Category: Resources
-
Subtle discrimination can be worse than overt discrimination
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…
-
Many Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategies and plans fail
There are a few key reasons why DEI strategies fail (see image below). Here are just a few examples of how Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategies and plans fail: Scholars to study why $365M DEI investment into STEM failed to diversify engineering Football Association Diversity Code: Clubs collectively fail to meet any recruitment targets The…
-
What a “minor” event looks like to a marginalised person vs a privileged person
In the image above, 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”. This is why you…
-
Neutral sides with oppression
If a car’s steering wheel is biased to the right, the car will continue to drift to the right if we keep the steering wheel neutral. We have to turn the steering wheel to the left, equal and opposite to the bias, to be able for the car to stay in our lane. This is…
-
Systemic imbalance still exists
Systemic discrimination 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. This is what is called systemic discrimination or sometimes called institutionalised discrimination. Here are just a few examples…
-
Lack of concrete, practical discussions around DEI
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…
-
Understanding “All snakes and no ladders” and the cumulative effects of discrimination
Snakes and Ladders This image below shows the idea of subtle discrimination and how they accumulate over time. The cumulative problems are shown here using a “Snakes and Ladders” analagy 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…
-
Capability Maturity Model for Diversity in Organisations
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 status 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…
-
Resource: Intersectionality Spectrum
I created a model to help visualise “degree of difficulty” based off the snakes and ladders picture below, so that it can be taken into account when looking at “merit”. Please note the number of ladders for the person at the top of the image compared to the number of snakes at the bottom of…
-
Empowering Refugee Communities: A Practical Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
We are proud to share this article that was co-written with Richard Dushime, our first ever PDI fellow. Empowering Refugee Communities: A Practical Guide to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion sheds light on the challenges faced by refugees, particularly those from the Congolese refugee community, and to highlight the transformative potential of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion…