Diversity/equity/belonging
October 27, 2022 6:48 PM Subscribe
Diversity/equity/belonging/etc. means different things to different people. What component of DEB (etc.) would you like to be more in your community's or mainstream society's awareness(es)?
(Related: Also interested in reading more about conflicting community needs.)
If someone has already listed something in the answers, please don't repeat it. Thanks!
(Related: Also interested in reading more about conflicting community needs.)
If someone has already listed something in the answers, please don't repeat it. Thanks!
People who are chronically ill;
People who are Disabled;
People with health conditions that severely limit their mental energy and/or their physical energy;
People who are housebound.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 10:51 PM on October 27, 2022 [14 favorites]
People who are Disabled;
People with health conditions that severely limit their mental energy and/or their physical energy;
People who are housebound.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 10:51 PM on October 27, 2022 [14 favorites]
Adding on to chariot - invisible disabilities, especially physical ones, imo.
Low-income parents that are GOOD parents.
posted by stormyteal at 11:47 PM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Low-income parents that are GOOD parents.
posted by stormyteal at 11:47 PM on October 27, 2022 [2 favorites]
Just generally, that equality and equity are not the same thing. This image shows it perfectly.
So many arguments from people in power about keeping the status quo rest on a misunderstanding (deliberate or otherwise) or ignorance (deliberate or otherwise) of this distinction.
posted by underclocked at 12:04 AM on October 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
So many arguments from people in power about keeping the status quo rest on a misunderstanding (deliberate or otherwise) or ignorance (deliberate or otherwise) of this distinction.
posted by underclocked at 12:04 AM on October 28, 2022 [6 favorites]
What happened to your I? Inclusion is not the same as belonging, don't omit it.
Inclusion is an action and is your job. You make room to intentionally include me.
Belonging is a feeling and is my happy result of your work. When I've been diversely and equitably included, I feel like I belong.
posted by phunniemee at 4:17 AM on October 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
Inclusion is an action and is your job. You make room to intentionally include me.
Belonging is a feeling and is my happy result of your work. When I've been diversely and equitably included, I feel like I belong.
posted by phunniemee at 4:17 AM on October 28, 2022 [11 favorites]
The aspect I'm literally working on as part of a university department committee is improving inclusion of students with disabilities, particularly neurodivergences (e.g., autistic or ADHD students). The main barriers are ignorance and stereotypes.
posted by heatherlogan at 5:08 AM on October 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by heatherlogan at 5:08 AM on October 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
People with accents can also be from here and can also belong...
posted by Dotty at 5:41 AM on October 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by Dotty at 5:41 AM on October 28, 2022 [3 favorites]
I think that in the UK, traveller communities and victims of human trafficking and modern slavery are needlessly criminalised. They seem to have been stuck by policy makers at a step well before inclusion, equality, equity and belonging.
Things that I think could do with coming to more people's attention but I couldn't say were necessarily egregious gaps include caste-based discrimination within the UK, anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment, and anti-Semitism. Similarly, some of the way that minorities within minorities are treated such as Ahmadiyyan Muslims.
I think there's probably also a big gap in relation to intersectionality.
In terms of belonging, I would say that whether you're allowed to consider yourself English, Scottish or Welsh as well British is an odd thing. And what equality and belonging can mean within the two main communities in Northern Ireland is not well understood in England, Scotland and Wales.
posted by plonkee at 5:47 AM on October 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
Things that I think could do with coming to more people's attention but I couldn't say were necessarily egregious gaps include caste-based discrimination within the UK, anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment, and anti-Semitism. Similarly, some of the way that minorities within minorities are treated such as Ahmadiyyan Muslims.
I think there's probably also a big gap in relation to intersectionality.
In terms of belonging, I would say that whether you're allowed to consider yourself English, Scottish or Welsh as well British is an odd thing. And what equality and belonging can mean within the two main communities in Northern Ireland is not well understood in England, Scotland and Wales.
posted by plonkee at 5:47 AM on October 28, 2022 [1 favorite]
The image underclocked linked to has given way to expanded variations (the third image being one without a fence at all, called "liberation"), as well as thoughtful critiques.
The criticism of it aside, I think the metaphor of breaking down unneeded fences is a good one, and generally the concept I use when doing course design. There are a lot of rules/standards in teaching that continue more for reasons of inertia than actually need. For example, strict deadlines. There are all sorts of reasons a student might miss a deadline - they could be a caretaker, have a part-time job that sometimes forces them to work extra hours, maybe they're an athlete, or they might have a friend experience a mental health crisis, etc. So I give students a grace-period to turn in assignments.
What's good about this type of design is that it doesn't require me to have come up with all the different possible reasons strict deadlines might not be inclusive, or how to adjust them for each student. As the answers so far have demonstrated, while it's certainly good to remind yourself of all of the different potential barriers/sources of exclusion, if you have a "fence" up it will be hard to perfectly determine how tall to make everyone's different "box" (if we're using the visual metaphor in the 2nd image in the series). Easier is to just take the "fence" down.
posted by coffeecat at 8:30 AM on October 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
The criticism of it aside, I think the metaphor of breaking down unneeded fences is a good one, and generally the concept I use when doing course design. There are a lot of rules/standards in teaching that continue more for reasons of inertia than actually need. For example, strict deadlines. There are all sorts of reasons a student might miss a deadline - they could be a caretaker, have a part-time job that sometimes forces them to work extra hours, maybe they're an athlete, or they might have a friend experience a mental health crisis, etc. So I give students a grace-period to turn in assignments.
What's good about this type of design is that it doesn't require me to have come up with all the different possible reasons strict deadlines might not be inclusive, or how to adjust them for each student. As the answers so far have demonstrated, while it's certainly good to remind yourself of all of the different potential barriers/sources of exclusion, if you have a "fence" up it will be hard to perfectly determine how tall to make everyone's different "box" (if we're using the visual metaphor in the 2nd image in the series). Easier is to just take the "fence" down.
posted by coffeecat at 8:30 AM on October 28, 2022 [2 favorites]
I would extend "childfree and childless and single people" to "people without family." Our society is built around the assumption that you have family members to drive you home from surgery, care for you in your old age, spend the holidays with, etc., and there are an increasing number for whom that simply isn't true.
posted by HotToddy at 1:08 PM on October 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by HotToddy at 1:08 PM on October 28, 2022 [4 favorites]
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I would read Bella de Paulo's work on single people for more context.
posted by Lycaste at 10:00 PM on October 27, 2022 [17 favorites]