Embracing Intersectionality: Deepening Equity in the Workplace
To create organizations that value and support people to do and be their best requires us to reconsider how we approach workplace culture. One such approach is intersectionality.
Understanding Intersectionality
Intersectionality, a term created by professor and legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, refers to the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, gender, class, ability, sexual orientation, and more, and how these combine to create unique experiences of privilege or disadvantage. Intersectionality acknowledges that we are shaped by our multiple identities and experiences that cannot be understood in isolation from each other.
Harnessing Intersectionality for Equity
Organizations can harness the power of intersectionality to achieve greater equity and inclusion in the workplace in several ways:
a) Recognize diverse identities
Understand that employees have multiple identities that inform their experiences within the organization. This includes acknowledging the unique challenges faced by people from equity-deserving communities.
b) Have inclusive policies and practices
Develop and implement policies and practices that consider the diverse needs of employees. For example, creating flexible work arrangements benefits employees with caregiving responsibilities or disabilities.
c) Ensure diverse representation
Ensure diverse representation at all levels of the organization, including leadership positions. This helps in amplifying diverse voices and perspectives in decision-making processes.
d) Create equitable opportunities
Provide equitable opportunities for career advancement, mentorship, and professional development for all employees, regardless of their backgrounds or identities.
e) Strengthen your culture of belonging
Create a workplace culture that values and celebrates diversity, where employees feel a sense of belonging regardless of their intersectional identities.
Actions for Employers and Employees
Employers and employees both play crucial roles in advancing intersectionality and equity in the workplace:
1. Employers
Conduct regular DEI training and workshops that include discussions on intersectionality.
Implement anonymous reporting systems for discrimination or bias incidents.
Evaluate and revise HR policies to ensure they are inclusive and equitable.
Actively seek diverse perspectives in decision-making processes.
2. Employees
Educate yourselves about intersectionality and its impact on workplace dynamics.
Advocate for inclusive practices and policies within your workplace.
Support your colleagues from equity-deserving groups and amplify their voices.
Engage in open dialogue about DEI issues and work collaboratively toward solutions.
I want to share with you a quote from one of my favourite writers and theorists bell hooks. In her book Talking Back: Talking Feminist, Thinking Black she wrote:
Fundamentally, it is our collective responsibility…to construct models for social change. To abdicate that responsibility, to suggest that change is just something an individual can do on (their) own or in isolation…is utterly misleading (1989, p. 118)..
Intersectionality can be one such model that allows for lasting social change and by using it in your DEI initiatives, organizations will create workplaces where everyone is valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their best work.
Do you use intersectionality in your work? Why or why not? If you need help addressing this and other DEI-related issues, email me at michelle@mvdconsulting.ca for us to explore your needs and how I can help.
Michelle
CEO
Your Workplace DEI Consultant
Reference
hooks, b. (1989). Talking Back: Talking Feminist, Thinking Black. Boston, MA: South End Press.