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Why Diversity Initiatives Fail
My experience on a diversity task force taught me a few troubling things
A few years ago, I worked in an office job as part of a Diversity Task Force. The president called us together to come up with solutions for how to add diversity in the workplace. I was thrilled about it, and to be included.
But during one of the meetings, I realized something: The managers in the room were thinking of diversity as a favor to future employees. A handout. Something we should do out of the goodness of our hearts.
No one thought of it as a massive loss we were taking as an institution. That we were failing to include diverse perspectives and creative thinking.
We don’t see a lack of diversity as a loss
I sat there next to a male manager, realizing that he didn’t think my perspective as a woman could get him anything he didn’t already have.
It hit me like a ton of bricks.
The Black Lives Matter movement is focused on police brutality at the moment, but another essential aspect of overcoming racism is adding diversity in the workplace at all levels. And I’ll be honest. When I talked about getting more women employed, minority women weren’t at the forefront of my thought process. I…
