Inclusion at Arup
At Arup, we embrace equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) as a driving force for innovation and excellence.
We foster an environment where every individual’s unique perspective and background is valued. By championing the diversity of our people, we create a stronger, more resilient organisation that positively impacts our people, our culture, projects, clients and communities.
Globally minded, locally driven
While our mindset is global, we are rooted in our local communities, and we aim to reflect the diverse lived experiences of the communities in which we work.
Arup's global business footprint includes operations in 34 countries, offices in 97 locations, and more than 18,000 members worldwide. Arup’s membership includes individuals from a wide range of professions, backgrounds, religions, nationalities, abilities, genders, orientations and ethnicities, all working together to create safe, inclusive and resilient communities, and sustainable infrastructure and cities.
Key facts
We are working to better understand our EDI data on a global scale. Historically, our focus began with gender-related data and we are actively enhancing our data collection processes to better understand trends in recruitment, promotions, retention, mobility, and opportunities.
41
%
Women across the firm
25
%
Women in senior management
29
%
Women in our three most senior grades
80
%
Women as chairs of region boards
100
+
Different nationalities represented globally
91
%
Of members feel proud to work for Arup (Working at Arup Survey 2022)
Connecting our members
By uniting our collective voices, we amplify our impact. When we foster an environment where our members can authentically express themselves, remarkable outcomes unfold.
Connect Networks are our employee resource groups and they play a pivotal role in our approach to inclusion. These networks represent different identities including disability, gender, LGBTQ+, race, ethnicity, faith and culture, and serve as vibrant communities, allowing our members with shared interests and backgrounds to connect, learn and make a direct impact on both our organisation and our communities.
We are caring, curious and innovative, and we’re driven to deliver excellence. These are important features for an inclusive organisation like ours, striving to create a culture where our people feel that they belong and that they can do their best work for our clients and our communities.
Loraine Martins
Global EDI Director, Arup
EDI excellence
At Arup, we want to be industry-leading in EDI best practice and we’re committed to delivering EDI excellence, as a Clear Assured Silver Standard organisation.
Global recognition
-
Australasia Workplace Equality Index
-
Disability Confident Employer
-
Human Rights Campaign Foundation 2023/24
Equality 100: Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion
-
Stonewall LGBTQ+ Inclusive Employer
Top 100 2023
-
WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality
Being a Valuable 500 signatory means we are working in global partnership to end disability exclusion. We are on a mission to become disability-inclusive and collaborate with specialist organisations to drive this, including the Australian Disability Network, Business Disability Forum and SG Enable.
We partner with the United Nations and Catalyst to accelerate progress for women through workplace inclusion. We continue to strive for gender equity as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality and a Champions of Change Coalition firm.
Since 2021, we have scored 100% on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, identifying us as a leader in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) workplace inclusion. We continue to benchmark, measure and improve our progress on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace, placing second on Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index as a gold employer and as a Bronze Employer in Pride in Diversity’s Australian Workplace Equality Index.
We are committed to improving the experiences of our Black, Asian, mixed race and other ethnically under-represented members as a Race at Work Charter Signatory. We are enabling equal participation and nurturing an inclusive and representative workforce through partnerships with the Association for Black and Ethnic Minority Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Diversity Council Australia. We also run scholarship programmes with the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Indspire for First Nations, Inuit and Métis students in our Americas region.
We are working to embed equity, diversity and inclusion into all aspects of our culture, and we’re doing this through measuring our progress, removing barriers and bias from our systems and making all our people accountable for EDI.
Accessible workplaces
Arup is committed to fostering an accessible and equitable workplace.
We recognise that everyone has different needs, and we are dedicated to making reasonable adjustments to ensure equity for all. Our goal is to create an environment where all our members can participate fully.
We are committed to employing disabled and neurodivergent people, as well as those with long-term health conditions. This is reflected in making our recruitment process as accessible as possible. If you require adjustments during the application, interview or assessment process, please do not hesitate to let us know.
We encourage applications from individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender identity or expression, marital status, disability, neurotype, mental health, race or ethnicity, faith or belief, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, and whether you’re pregnant or on family leave.
At Arup, we encourage individuality to thrive. Our strength comes from how we respect, share and connect our diverse experiences, perspectives and ideas to create remarkable outcomes for our clients, collaborators and communities.
Designing for diverse perspectives
Arup considers EDI as both a vital element of our work and identity. This means ensuring EDI is not an add-on but is considered and integrated into our decision-making to ensure our outcomes benefit all groups equitably. Diverse perspectives are central to the way we design and deliver user-centred solutions that produce fairer and more just outputs.
Inclusive design
Discover more how our skills and services are shaping inclusive environments
How do you make a city inclusive?
Cities need to work for everyone - and our designers and planners are constantly asking themselves how we can create more inclusive spaces.
Inclusive and accessible design
Inclusive design aims to produce environments that are accessible and usable by everyone, whatever their ability, age, culture, faith, gender, family or economic status.
Terrigal Boardwalk
Arup developed the Terrigal Boardwalk in New South Wales, Australia to provide social, health and economic benefits to the local community.
Life at Arup
Discover more about what you can expect from working at Arup - from the kind of work you'll be doing to the people you'll work with.