Slide 1 Title Page, Improving Diversity and Inclusion in Senior Leadership
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14315846
Link to the "This will challenge you" slide (5)
Link to the "Lack of concrete discussion" slide (10)
Link to the "Systemic Imbalance" slide (11)
Link to the "Neutral sides with oppression" slide (12)
Link to the subtle discrimination slide (14) to show the snakes and ladders analogy
Link to the "Side by Side" slide (18)
Link to the "Lack of opportunities reduces employability" slide (25)
Link to the opportunities slide (27) with Marilyn Monroe and Ella Fitzgerald
Link to the Capability Maturity Model for Diversity in Organisations slide (29)
Link to the intersectionality spectrum slide (44) that explains triaging like a hospital
Link to "How you can help right now" (48) that explains what you can do as an individual and as an organisation
Link to Recruitment strategies (57) that explains what you can do as an organisation when hiring, including using Achevement Relative to Opportunity
Slide 2 - Acknowledgement of Country
I begin today by acknowledging the Boon Wurrung people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which I work and live today, and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples here today. And since today is about actions, please donate: The Westerman Jilya Institute for Indigenous Mental Health (link) Dhadjowa Foundation supporting families affected by a Black death in custody (link)
Slide 3 - Impact across organisations
This workshop explains the underlying principles that have helped other communities. In one example, setting up a committee for a community that was overwhelmingly (91%) male, with the end result of this was we selected two very capable co-chairs - both women, with one being a woman of colour.
Slide 4 - Table of contents
This is like an iceberg. It is quite simple but the majority of the information hides below the water:
- This will challenge you
- Trigger alert for my well being
- Motivation for doing this
- Discrimination results in a lack of opportunities
- Capability Maturity Model for Diversity in Organisations
- Pushback
- The Intersectionality Spectrum
- The Merit Model Percentage
- How can you help?
- Real life impact
- Acknowledgements
- Hands-on workshop to help with your next senior leadership recruitment opportunity
Slide 5 - This will challenge you
Feeling uncomfortable is part of change. This presentation allows you an opportunity to change but doesn’t shy away from “uncomfortable truths”. Ruby Bridges was 6 in 1960 when she went to a previously white school. How did she feel throughout that year? This is why it is important to centre marginalised perspectives. Link to the tweet about Ruby Bridges
Slide 6 - Courage is needed
I need to acknowledge that writing the original document and preparing for this presentation was difficult emotionally. It will be difficult for me to give this presentation. I will be anxious, especially with any questions at the end. I need courage to be able to do this.
But you will all need courage to make the changes we need to improve our society. It is not easy. All I can do is to tell you what is really needed for change, to "burst your bubble", so that you can decide if you have the courage to fight, or not.
Slide 7 - The goal is to understand what we really need to do to effect change
This means having the courage to question your core belief and to take on board uncomfortable truths.
“Thank you for spending the time and mental effort to articulate these uncomfortable truths so clearly in front of an audience that needs to hear it.” - Anonymous. “I was truly grateful to have a safe space to ask my awkward questions. And, I am very grateful for your kindness and feedback.” - Anonymous.
Slide 8 - Why so sensitive?
The sensitive event has to be viewed as part of a cumulative impact. High pressure situations like this are not in isolation for marginalised groups. They are “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. ie. they are cumulative. “Cumulative exposure to racial discrimination has incremental negative long-term effects on the mental health of ethnic minority people in the United Kingdom.” Wallace 2016 Cumulative Effect of Racial Discrimination on the Mental Health of Ethnic Minorities in the United Kingdom.
Slide 9 - Comparison of graphs
The left figure shows how I react to a “minor” event that triggers deep emotional reactions based on previous trauma that accumulates over time. The right figure is how a person with privilege might view the same “minor” event and judge my reaction as an “overreaction”.
alt-text: Left graph shows a graph that shows how trauma accumulates with time like steps that keep going up and is very high. Right graph no accumulation of trauma and thre are no steps at all and only shows the small impact (a single step) an outsider sees that is very low.
Slide 10 - Lack of concrete discussion
There is still systemic imbalance and lack of diversity in the workforce that leads to a lack of opportunity for people from marginalised groups. This needs to be fixed systematically. It is especially true in senior roles. There is a large conceptual gap between grassroot advocates and typical corporate diversity training. This is mainly due to corporate diversity training being abstract and not concrete. There was a need for a tool to help aid communication at a concrete level.
alt-text: A diagram with three rows, Abstract, Cognitive gap, and Concrete. Abstract row is divided into Theoretical (eg. Definitions of DEI, Exploratory DEI Strategy, Demographic benchmarking) and Practical (Not applicable). The Cognitive gap row is one continuous row that is a boundary between the Abstract and the Concrete rows, signifying the cognitive gap that one has to jump in order to translate abstract language into concrete terms that one can understand. The Concrete row is divided into Theoretical (eg. Centering the marginalised, New opportunity creation, Potential individual changes, Intersectionality Spectrum) and Practical (eg. Building safe zones, Providing opportunities, Changing recruitment, Rehumanising people, Power sharing).
Slide 11 - Systemic imbalance
There is an imbalance in the system that is biased against people from marginalised groups. We cannot fix this imbalance by treating people equally as if they have had the same opportunities, resources and rights. Systemic racism and U.S. health care, Systemic racism persists in the sciences, Systemic racism moderates effects of provider racial biaes on adherence to hypertension treatment for African Americans, Systemic racism is a cause of health disparities."
Slide 12 - Neutral sides with oppression
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” – Desmond Tutu Link to the quote by Desmond Tutu
alt-text:Picture of a car biased to the right so the car drifts if we keep the steering wheel neutral. Another picture of a car going straight because the steering wheel is turned to the left to compensate. Phrase from Desmond Tutu: “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”
Slide 13 - Blatant discrimination is not acceptable now
Blatant issues for racism and sexism are well articulated in Australian society. This is because it is easy to spot, even though it is still commonplace in many organisations. "Why are Asian women's feet so small? So they can stand closer to the sink!" a male employee joked with his Asian colleague, then got angry when she didn't like it. Asian and Muslim women get discriminated against in Australia
Slide 14 - But subtle discrimination is more challenging
This image shows the idea of cumulative problems using a "Snakes and Ladders" analagoy to show the "degree of difficulty" and the lack of opportunities of a person from a marginalised group, that may not be apparent to an outsider. If you only measure someone's experience and not take into account their "degree of difficulty", you could miss out on talent.
alt-text:Picture of a white man and a black woman playing snakes and ladders with different boards. The black woman has many more snakes than the white man and less ladders. In one instance for the white man, there is a snake that ends on the bottom of a ladder to represent someone doing badly but still getting a promottion - this is called 'failing up' eg. Donald Trump. It also shows that the white man is just ahead of the black woman in his career, but who has done the best to get to that position based on the degree of difficult of their board? This is to the side of an orange vertical line and text
Slide 15 - Subtle discrimination can be worse
But more importantly, the results show that across every job and individual outcome, the effects of subtle discrimination were at least as bad as, if not worse than, overt discrimination. I now define a microaggression as: A microaggression is a clear sign to a marginalised person that they do not belong in that environment. This is the report about subtle discrimination.
Slide 16 - Intersectionality increases the degree of difficulty
Intersectionality is belonging to more than one marginalised group. It means that you have more “areas” that can open you up for attack. Understanding the range of areas and the effects is key to being able to help.
Intersectionality was originally coined by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw in 1991 in her publication "Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color".
Slide 17 - Discrimination results in a lack of opportunities
Here are a few examples of how people are discriminated against.
Slide 18 - Side by Side
Tamir Rice was 12 years old when he was killed by a policeman while holding a replica gun. He did not make any verbal threats nor point the gun towards the officers. Report on Tamir Rice.
The Illinois teen (Kyle Rittenhouse) accused of fatally gunning down two protesters during violent demonstrations sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake is fighting extradition to Wisconsin, according to reports. Report on Kyle Rittenhouse.
alt-text: Photo showing the face of 12 year old Tamir Rice and 17 year old Kyle Rittenhouse with an assault rifle. Tamir Rice was 12 years old when he was killed by a policeman while holding a replica gun. He did not make any verbal threats nor point the gun towards the officers. The Illinois teen (Kyle Rittenhouse) accused of fatally gunning down two protesters during violent demonstrations sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake is fighting extradition to Wisconsin, according to reports.
Slide 19 - Stereotyping
Dr Satra Browne is a black American living in Aotearoa New Zealand who shares her story about racism in Aotearoa New Zealand. She says "White privilege still reigns and people of colour are still the target of racism which shortens our lives. As long as it’s our reality, we have no choice but to talk about it."
Slide 20 - Lack of privacy
As part of The Health and Well-Being of Transgender Australians: A National Community Survey; out of 927 responses, 304 or 33% were discriminated against in employment, 26% in accessing health care and 16% in government services. Busting myths transgender professionals workplace
The Health and Well-Being of Transgender Australians: A National Community Survey
To learn more you can follow Professor Sandy O'Sullivan from Macquarie Uni.
Slide 21 - Low expectations
Low expectations. "You can't study chemistry." That was what a well-meaning teacher told Angela Bijimba, a Malawi refugee, but now she is studying biomedical science and is on her way to becoming a doctor. PS. Note how the teacher was treated very generously in that statement. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-08/navigating-australia-as-a-woman-of-colour/11576938
Slide 22 - Gaslighting
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation in which a person seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity (Wikipedia). The story is from Imani Barbarin, someone you can follow and support on Patreon.
Slide 23 - Even looking for housing can affect your work
Hassan, an engineer, applied for a five-bedroom rental property in the same neighbourhood. He was rejected and told the landlord had not liked his application despite earning a good salary. He said while he was disappointed, he wasn’t surprised by the decision. “It’s very common for people of African background. They always get knocked back.” https://www.domain.com.au/news/african-australians-report-discrimination-in-melbournes-rental-market-882748/
Slide 24 - You can even be erased altogether (twice)
Outrage at whites-only image as Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate cropped from photo by Associated Press. This was at Davos and it also happened in 2021 at COP26. https://www.earthday.org/ugandan-climate-activist-vanessa-nakate-provides-voice-for-the-global-south/
Slide 25 - Lack of opportunities over time reduces employability
All of these situations accumulate to reduce the time and effort available to fulfil a person's career. They slowly but surely add up to a lack of opportunities that over time reduces employability.
alt-text: Photo of a bar graph that is going more negative on the y axis as the x axis increases. This signifies that lack of opportunities over time reduces employability.
Slide 26 - Are you really hiring on merit?
This is demonstrated in the video "Are you really hiring on merit? A story about hiring senior management with Diversity and Inclusion".
Slide 27 - Give people from marginalised groups more opportunities
The key is to give people from marginalised groups more opportunities to make up for the ones they have lost. https://twitter.com/__BHB__/status/1386365587153055751
alt-text: Marilyn Monroe with Ella Fitzgeerald explaining that Marilyn Monroe used her privilege to give Ella Fitzgerald an opportunity so she never had to play a small jazz club again. Ella didn't need mentoring, nor did she need to improve her skillset, she simply needed an opportunity. This is why the key is to give people from marginalised groups more opportunities to make up for the ones they have lost.
Slide 28 - Capability Maturity Model for Diversity in Organisations
There is just one slide for the CMM, but it is quite a complex table that doesn't make sense if we didn't go through all the preamble.
Slide 29 - Full table of Capability Maturity Model for Diversity in Organisations
| CMM Level | Understanding | Key Question |
|---|---|---|
| #1 Systems encouraging lack of diversity | There is no understanding | There are no questions being asked. |
| #2 Systems neutral that keeps status quo | There is understanding of blatant issues in diversity, but not systemic issues. | How do we stop unconscious bias and only judge on skills and experience? |
| #3 Individuals actively fighting the status quo | There is understanding of blatant and systemic issues in diversity by individuals. | How do we get privileged people to give people from marginalised groups more opportunities? |
| #4 Systems improvement in one organisation | There is understanding of blatant and systemic issues across the organisation. | How do we build systems to give people from marginalised groups more opportunities? |
| #5 Systems improvement across organisations | There is understanding of systemic issues across multiple organisations. | How do we build systems to give people from marginalised groups more opportunities? |
alt-text: This is the Capability Maturity Model that has 5 levels - systems encouraging lack of diversity, systems neutral that keeps status quo, individuals actively fighting the ststus quo, systems improvement in one organisation, systems improvement across multiple organisations. Each level has the underlying understanding of DEI in that level, and the key question for that level.
Slide 30 - This will challenge you
To work towards a better community, we need to sacrifice our privilege and comfort. This is mentioned in a 2015 article by Clementine Ford: Equality comes from people either sacrificing their privilege or having it forcibly taken away from them. It does not come from waiting from the oppressed to rise up and meet it. [...] But if all you can think about when you think about equality is everything you stand to lose, then you're not trying hard enough. And yes, you are part of the problem.
Slide 31 - Pushback
As you move into CMM level 3 you can expect to get pushback. This is easily seen in the infamous words of Scott Morrison. Here are some other forms of pushback.
“We want to see women rise. But we don’t want to see women rise only on the basis of others doing worse.” - Scott Morrison International Women's day 2019
Slide 32 - You are being too loud
People who push back usually make excuses that have been made before in more horrific situations. "a little too fierce on the slavery question"
"[this] will certainly do harm"
This was the reaction to an anti-slavery speech in 1853 by Frederick Douglass. https://timeline.com/black-lives-matter-protest-tactics-33bd8e753429#.t8h8ze8nl
Slide 33 - Not the right fit
This is a very common phenomenom. What does the best person look like? ‘It's like looking in a mirror‘.
Slide 34 - This doesn't happen anymore
Remember Ruby Bridges? This is what she looks like now in 2020. She even has a website at https://www.rubybridges.com/. Don't let the black and white photos fool you into thinking it was a long time ago. Then remember the murder of George Floyd.
Slide 35 - But we already hire on merit
But all of this information about Trump’s lifelong criminal activity has been documented, for years—it just wasn’t brought to the forefront when voters needed to know about it. Did Donald Trump, Boris Johnson and Scott Morrison get to the top due to merit? https://www.vogue.com/article/sarah-kendzior-interview-hiding-in-plain-sight-donald-trump
Slide 36 - The end of civilization
This anti-suffragette postcard from 1910 shows what the end of the world would look like if women got the vote. When women vote it won't be lawful for a man to remain single. https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-satirical-british-propaganda-fear-mongering-anti-suffragette-postcard-56490133.html
Slide 37 - There are many more delaying tactics
Some of the others include: This isn't the right time, There are no quality candidates, I'm already doing X, I can't do Y as well!, We tried before and failed, Good idea, we will get back to you..., But that has never effected me personally, I don't have privilege, I just worked hard.
These are all ways to delay the actions needed to change the system.
Slide 38 - Intersectionality Spectrum
I created a model to help visualise “degree of difficulty” based off this picture so that it can be taken into account when looking at “merit”. But the risk is that this will dehumanise and this needs to be kept in mind as we continue. Cartoon is from https://manu.se
Slide 39 - At a fundamental level, we need to rehumanise the marginalised people that have been dehumanised.
At a fundamental level, we need to rehumanise the marginalised people that have been dehumanised.
Slide 40 - All models are wrong but some are useful
All models are wrong but some are useful - George Box. Box, G. E. P. (1979), "Robustness in the strategy of scientific model building", in Launer, R. L.; Wilkinson, G. N. (eds.), Robustness in Statistics, Academic Press, pp. 201–236, doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-438150-6.50018-2, ISBN 9781483263366.
Slide 41 - Intersectionality Spectrum
This is the Intersectionality Spectrum to help people become aware of how belonging to more than one marginalised group impacts your degree of difficulty. Please note that every Intersectionality Spectrum has to be contextual. That means that the model isn't fixed, it is highly contextual and created to fit the situation you are focusing on.
Slide 42 - Intersectionality Spectrum with explanation of Degree of Difficulty
Degree of Difficulty is 2 to the power of the number of marginalised groups. Use base 3 for highly marginalised groups.
Slide 43 - Most DEI initiatives target gender equity
Most DEI initiatives target gender equity. The graph points to the second least degree of difficulty and highlights that most DEI initiatives target gender equity and actually help white women more than others. https://www.buzzfeed.com/sydrobinson1/feminist-movement-excludes-black-women
Slide 44 - Triaging similar to a hospital setting
We should be triaging to help those who need it most, similar to a hospital setting. So those with the highest degree of difficulty with the most amount of marginalised groups should be helped as a priority compared to those with lesser degree of difficulty.
alt-text: Intersectionality spectrum with different categories of intersectionality along the x-axis and the degree of difficulty shown as a bar graph on the y-axis. It shows 3 arrows pointing down on the bars that have the highest degree of difficulty to signify that we need to prioritise support to those who need it most because they have been discriinated the most. It has one green arrow pointing down to those with smaller degrees of difficulty to signify we still need to help those people as well, but with less intensity or frequency. This is similar to how a hospital should triage patients, in that we need to look after the sickest people first. Please note that every Intersectionality Spectrum has to be contextual. That means that the model isn't fixed, it is highly contextual and created to fit the situation you are focusing on.
Slide 45 - Merit Model Percentage
Further to the Intersectionality Spectrum and the Degree of Difficulty, I wanted to demonstrate what merit might look like if you took into account opportunities as well. This is similar to the Achievement Relative to Opportunity that is part of Monash University, but should also take into account opportunities missed before becoming a student or worker. The Merit Model Percentage is calculated as the skills and experience divided by opportunities and multipled by the degree of difficulty.
Slide 46 - Nova Peris
Nova Peris is the first First Nations person to win an Olympic gold medal. One of the very first people to represent their country at Olympic level in two distinct sports. The only Australian athlete to win Olympic gold in one sport and Commonwealth Games gold in another. Australia's first First Nations woman elected to federal parliament. https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8345406?q&versionId=9620252+44665336+260827319
Slide 47 - Merit Model for Nova Peris
Merit Model for Nova Peris calculation: Skills and experience is 3, Opportunities is a range 1 or 2, Degree of Difficulty is 3^2 = 9, Merit Model % range is 1350% to 2700%. To give a benchmark, I could only obtain a maximum of 600% given my Degree of Difficulty of 2^1=2. I would rate myself in the range of 200 to 300%.
Slide 48 - How can you help?
In this section, we will talk about how to help out as an individual and how to help out as an organisation.
Slide 49 - Focus on Action
There are two things you can do, advocate for people from one or more marginalised groups, and redefine merit.
Slide 50 - How can you help as an individual?
How can you help as an individual?
Slide 51 - Moving from CMM level 2 to CMM level 3
This is what you need to do to move from CMM Level #2 to CMM Level #3.
Slide 52 - Centre people from marginalised groups
Because people from marginalised groups get erased from the conversation every single day. Setup your social media to include a core of people from marginalised groups that you wouldn’t normally see. Proactively find databases of intersectionality marginalised people in your industry to build new relationships. https://www.earthday.org/ugandan-climate-activist-vanessa-nakate-provides-voice-for-the-global-south/
Slide 53 - Step aside for people from marginalised groups
Instead of applying for a choice opportunity for yourself, encourage, mentor and help people from a marginalised group apply. This is not tokenism if they have the talent and potential and you are willing to share your skills and experience with them. https://twitter.com/__BHB__/status/1386365587153055751
Slide 54 - Encourage (and sponsor) people from marginalised groups
Interview marginalised candidates by default and provide them with constructive feedback. Go out of your way to engage with, help with introductions, and mentor them. Once you know them better you can sponsor them.
Sponsorship means advocating for people when they are not in the room, eg. suggesting a marginalised colleague or candidate for a job when they aren't in the room when there is talk of a new job opportunity being planned (that they would be great for). But the best advice is to ask the person themselves what they think they need, see what their strengths are and take that into account when deciding to identify or fight for opportunities for them.
When you see a marginalised person do something well, compliment them. This can help with fighting the effects of gaslighting. https://scholarshare.temple.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.12613/847/BransonDavis_temple_0225E_13394.pdf?sequence=1
I get excited when I see us [Black women] do well. When I see African American women doing great stuff, I get excited. Usually I drop them a note and say, ”Hey, you go for it”, “You go girl!” It’s never that, oh, “Who do you think you are?” Or, better yet, I’m not going to help you, or I’m not going to be a part of that.” I don’t have time for that. You know what, we don’t have time for that. ‘Cause there’s still too few of us... So again, so that’s why it’s important that when you see in opportunity you, you pick up the phone, say, “There’s a position that’s available. You need to go look into it.” Okay? Or, become the on-ramp (Health Care / Executive, personal communication, February 9, 2018).
Slide 55 - Identify talented people from marginalised groups
Focus less on skills and experience and more on potential and talent. Go out of your way to engage with, help with introductions and job opportunities, and mentor. Especially be proactive in job opportunities! The more marginalised a candidate, the more the gap between skills and experience should be reduced as a weighting when hiring. Take into account extenuating circumstances eg. returning from long-term maternity leave when comparing skills tests. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16725757
Slide 56 - How can you help as an organisation?
How can you help as an organisation?
Slide 57 - Moving from CMM level 3 to CMM level 4
This is what you need to move from Moving from CMM level 3 to CMM level 4.
Slide 58 - Proactive pre-recruitment activities
| Item | Proof/Reference |
|---|---|
| Ensure that your organisation strategy highlights increasing diversity. | Strong poll response |
| Proactively engage with diverse groups eg. Mentoring for PoC aspiring to senior management. | Lived experience |
| Setup a support network inside and outside your organisation for underrepresented marginalised groups. | Publication 1 |
| Keep a database of intersectionally marginalised people that have impressed you. Use this database to build relationships and distribution channels. | Lived experience |
| Look at opportunities to job-share a senior position ie. a person with talent and potential sharing a job with someone with experience | Publication 2 |
Publication 1
Publication 2
Slide 59 - Writing the position description
| Item | Proof/Reference |
|---|---|
| Ensure increasing diversity strategy is counted as a KPI or selection criteria in the position description. | Strong poll response |
| Do a discourse analysis to ensure the PD and the ad doesn't use stereotypical male attributes for leadership. | Publication 1 |
| Ensure the PD and the job ad point to the Diversity and Inclusion strategy. | Strong poll response |
| Ask for a referee that worked for the applicant and belongs to a marginalised group. | Theoretical |
| Highlight that feedback on the inclusivity and language of the position description is welcomed. | Theoretical |
Publication 1
Slide 60 - Writing the position description selection criteria
| Item | Proof/Reference |
|---|---|
| Demonstrated ability to have difficult conversations around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. | Lived experience |
| Demonstrated ability to raise and solve diversity and inclusion issues in the workplace. | Lived experience |
| Demonstrated ability to champion, identify and mentor diverse candidates for senior management roles and provide safe spaces for them. | Lived experience |
| Demonstrated ability to connect with diverse stakeholders. | Lived experience |
| Demonstrated ability to attract diverse, talented, future leaders to the organisation. | Lived experience |
Slide 61 - Examples
As I review position descriptions, I will add my suggestions to an online spreadsheet to explain what I changed and why. Here are some examples from that spreadsheet.
Example shown in image is: We are looking for an experienced candidate.
Reason why this should be changed: Experience can be highly correlated with opportunity, rather than ability. This is already reducing the chances of people from marginalised groups. If experience is a high factor in your senior leadership search you are going to reduce your pool of diverse candidates.
Updated sentence: We are looking for a talented candidate.
Slide 62 - Reviewing resumes and shortlisting for interview
| Item | Proof/Reference |
|---|---|
| Increase the emphasis on skills and ability and de-emphasise experience as experience can be highly correlated with opportunity, not ability. | Strong poll response |
| 50% target of people from intersectionally marginalised groups reviewing resumes. | Lived experience |
| Give constructive feedback to any candidates from intersectionally marginalised groups that don't make the interview. | Lived experience |
| Ensure candidates from intersectionally marginalised groups are kept in mind for other opportunities. | Lived experience |
| Add an extra weighting to a candidate based on their "Degree of Difficulty" or "Achievement relative to Opportunity". | Lived experience |
Slide 63 - Interview process
| Item | Proof/Reference |
|---|---|
| Increase the questions on skills and ability and de-emphasise ones on experience as that can be highly correlated with opportunity, not ability. | Strong poll response |
| 50% target of people from intersectionally marginalised groups on the interview panel. | Strong poll response |
| Ask diversity questions in the interview. eg. explain a time when you helped someone from a marginalised group deal with discrimination at work. | Medium poll response |
| Highlight commitments and support mechanisms to counteract the attrition that marginalised hires experience after successful recruitment. | Medium poll response |
| Ask how many diverse or highly marginalised people have you mentored, and can they be contacted as a referee? | Lived experience |
Slide 64 - Choosing the candidate
| Item | Proof/Reference |
|---|---|
| Increase the weighting on skills and ability and de-emphasise ones on experience as that can be highly correlated with opportunity, not ability. | Strong poll response |
| 50% target of people from intersectionally marginalised groups on the decision panel. | Strong poll response |
| Weight the diversity questions responses higher in the interview. | Medium poll response |
| Add an extra weighting to a candidate based on their "Degree of Difficulty" or "Achievement relative to Opportunity". | Lived experience |
| Review the diversity of the organisation and weight higher if this candidate will add to the diversity of leadership in the organisation. | Lived experience |
Slide 65 - Onboarding and beyond
| Item | Proof/Reference |
|---|---|
| Ensure there are commitments and support mechanisms to counteract the attrition that marginalised hires experience after successful recruitment. | Strong poll response |
| Setup a support network inside and outside your organisation for marginalised groups. | Publication 1 |
| Review their progress and ensure that they have the right supports to rapidly increase their experience if hired on potential. | Lived experience |
| Ask for "frank and fearless" feedback on the recruitment process and the culture of the organisation and use this to improve the organisation. | Lived experience |
| If you are truly committed, you can use this as an opportunity to leverage goodwill and market your organisation. | Lived experience |
Publication 1
Slide 66 - More examples from the NHS
More examples from the NHS The National Health Service East of England commissioned a report from Roger Kline called "No more tick boxes". This 163 page document provides more specific options that are focused on improving the equitable treatment of women, Disabled staff, and staff of Black and Minority Ethnic origin. While I disagree with the premise that we should be removing bias from systems and processes (as we need to do more and be anti-racist to reduce the cumulative effects of racism), nevertheless it is an extensive report that is complementary.
Slide 67 - Being supported and understood creates inclusive spaces
When I know that I am supported and people understand why I am sensitive, I feel safe. When I feel safe, I am comfortable being myself and am able to share when something is wrong without being worried about losing my job, losing friendships, or damaging my career. To me, that is inclusion. - Rowland Mosbergen
Slide 68 - Real Life Impact
In this section, we will talk about how this has already made an impact using three case studies.
Slide 69 - Stemformatics
I organically built a very diverse software engineering team that at one point consisted of 4 women (including 3 students and 3 women of colour) and myself. To give you a benchmark, I had a colleague in a similar industry who struggled to find female software engineers. These experiences later shaped my thoughts on workforce planning and diversity in organisations.
Slide 70 - Research Software Engineering AUNZ
Setting up a committee for a community that was overwhelmingly (91%) male. I wrote the CMM to argue we should use a collaborative framework and that people with privilege should step aside. This convinced a candidate who went from wanting to be the chair to backing a candidate who had a higher “Degree of Difficulty”. There was pushback even from the ones who would benefit (Token hire). The end result of this was we selected two very capable co-chairs - both women, with one being a woman of colour.
Slide 71 - Melbourne Data Analytics Platform
Setup of a new 8 strong data analytics group at the University of Melbourne. During the initial interviews I recognised there was no cultural diversity in the interview panel. I reached out to my network of culturally diverse colleagues and they responded. In many interviews we had one or more culturally diverse interviewers. The result was that we ended up having 44% of the initial recruitment being culturally diverse and 25% intersectionally diverse.
Slide 72 - Feedback
“So much respect to you for undertaking a challenging feat to open up difficult conversations. These conversations are extremely important and it’s a shame they are not a part of occupational health and safety procedures.” – Priyanka Pillai.
“As a stupendously privileged white male whose life has essentially gone the easy-route to success, I would like to compliment you on this work. Seriously.” – Sven Dowideit.
Slide 73 - It has kick started other ideas
A website and Twitter account called “Not The Only One” - Capturing, curating and sharing stories and data about racism and intersectionality (https://nottheonlyone.org/). A mentoring program called “Mentoring for PoC aiming for Senior Leadership positions”. In September 2020, the program managed to connect 4 mentees with mentors. And many other presentations including Unconscious Bias and other resources.
Slide 74 - 15 minute introduction to Diversity and Inclusion for workplaces
There is a cut-down version of this presentation called 15 minute introduction to Diversity and Inclusion for workplaces.
Slide 75 - Discourse Analysis Framework for DEI
I have also created a discourse analysis framework to allow others to critique DEI strategies in a consistent way.
Slide 77 - Part of the "Enlightened" organisation series
There are two other related presentations in this series, one focused on hiring for continuous improvement and the other for advocacy-based strategic planning.
Slide 78 - Key Continuous Improvement Skills
There are 6 continuous improvement skills to master - learnability, critical thinking, collaborative by default, tolerance for ambiguity, adaptability, and tolerance for complexity.
Slide 79 - Acknowledgements
I would really like to acknowledge the large number of people who helped me directly and indirectly, but in particular Manodeep, Yo, Michelle, and Camille. I recommend that you follow the following people on twitter as they have all helped me at some point in my journey and still do: https://twitter.com/i/lists/1386261499321065478. Thank you.
Slide 80 - Hands-on workshop
- Do you need to go deeper into anything you have seen today?
- Do you have a senior leadership role coming up? Do you want to work through the advice?
- Let’s use what we have learned today and work with other senior leaders / HR people in small groups.
- Do you need help to find and follow diverse leaders in your industry?
- What tips that you heard today will be easy to sell? Which ones will be difficult?
- You will need buy-in across the organisation for this to work sustainably. What are your individual challenges and how can you help each other?