Religion and Dress at Work (Feb 23rd)

We are delighted to be partnering with London College of Fashion and Coventry University to deliver this research-based training workshop, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The session will help organisations respond more effectively to the potential and pitfalls of religious dress codes in the workplace – whether generated by the personal religious beliefs of individuals or/and by organisational dress codes. The training builds new knowledge about the significance of religious and belief-based dress as a workplace factor that impacts on individuals and affects organisational culture, functionality, and reputation.

Learning outcomes By the end of the sessions participants will be able to: 

1. Recognise how dress, hair, body management at work can trigger stereotypes. 

2. Develop familiarity with the language of modesty and shame, exploring how this might foster effective workplace relations and communication strategies that help individuals, organisations, and policy makers avoid generalisations and offence. 

3. Develop visual observation skills to counter discrimination in recruitment, corporate messaging, service delivery, client relations, and mission delivery. 

4. Step outside their individual perspective and more fully engage with another point of view, enhancing empathetic skills for building respectful and open conversation. 

5. Critically evaluate the extent to which dress and body management should/should not be included in diversity guidance and compliance protocols. 

6. Reflect on how intersectional social positioning affects individual and collective workplace priority setting, thinking creatively on tactics for navigating competing demands. 

7. Utilise critical thinking to explore new ways of measuring success and failure, in a context where there may often be more than one ‘right’ answer.  

We welcome participants who are: 

• HR professionals, and diversity practitioners working with colleagues of different faiths and cultures 

• Managers, HR professionals, and religious and community leaders working for faith-based organisations, as well as with team members based in countries with different faiths and cultural norms 

• Policy makers and specialists in interfaith and intercultural dialogue.  

This training will be delivered by Professor Reina Lewis (UAL) and Professor Kristin Aune (Coventry University) and funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It will be accredited at professional development level and is suitable to be evaluated within organisational or sectoral CPD frameworks.