Why it's not worth breeding supercurses alone or what diversity gives us
Katarzyna Rząsa
There is a person in my life with whom I discuss a lot and from whom I learn a lot. This is how I came up with the article that appeared in the latest issue of HR Business Partner - magazine .
Marta Megger (she/her) and I discuss diversity.
We clash perspectives. I mine in connection with the Accessible Design program, where I have the pleasure of being one of the experts; Marta Megger (she/her), on the other hand, hers from the perspective of someone who supports companies on topics mainly related to allyship and inclusive language on behalf of the Stonewall Group.
We also share experiences from different workplaces, and I add my contribution from the perspective of designing education for people with different needs (empathy mother 😉
"Diversity defines how people differ from each other, and we differ in many different ways. Very often in a business context we associate diversity with the inclusion of people from minority groups or those at risk of exclusion. So we often talk about people with disabilities, people from the LGBT+ community, people 50+ and, of course, the situation of women and countering phenomena such as the glass ceiling or gender pay gap.
Diversity, however, is a much broader concept and refers to all of us, all possible differences in terms of our identity elements, unique experiences, skills, abilities, cognitive or learning styles, talents, etc. What is important and what I would very much like to emphasize - diversity in an organization is just an extremely important tool.
Nurturing diversity is an insanely important aspect of building inclusive workplaces, but... Well, that's exactly it - the key is to focus on inclusivity and inclusion, that is, creating the kind of environment and conditions where we can fully benefit from this diversity. Diversity in an organization is therefore not an end in itself, the key is what we do with this diversity next."
