, equitable treatment does not always mean same treatment.  Treatment may be different, but should be equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities.  In the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) space, equity is most often focused on pay equity, health care equity, education equity, racial equity, social equity, and cultural equity.