What is it?
Belonging and inclusion begins with identity. It’s how we represent ourselves, personally or professionally. Identity encompasses multiple dimensions. Age, race, gender, etc are often most central to personal identity and our current life experience. But there are also external and even organisational dimensions that can play a role in how an individual experiences discrimination, whether positive or negative.
[Source: Infographic adapted from the Four Layers of Diversity model by Gardenswartz & Rowe]
To set the foundations for our sixth Paradigm Shift on Belonging and Inclusion, we want to outline the six dimensions of identity (race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity, disability, age, and socio-economic background) and how they are currently being impacted by macro trends and influences.
Self-identification and how we identify ourselves is nuanced. Openly disclosing one’s identity may be precarious, leading some to hide their identity and code-switch, or adjust behaviours, appearances, and language, among other traits, to avoid perceived negative consequences.
Josh Loebner, global head of inclusive design at Wunderman Thompson
Why should I care?
Each of these dimensions impacts our perspective in different ways. Understanding how identity changes our lived experiences is essential to creating inclusive products, programmes, and workplaces. These categories don’t operate separate from each other, but tend to intersect and build on each other to create systems of oppression or exclusion. It’s equally as important to recognise how these categories interact with each other as it is to understand how they operate individually. Because people do not fit neatly into categories (however much we try to create segmentations to serve exactly that purpose).
RACE AND ETHNICITY
Since the 2020 murder of George Floyd, race and ethnicity have been everywhere. The global outrage that followed translated into notable progress for the inclusion of underrepresented racial groups (URGs). However, two years later the question now is, is this progress meaningful and sustainable?.
Companies are becoming less strict on their own diversity schemes, and many have rolled back the marketing, product, policy, and innovation efforts they had made. Even more significant, is the fact that hate crimes are on the rise. Systemic racism and day-to-day racism are still prevalent across most countries. Serious progress is needed to tackle the disadvantages experienced by BIPOC individuals across economic opportunities, healthcare and education. These individuals are more likely to be incarcerated, suffer from mental health problems, be passed over for promotions, receive inadequate healthcare, and felt the effects of COVID-19 more than other groups.
With higher productivity in racially diverse workplaces, companies and charities are missing a trick by failing to include BIPOC voices in innovation.
SEXUAL ORIENTATION
Same-sex marriage remains illegal in the majority of the world, despite significant progress on LGBTQ+ rights. 69 UN member states still criminalise same-sex relations. In countries where same-sex marriage and relations are legal, these rights are in jeopardy, with bills like Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law and Texan laws that prohibit gender-affirming care for trans children. At work, LGBTQ+ people tend to feel marginalised and feel pressured into code-switching to fly under the radar. It’s no surprise then, that LGBTQ+ people have higher rates of mental health problems and face further medical discrimination. The majority of inclusive marketing takes place during Pride month, with very few marketers engaging with the community outside of this period, and often being accused of rainbow-washing and tokenistic support.
GENDER AND GENDER IDENTITY
Similar to sexual orientation, the past decades have seen significant progress for gender parity, but this seems to be stalling in recent years (or in some cases, even regressing). Inequality remains present in workplaces, law, education and culture. The most glaring example of this is clearly the reversal of Roe v Wade in the United States, a landmark decision that risks the reproductive equality of people with uteruses, and may trigger similar regressions in other countries.
Public spaces aren’t safe for many women, trans and non-binary people alike, as evidenced by the murder of Sarah Everard last year, and the current protests over the death of Mahsa Amini for breaking Iranian hijab laws. 2021 saw at least 57 murders globally of transgender or gender non-conforming people, most of which went unreported (or misreported).
At work, the pandemic reversed a lot of progress that had been made in terms of economic equity. Millions of women were forced to leave the labour market due to the uneven burden of domestic work and childcare. Reports also show that sexual harassment in the workplace continues to be prevalent, especially when working from home.
Transgender, non-binary, and gender-fluid people experience all this and more, with the number of trans people openly identifying at work decreasing by over 10% in the past five years. Landmark case Taylor v Jaguar Land Rover (2020) highlighted just how important inclusive practices are when it comes to supporting people of all gender identities. Issues like gender-neutral bathrooms and pronouns need to be addressed. Achieving gender equity in the workplace means inclusivity for all sides of the gender identity spectrum, not just cisgender people.
DISABILITY
Globally, almost a billion people identify as disabled - a number that is growing as people feel more comfortable self reporting, social stigma decreases and public spaces become more inclusive. Despite this rapidly growing demographic, few companies are tapping into the potential. Even in the workplace, only 4% of companies include disability in their D&I strategies, even though 90% of companies claim to prioritise inclusion. Disabled individuals often report a lack of workplace support for their needs, particularly with the end of remote working in sight. There’s a growing market for making places, products and experiences more accessible and inclusive, that relatively few businesses are investing in as of yet.
AGE
Whilst anyone can be a victim of ageism (younger people are often stereotyped as being inexperienced or immature, for example), it primarily impacts older generations. People aged over 50 tend to feel excluded from culture and society, and left behind in work places. They’re also more likely to be passed over for promotions, and are often seen as ‘past their prime’ and therefore a poor long-term investment for companies. Brands tend to exclude older generations from their marketing and or promote inaccurate stereotypes of ageing. This is a relatively untapped market and many companies and charities are missing out on potential revenue by neglecting older generations. If you’d like to know more about the Future of Ageing, find our last Paradigm Shift report here.
SOCIO-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND
Class, income, education, location, and more, are all a part of socio-economic discrimination; maybe the most common form of discrimination today. Many of these categories are tied to other dimensions of identity. Low-income individuals typically experience low-quality work, limited progression opportunities and low mobility in the workforce, as well as lower standards of healthcare, education, living, nutrition and more. The stigma surrounding low-incomes is high, and is challenging to address given the massive range of contributing and inter-related factors. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prioritising innovation and designing for inclusion.