It's significant to note that there is no one official definition of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging:
- Equity is defined as the removal of systemic barriers and biases enabling all individuals to have equal opportunity. It's an understanding of the systemic barriers faced by individuals from underrepresented groups (e.g., women, persons with disabilities, Indigenous Peoples, racialized minorities, individuals from the LGBTQ2+ community) and actions needed for impactful measures to address these barriers.
- Diversity is defined as differences in race, colour, place of origin, religion, immigrant and newcomer status, ethnic origin, ability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and age.
- Inclusion is defined as the practice of ensuring that all individuals are valued and respected for their contributions and are equally supported.
- Diversity v. Inclusion v. Belonging: Diversity typically means proportionate representation across all dimensions of human difference. Inclusion means that everyone is included, visible, heard and considered. Belonging means that everyone is treated and feels like a full member of the larger community and can thrive.
Connect with Georgian College's Centre for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, Georgian's Indigenization initiative, and/or review the library's Indigenization Guide for other resources.
Inclusion & The Power of Diversity
This video by Accenture provides thoughtful perspectives on the issues of equity, diversity and inclusion that many people face in the workplace. There are implicit and explicit biases identified such as people with childcare concerns, race, gender equity, disability and sexual orientation. It also makes the point that diversity fuels creativity, problem solving and innovation.
It's the unease of walking into a meeting where no-one else looks like me and the unease of being judged when I leave early to pick-up my children. It's the frustration when I am not asked for my opinion or talked over in meetings and the frustration of asserting my opinion, only to be labeled aggressive or angry. It's the annoyance when people presume I am less committed to my family life, because I am a man and the annoyance when people presume I am less committed to my work, because I am a mother. It's the pressure to be super-human and not talk about how I'm really feeling and the pressure to fit in. It's the anxiety of sharing my personal life, because most people around me are heterosexual and the anxiety of how others will react to my disability. It's the awkwardness when I get mistaken for someone else of the same ethnicity and the awkwardness when my client assumes that my white male colleague is in charge. It's the strain of feeling I am expected to do more, simply because I don't have children and the strain when conversations aren't in my first language. It's the exasperation of being labeled entitled and lacking drive and the exasperation when people assume I don't have relevant skills or ambition anymore. It's the indignation of feeling that my promotion is not celebrated as much as others and the indignation when you think I was promoted just because I am a woman. It's about the everyday. It's about the big and the small. It's about the fact that for every $100 a woman makes, a man makes $258 women of color hold 3% of C-Suite positions. 7 in 10 working fathers want to work more flexibly disabled people are significantly more likely to experience unfair treatment at work than non-disabled people transgender people are twice as likely to be unemployed and are four times as likely to live in poverty. 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health issue each year and team performance improves by 50% when everyone feels included. Inclusion & Diversity is not just about Gender. Ethnicity. Sexual Orientation. Background. Disability. Culture. Age. Mental Health. It's about you. It's about me. It's about all of us. We are all human. We are all unique. And we all just want a chance. A chance to feel valued and respected for who we are and for our differences to be embraced as strengths. Inclusion promotes belonging, purpose and wellbeing. Diversity ignites creativity, problem solving and innovation. It's about the type of world we want to live in and the choices we make every day. It's the vision of a better world for our children. And all it takes is one. One person to care. One commitment to act. Be the one. Join the conversation. #InclusionStartsWithI.
