The elephant of diversity
They say that honesty is the best policy, so here I am sharing the reality of what people think of when they hear the words Diversity and Inclusion. They may not say it to your face, but believe me they are thinking about it.
“We don’t really care about Diversity and Inclusion strategies, it just seems like social propaganda to help people who don’t work as hard as everyone else and give them an easy path to success. We have all fair HR laws and policies” . in place these days to ensure everyone gets a fair chance. So, stop talking and let’s start working for real.”
Those feelings are out there in more people than you can imagine. Not because all of these people are racist or even against the principles of inclusion, it’s mainly because they don’t connect the dots on how it affects them or society in general. The truth is, all this talk of diversity and inclusion is not exciting like quantum physics, critical like medicine, technical like engineering, or essential like math or even cooking. But it impacts each of those areas, and many others, because all of these fields have one thing in common, they all need people. People are the ones who are innovative, technical, creative and make the world the best it can be. And when people can’t do those jobs, we collectively suffer as a society.
If Einstein had been born a woman, the truth is that we would not have heard of him. Because in the early 1900s, women were not given any chance to be a part of the scientific world along with countless other areas, as men had decided it was beyond them. He would have been lost in the world of physics and we would have been less, all because of his gender and the lack of inclusion in those times. That is a fact and that is where I start my truth about diversity and inclusion.
the truth out there
So for those of you who think that all is well now and equality has been achieved. Sorry to burst your bubble, but we’re not even close. I could write a thesis on the inequity and inequality that exists in all the various aspects of society, but I will just share a few to get the ball rolling.
“Women make up 51% of the New Zealand population, but make up only 2% of CEOs of the top 50 New Zealand companies.”
“Maori make up 15% of the New Zealand population, yet they make up 50% of the prison population.”
“In the UK, a study showed that if your name was Adam instead of Mohammed, you were 3 times more likely to have your application accepted.”
The first thing some of you will think is, ‘well, maybe these groups are to blame for your situations. Maybe men are better at being CEOs, or women should work harder. Maybe Maori should stop committing crimes, then they won’t be in prison. As for these ethnic people, they should just change their names to ‘normal’ sounding names, and then they’ll get the jobs.
Simple truth? Well, sadly it isn’t.
The reason such inequalities still exist is that while implementing laws around equality and justice is an essential step, it is only the first. The reason women can’t break through the glass ceiling, ethnic people can’t get interviews, and the justice system seems to target specific population groups is the prevalence of unconscious bias.
What is unconscious bias?
Unconscious bias, as opposed to conscious bias, is when you are making decisions that favor specific people or ideas without even realizing it. This way of operating exists in everyone and we use it all the time to carry out our daily lives. We as humans like to order our world in a way that we can make quick decisions, and letting our unconscious mind make those decisions saves us from complex thinking.
Unfortunately, our unconscious mind is just a product of the environment we grew up in, it incorporates our beliefs, stereotypes, prejudices, and even our biological preferences. Therefore, as soon as our unconscious mind kicks in, whether we intend to or not, bias is likely to occur.
This is why, even after years of awareness raising, equality laws, and countless trainings, people still make decisions that negatively affect specific groups. Here is an example of unconscious bias at play
When you look at the dress shown in the link below. What color do you see?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dress#/media/File:The_Dress_(viral_phenomenon).png
Depending on how you are biologically wired to view this, you will see the colors Gold and White, or you may see Blue and Black, and some Blue and Brown. It is not interesting? There is no correct color, it’s just our personal preferences.
That was an example of unconscious bias that is biologically ingrained within us.
Another example of unconscious bias at play was visible in the best American orchestras until the late 1970s. The orchestras had only 5% of their performers who were women, and although the selection panel tried to be fair and selected on merit, women were simply not being selected. So they decided to do something new, holding blind auditions where the interview panel couldn’t see the musician, as they were separated by a curtain. What do you think that happened?
That one change increased the chance that women would be selected by 50%. All because even though the panel members were apparently not biased against women, they had subconsciously been preferring male performers. Now women make up about 30% of the orchestras in the United States.
“You can’t stop unconscious bias, but you can take steps to mitigate it and prevent it from affecting your decisions.”
So where to go next?
My first request would be that you accept the fact that you are susceptible to bias, just like everyone else. Self-awareness leads to personal responsibility, and then you can work with your organization to ensure you have the right strategies in place to prevent unconscious bias from affecting your decision-making.
Just remember that you don’t want to be the person or organization that refuses to interview the next Einstein because his name is Mustafa or doesn’t promote the next Steve Jobs because his name is Helena.