Diversity in and out of Applied Settings
by James Thomas and Chelsi West-Ohueri
As part of the TAAS discussion of diversity in and out of applied settings we organized a session that focused on the historical and social context of diversity, equity, and inclusion in anthropology.
Diversity is an important first step with respect to building an organization, institution, or field with a mindset of justice. However, while it may seem that people hold a shared understanding of diversity, the word itself can often hold wildly different meanings for groups of people. It is important that people within institutions and fields agree on a shared definition of words like diversity. Often, diversity comes to mean a stand-in for race or ethnicity, and at the same time, many institutions rely seek surface level racial and ethnic representation without addressing foundational issues pertaining to race, ethnicity, gender, ability, religion, or sexual orientation. A more all-encompassing and, most importantly, shared definition of diversity can help to ensure that there is not an imbalance in how policies affect different populations.
Moreover, diversity alone is not sufficient in and of itself for an organization working towards equity and justice. If an environment is diverse but lacks policies and practices that are inclusive, marginalized groups may feel left out, disenfranchised, or otherwise unsupported from the organization as a whole. Thus, inclusion is a vital component of any organization that stresses and embraces diversity.
Equity is another essential component for any organization striving for justice. An equity framework stresses the fairness of opportunity and access for all people, while at the same time identifies and eliminates barriers that prevent the full participation of those marginalized groups. Equity is not the same as equality, which is essentially the same treatment for everyone. If people who face structural barriers are given the same treatment as those who do not face them, the results will not be equitable.
Though anthropology is a field dedicated to understanding cultural and social phenomena, the discipline’s roots are deeply connected to colonialism and imperialism. More recent scholarship, especially that people of color, has worked to deconstruct such notions as a biological basis for race, but the discipline has many more steps to make towards becoming more equitable and inclusive. Ultimately, diversity is an important first step towards making necessary transformational changes if we want to embrace anti-racism and justice.
Students who study anthropology and want to use their knowledge of diversity, inclusion, and equity to apply in workplace settings have many opportunities to start interrupting policies of exclusion. Students should expect that increasingly companies and organizations communicate a want to focus more on diversity and inclusion. Sometimes the efforts to try and address the dilemmas can be superficial but students trained in anthropology could play a role in thinking through concrete ways to address these issues in workplace settings. Some of these ways of addressing issues are looking at where inequalities exist in outcomes for employees or clients the company or organizations serve.
People can also explicitly address diversity, equity, and inclusion by changes in leadership that includes more women of color. People in these roles need to be able to make decisions and be empowered to help carry out systemic change. Until more of the structural change is able to take place then applied organizations and those working in them will not be able to enact long-term, substantial change. Those people working at institutions need to be vocal about who is in positions of leadership and what this means for any stated positions on diversity and inclusion.