Understanding Leads to Inclusion
Three Terms to Know: Intersectionality, Microaggressions, and Unconscious Bias.
“You’re just being too sensitive” is a snap response when someone shares how a statement, a gesture, or an activity makes them feel. By making this statement, it’s negating the experience of that individual and dismissing the possibility of viewpoints other than the listener.
Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) work comes with its own vocabulary which can be confusing. Consider this article a 101 focused on three terms that, once understood, can better help you foster a culture of inclusion personally and professionally.
Intersectionality
The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage; a theoretical approach based on such a premise. (Oxford Dictionary)
Intersectionality is a framework for conceptualizing a person, group of people, or social problem as affected by a number of discriminations and disadvantages. It takes into account people’s overlapping identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of prejudices they face.
In other words, intersectional theory asserts that people are often disadvantaged by multiple sources of oppression: their race, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, and other identity markers. Intersectionality recognizes that identity markers (e.g. “female” and “black”) do not exist independently of each other, and that each informs the others, often creating a complex convergence of oppression.
(source: https://www.ywboston.org/2017/03/what-is-intersectionality-and-what-does-it-have-to-do-with-me/)
Action Item: Seek out at least one conversation with someone different from yourself. Move this abstract definition into tangible reality by learning from someone that doesn’t look like you.
Microaggressions
The everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to target persons based solely upon their marginalized group membership.
Microaggressions contribute to negative work conditions and can lead someone to leave. More than that, it creates a barrier between a person and their full potential. “Mansplaining” has become a more commonly used term referring to men explaining a concept to women who neither asked nor needed the explanation. Simply put it’s men assuming women know less about the topic.
Action Items: When you hear or see a microaggression happening in your workplace take a moment to have empathy for both parties involved. Perhaps you’re in a meeting where calling out someone in front of everyone will only result in negative feelings towards you and the individual on the receiving end of the microaggression. Instead, think about what you want the outcome to be — the aggressor to learn and stop any future microaggressions. Everyone is different so it may be you chat after the meeting, or grab a cup of coffee outside of the office — do what makes that person comfortable and open to hearing your feedback.
If you’ve experienced microaggressions, see above. If the problem persists, it’s time to engage HR.
If you are the aggressor, gain awareness and ask yourself why you’re doing it. Is it to be socially accepted by your fellow colleagues? Is it because you want to deflect what might make you different? If you’re unsure about whether or not you have administered a microaggression, ask. Chances are if you think you have, you have. Starting a dialogue with someone that you have offended could lead to deeper understanding on both sides but always make sure they are comfortable to have that conversation with you. A simple apology can go a long way.
Unconscious Bias
No matter how unbiased we think we are, we may have subconscious negative opinions about people who are outside our own group. But the more exposed we are to other groups of people, the less likely we are to feel prejudice against them.
Research suggests that we instinctively categorize people and things using easily observed criteria such as age, weight, skin color, and gender. But we also classify people according to educational level, disability, sexuality, accent, social status, and job title, automatically assigning presumed traits to anyone we subconsciously put in those groups.
For example, when you are conducting a performance review with someone younger than you that holds the same experience and qualifications of an individual the same age as you. It’s easy to slip into a mindset of they’re younger so they have time to increase their salary and position as opposed to looking at the work accomplished during the review period.
