DISTURBING DIVERSITY Dr Kat Gupta Oxford Brookes University
DISTURBING DIVERSITY Dr Kat Gupta Oxford Brookes University, UK @mixosaurus
Outline • Images of diversity • Rethinking diversity • What could/should a diverse organisations look like?
Images of diversity "Diversity is something that's being marketed [. . . ] They're trying to sell a campus climate, they're trying to sell a future. Campuses are trying to say, 'If you come here, you'll have a good time, and you'll fit in. ' " Tim Pippert
Diversity or diversities? • Each of us inhabits different identities • Become salient in different contexts • Intersections of identities • “Diversity” as measured against a norm • Norm is (in a European context) white, male, cis, straight, (temporarily) able bodied
Diversity or diversities? • Each of us inhabits different identities • Become salient in different contexts • Intersections of identities • “Diversity” as measured against a norm • Norm is (in a European context) white, male, cis, straight, (temporarily) able bodied • Diversity as a deviation from the norm
Metaphors of organisational diversity • Problematic metaphor to describe a problematic concept! • Long history of food metaphors used to describe non- white people’s skin tones • Exoticising • People of colour(‘s bodies) as a product to be consumed by white people • Products used to describe us (e. g. coffee, chocolate, tea, spices) have a history of slave labour and exploitation of our bodies and economies
Diversity as the icing on the cake • For appearance’s sake • Does not change the underlying structure • Can be removed without fundamentally changing the organisation
Diversity as present but non-structural • Pockets of good practice held within a non-diverse structure
Diversity as fully integrated and structural • Practices to support diversity inherent in the structure of the organisation • Cannot be removed without fundamentally changing the structure
What [sh/c]ould a diverse organisation look like? • The "what" is the Syllabus: the choice of topics, resources, examples or case studies • The "how" is the Process: the teaching methods and learning activities • The "who" are the Participants: the students, the tutors, and the epistemic authorities on the programme • The "where" is the Environment: the rooms and buildings, the signs and statues, and the local area, taking into consideration the accessibility of these spaces, both physically and socially Nathaniel Adam Tobias Coleman, “Diversity is a dirty word”
A challenge: • To reject easy images of diversity • To reject easy concepts of diversity as non-integral to an organisation • To think about diversity as affecting the organisation at every level
- Slides: 12