You know, Equality isn’t equity!
No, they aren’t and they cannot. It is a common misconception that they both are the same. But yes they have similarities, but there is a difference between them and it is crucial. So, what’s the difference?
Equity is making everyone successful. Equality is treating everyone the same.
The picture above clearly shows the difference between equity and equality. The teacher in the picture is attentively shoveling the snow on the stairs so that majority of students can get inside the building. Instead of clearing the snow from the stairs, if the teacher was shoveling the ramp ‘all’ students will have the access to the building. The word equity is described in the dialog,
“But if you shovel the ramp, we can all get in!”
Having said that, equity in the workplace is also really important, especially in interactive media industry. Equity in the workplace is beneficial for both the employer and employee as it creates an advantageous environment for both. Everybody is treated the same there and everyone have equal access to opportunities.
Equity in the workplace is all about fairness. Fairness can be explained as gender equality, diverse working environment, fairness for disables and keeping up the mental health of the employees. When it comes to interactive media industry, equity plays a key role in making a successful company which develops products that are equally creative and innovative.
Equity in interactive media
Let’s have a look at some key benefits of having an equitable workplace in interactive media.
1. Increased Productivity
A key factor for every workforce in every workplace. Every employee will be motivated each other all the time and works fresh minded. It helps in building a non stressful working environment which helps in making the employees work productively and eventually meeting the project deadlines on time.
2. Perfect workforce
There is an opportunity of having a workforce which is a mixture of different talents and experiences who exhales from different cultures. It will be a perfect learning experience for every employee in the company as they can study from experienced and skilled colleagues.
3. Business Expansion
People from different culture means different place and different language. So diverse culture and language will help in grabbing an attention globally with people who are able to handle multiple languages and getting a broader client-base.
4. Innovative workforce
A diverse environment will help in the collaboration of different cultures which will bring in more creative and innovative design ideas. There will be different ideas popping in based on a single topic which gives a room for selection of the best.
Be the best, Not just good: Interactive Media Professional
So, for an Interactive Media Professional the importance of equity in workplace is already explained. The fact is that equity should be encouraged by themselves for being the best in the field. An interactive media professional should be ready to work in a diverse environment so that he is breaking his comfort zone and is opening doors for many things to come-in like, new culture experience, language experience and new design experience. These experience will definitely reflect in his work as he will be able to design and create meaningful and innovative interactive digital experiences.
Me and Interactive Media
My first job as a game artist was in a startup with only five members initially. It was really a good platform for me to learn and thrive as a media professional. The working environment was so diverse that it gave an immersive and engaging learning experience. Gender equality was taken care well in the office as I was the younger one anong them and I was treated really well. And I was the only designer in the company. Working as my own boss made me realize my flaws when it comes to designing. It made me learn the importance of user experience in a design. It should not be just design centric but also user centric since the user is the critic here. So, how to learn the users?…What about users with different cultural background?…
Finally, here I am. An Interactive Media Management student.
