Awarding Body Tackles Lack of Diversity in Stock Imagery Now

VTCT have created their own hair and beauty imagery after finding stock images lacking enough diversity

Market-leading awarding organisation, VTCT, have created their own hair and beauty imagery after finding stock images lacking enough diversity to educate learners adequately.

VTCT hair and beauty experts travelled to Francesco Group, Birmingham, to shoot photos that reflect the behaviours of a range of hair types from poker straight to wavy, coily hair. This photoshoot marks the beginning of VTCT’s landmark move to ensure afro hair and beauty is mandatory learning for aspiring hair and beauty practitioners.

Leading the charge for this move towards inclusivity in hair and beauty education, VTCT quality lead and industry expert, Sonia Robinson, said, “While there are images of curly hair available, they do not adequately reflect all the complexities of it. We needed to capture how uniquely hair behaves and looks when wet, styled, dry, and everything in between.

“All hair types are vastly diverse. Without the resources for learners to identify this, they won’t have the skills to meet the demand for diversity in an increasingly multicultural country.

“I am proud of the work that we are doing to fill this gap and to ensure our learners and training providers have the resources and knowledge to work within an inclusive society.”

This comes after VTCT announced that they are set to become the first awarding body to embed black hair and skin in their core curriculum. This is part of their roadmap to leading the industry in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

As well as reforming their qualifications, VTCT will also provide a range of training activity, to support training providers prepare their staff.  Educators responsible for delivering this new qualification content will receive expert training from VTCT subject matter specialists and expert technical panels to understand the different characteristics and care across hair and skin types.