PR professionals will have to learn about equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) as part of their continuing professional development (CPD), in a change announced by the CIPR this week.
The new rule, which came into effect from the start of this month, means that learning about EDI is now a compulsory part of annual CPD - alongside the existing mandatory requirement to learn about ethics.
CIPR members that take part in CPD will now have to log a minimum of five EDI points as part of the 60-point total they have to reach each year.
“The profession still has persistent gaps in age representation, gender balance at senior levels, and socio-economic diversity,” according to the CIPR. “For a profession that exists to understand and reach diverse audiences, minding the gaps means proactively addressing them.”
CIPR members will be able to choose from more than 80 EDI educational resources, which cover areas such as inclusive communications, understanding bias and behaviour, and building inclusive organisations. Alternatively, they will be able to log bespoke or external EDI learning as a custom activity.
The change comes in the wake of the CIPR’s decision to launch its first EDI strategy, in 2023, in a bid to “build a stronger, more diverse PR profession".
The CIPR achieved the National Equality Standard in 2023, becoming the first professional body to do so.
Advita Patel, CIPR vice president, and chair of its EDI committee, said: “Good public relations begins with understanding people, and in an increasingly diverse society, that understanding doesn't happen by accident. It takes deliberate, ongoing development, and practitioners who invest in that continued learning produce better work that genuinely connects with the people they're trying to reach.”
She added: “Delivering more inclusive communications benefits individual practitioners, the organisations and clients they work for, and the profession's reputation more broadly.”