Diversity, Equity & Inclusion For Dummies. Dr. Shirley Davis
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— Civil Union Act (South Africa): This South African law established legal civil unions for same-sex marriage and civil unions for unmarried opposite-sex and same-sex couples.
2013 — Marriage Act (United Kingdom): Established legal same sex marriage in England and Wales.
2015 — Equal Marriage Act (United States): The U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 50 states and required that all states recognize out-of-state same sex marriage licenses.
2020 — Crown Act (United States): This law prohibits discrimination against hairstyles and textures in the state of California.
2020 — George Floyd murder (United States): George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by a white police officer who held his knee on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, cutting off his ability to breathe. This event triggered massive outrage, outcries, and international protests for social justice reform and for greater equity and inclusion.
The laws (from various countries across the globe) have evolved in a sequential process from basic human and civil rights to matters of compliance and then the moral and social imperative. As this book explores, organizations’ policies and practices related to DEI matters tend to follow a similar evolutionary process. This similarity leads to a universal experience for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs: They’re normally initiated with awareness and affinity programs, followed by the establishment of the business case for diversity practices. Keep in mind the local, regional, and national laws vary depending on your location.
Defining Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Considering the social and political climate since 2011, diversity, equity, and inclusion are now terms that are part of the vocabulary of business, educational, and political systems. But the conversation surrounding DEI has become quite muddled because people often use the terms interchangeably without specifying each term’s own unique identity. Like most, you may ask these common questions: “Are these terms one and the same?” “How different and similar are they?” “What do I really need to know and do about DEI?”
I address these questions and concerns throughout this chapter and the book. But in the following sections, I discuss and define the relationship between diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Diversity
Simply put, diversity is the collection of unique attributes, traits, and characteristics that make up individuals. They include values, beliefs, experiences, backgrounds, preferences, behaviors, race, gender, abilities, socioeconomic status, physical appearance, age, and so on. Some of these traits are visible, and many others are invisible.
For decades, I’ve been defining diversity as being comparable to an iceberg (see Figure 1-1). Scientists say that 90 percent of what makes up an iceberg is invisible or below the waterline, and only 10 percent is above it. Think about diversity. People can only see about 10 percent of visible traits that make you diverse. The rest is invisible (beneath the surface). Sometimes you can see the diversity, and sometimes you can’t.
Courtesy of Dr. Shirley Davis
FIGURE 1-1: Just like an iceberg, most diversity traits are below the surface.
Generational differences are also a key component of diversity. Much like people born within the same time frame share so many coming-of-age experiences (such as music), generations tend to understand and view diversity similarly as well. For example, Generation X (born between 1965 and 1981) and baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) lean toward describing diversity in terms of race, gender, and ethnic background. On the other hand, millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) think of diversity beyond demographics to the manner in which people think, learn, and have various experiences. I talk more about generational diversity in Chapter 2.
Multiple dimensions of diversity
In 1990, well-respected diversity pioneers Marilyn Loden and Judy Rosener developed a framework for thinking about the different dimensions of diversity within individuals and institutions. Depicted as concentric circles, their diversity wheel has been used in many different ways to encourage thinking about values, beliefs, and dimensions of identity for people and organizations. It defines the various dimensions of diversity, dividing them into four layers:
Dimension 1 — Personality: Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism
Dimension 2 — Internal/Primary Dimensions: Age, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability, ethnicity, race
Dimension 3 — External Dimensions: Geographic location, income, personal habits, recreational habits, religion, educational background, work experience, appearance, parental status, marital status
Dimension 4 — Organizational Dimensions: Functional level, work content field, division/department/unit/group, seniority, work location, union affiliation, management status
At the core of these concentric circles is personality — the innately unique aspect that gives each person their own particular style. This core aspect permeates all other layers. Moving out from that center are the internal factors, the primary dimensions of diversity. These aspects are the ones you have little or no control over. The next level, secondary dimensions, is made up of external, personal, and societal influences. The fourth dimension encompasses organizational influences such as the type of work you do, your level in the organization, seniority, and so on.
Equity
Although “equity” and “equality” sound similar, they aren’t the same; consider them related, like cousins but not siblings.
Equity practices cast a very broad net. For example, the U.S.-based Government Alliance on Race and Equity stresses that “equity is about fairness, while equality is about sameness.” In other words, equality is concerned with treating everyone the same, while equity offers the opportunity for assistance so that everyone has a just and fair chance to be successful. Figure 1-2 illustrates this concept.