As some of us made the slow return to the office or workplace, we spent September’s #DiversityDictionary looking at words that critique certain attempts at diversity, equity and inclusion.

What do we mean by this?

Well, it can be very easy for an organisation to claim they are doing important diversity, equity and inclusion work. And as September’s words will show, it is also very easy to take superficial action without creating meaningful change that truly challenges the systems and structures that create inequity in the first place.

The workplace plays a vital role in upholding systemic oppression. Equally, employees have the power to transform inequality by truly embedding diversity, equity, inclusion and allyship at every touchpoint of the organisation.

tokenism

Tokenism is when a company hires just enough people from marginalised backgrounds so that the company can avoid criticism, tick boxes and make up ‘diversity’ numbers.

Tokenism gives the appearance of representation without actually achieving it. It can be the difference between superficial diversity and genuine inclusion. As writer and speaker Dana Brownlee writes for Forbes, diversity without inclusion “may be seen as an attempt at a band aid or quick fix for systemic challenges that have not been fundamentally addressed.”

An example of tokenism is when a company uses Black and people of colour to front their advertising campaigns without hiring Black or people of colour on their creative teams. Or a company might decide to hire one gay person to their board to tick the LGBTQIA+ box. Many companies only have diverse representation at more junior levels of the business, which is not reflected in the higher ranks of the business, where important decisions are made - that is also a form of tokenism.

The psychological and emotional safety of marginalised people can be compromised by tokenism, because they were hired to tick a box, rather than the company making any real effort to understand what is needed to support that team member or help them feel like they belong.

As diversity and inclusion increasingly becomes a business must-have rather than a nice-to-have, it can be very easy for companies to fall to these ‘quick-fixes’.

Cultural Assimilation

Cultural assimilation describes the process in which a minoritised group or culture comes to resemble a dominant group, or takes on the dominant group’s values, behaviours, and beliefs.

In a workplace context, a form of assimilation is necessary to an extent, where a new employee needs to learn the processes, methods, terminology and other factors that contribute to a person being able to perform their job. Cultural assimilation can tip into the territory of someone hiding or changing parts of themselves to be ‘accepted’.

While new hires may be treated fairly and not fear explicit discrimination, they might “feel pressure to go along with the rest of the group, even if they have different ideas.” (Source @idealist_org) Many companies use the euphemism ‘culture fit’ to avoid hiring people from diverse backgrounds. In a ‘culture fit’ scenario, there is a risk that even when a person from a minoritised background is hired, they would have to adjust parts of their identity - perhaps dampen or downplay their cultural heritage - so that they can feel a part of the organisation.

Often there is a power dynamic involved with cultural assimilation. A minoritised person may deliberately choose to assimilate to a dominant group for their own safety and wellbeing. An example of this is some Sikh men in the West choosing to stop wearing a turban and shaving their beards off in order to increase their chances of getting a job. Although in countries like the UK it would be illegal for companies to discriminate in an instance like this, cultural assimilation can be a lot more subtle.

Assimilation could be seen as having to change to ‘fit in’ to a culture rather than being able to belong as you are. When fitting in, we might change our appearance, our way of speaking and communicating, what opinions we choose to express (or not). 
Over time, the impact of this constant shapeshifting on people’s mental, emotional and even physical wellbeing could be detrimental.

presenteeism

Presenteeism is a phenomenon that’s been increasingly researched in recent years. It’s when people are present or online at work but not fully functioning due to illness or other conditions that impact their wellbeing.

In a world where we’re constantly switched on, even when we’re meant to be offline, the pressure to be ‘present’ or online even when we’re feeling unwell is ever-mounting.

Yet, this way of working can be counterproductive. Showing up to work even when feeling unwell can have a long-term negative impact on a person’s wellbeing and confidence, and affect an organisation’s rates of retention and productivity.

Presenteeism has also been linked to discrimination in the workplace. For example, being exposed to microaggressions, biases, abuse and discrimination at work can have a long-lasting detrimental impact on a person’s mental, emotional and even physical wellbeing.

Yet, while people from marginalised backgrounds are more likely to face issues such as microaggressions, they are also most at risk of missing out on promotions or even losing their jobs because of bias and discrimination - overt or covert - and therefore will tend to show up at work even when they feel unfit to do so.

Add to that the additional pressure of potential job-losses because of coronavirus - it’s no surprise people are working through sickness and worried about the implications of taking time off. (Source: @CanadaLifeCo)

This could go unnoticed for months or even years, and ultimately harms the long-term diversity, equity and inclusion of an organisation. Could your organisation be experiencing presenteeism? What steps could you take to prevent it and support the wellbeing of your employees?

Workplace segregation

Have you ever noticed that your organisation is very diverse at junior level, but the leadership is still mostly white men and women? This could be a sign of workplace segregation - when employees and roles are separated across an organisation or industry based on demographics such as ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, socioeconomic status and other identity touchpoints.

In this context, seperate does not mean equal. Workplace segregation can give a false sense of ‘diversity’, allowing organisations to show that they have a mix of people from different backgrounds, while leaving out the detail of who has positions of authority or decision-making power.

Often it’s marginalised groups who are at a disadvantage with this kind of separation, left to less secure, lower-paid positions, or with limited access to opportunities for progression than their white, male or able-bodied counterparts.

There are many reasons why workplace segregation might occur, such as access to higher education, location, the histories of who was allowed to work and who wasn’t in the past, or even personal preference, but it tends to replicate the broader societal structures of inequality. Whether deliberate or not, this type of segregation can end up contributing to pay disparity, such as gender and ethnicity pay gaps.

leaveism

Leaveism is when people use their allocated time off (such as vacation or annual leave) either as sick days or to catch up on work that couldn’t be completed in normal working hours.

According to @CIPDUK research in the UK, as many as 51 per cent of employees are now working outside of their contracted hours. As with presenteeism, which we shared on #DiversityDictionary a few weeks ago, the rise in leaveism can be linked to the pressure to be ‘always on’, even when it’s out of work hours. With many people working from home during lockdown, the boundaries of ‘on’ and ‘off’ can be blurred and it can be tempting to do one more email or one more hour.

Equally, in the context of a global pandemic, job security has been massively compromised, people are more likely than ever to do whatever they need to prove they are fit for the job, including working while they’re meant to be on holiday.

Leaveism can apply to freelancers and entrepreneurs or business owners too. When time off means time spent not earning, there is a pressure to be constantly hustling, booked and busy. In this scenario, mental, physical and emotional wellbeing can end up falling down the priority list.

But while the short-term goal might be to stay on top of workloads, leaveism can have a long-term detrimental impact on a person’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing when they’re not taking leave, or using their leave time to actually switch off.

Part of our mission at The Other Box is to educate as many people as possible in the language of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). On all our social channels, we share weekly words and their definitions, with a different theme each month.

These terms are a taster and have been taken from our Diversity Dictionary™ module in our Know Your Bias™ course. If you'd like to learn more, check out our courses page and fill in the contact form. 

Is there a theme you’d like to see covered in Diversity Dictionary? Let us know! Our work is co-created by our community to work towards creating a world that is more inclusive and safe for everyone.

Words by Roshni Goyate

Header image by Jonas Jacobssono on Unsplash