I had plans to write a piece here challenging the common views of workplace diversity. As I began to write the piece, I found myself mimicing the words of Dawn Hough. Dawn Hough is Director of Pride in Diversity, Australia’s national employer support program for all aspects of LGBTI Workplace Inclusion and the developers of the Australian Workplace Equality Index (AWEI) and the resulting Top 20 Employers Awards. Dawn wrote a beautiful article challenging the current views of workplace diversity. I decided I could not do better, so what I have done is taken a snippet of her piece as an intro and then linked directly to it.
“Most of us when we hear the words Gender Diversity think about the initiatives put in place by employers to create a greater gender balance throughout the organisation ensuring equity, greater career progression opportunities and pay parity for our female talent. But times are changing and the words Gender Diversity are now starting to take on a whole new meaning. How does the utilisation of terms such Gender Diversity and your interpretation of this reflect not only on your organisations understanding of Gender, but your perceived understanding of Diversity and Inclusion more generally; both internally and externally?
Of course when you say Gender, most of us go immediately to male and female. The problem with binary thinking across many aspects of our individual diversity is not only unrealistic but also generating a whole new set of questions for our young graduates and diverse talent; particularly in relation to their fit within an organisation that utilises such a narrow definition of gender.
Black and white is easy for us, shades of grey are always more complex..… (Hough,D, 2015)”
You can find the full article here http://www.prideindiversity.com.au/let-me-challeng…
I will be attending the Pride in Practice Conference at the end of this month. I encourage all employers to get involved http://www.prideinpractice.com.au/
Kimberly Olsen
@kimberlyactive
