What’s Missing with EDI?
Photo by Ryoji Iwata on Unsplash
No matter how you label, define or refer to the field of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI), it is a field where social justice is accepted in workplaces across the globe.
It has gained much of the necessary traction, helping those who have been historically marginalized and discriminated against.
From what I’ve seen, a lot of visible diversity and discrimination has now become synonymous with in-house EDI initiatives. These are terribly important, and yet even visibly different individuals are more than that.
Many of our individual differences come from what is invisible: our experiences, ways of thinking, education, socioeconomic influences, medical conditions and more.
So why is invisible diversity not addressed?
From my experience, the answers are complex and can include:
People are already struggling with how to foster equity and inclusion for diverse employees in a system that wasn’t built for it.
Addressing programs for visible diversity, and even having token visible minorities be ambassadors and leaders, helps organizations show a their employees that they are aware and addressing the issue.
Invisible diversity and disabilities require a degree of disclosure that visible diversity doesn’t. Depending on the organization’s culture and team trust, it’s likely that companies aren’t aware of how to support invisible diversity - even if they wholeheartedly wanted to.
Leaders are unaware of the positive, systemic impacts of helping individuals feel supported, included and that they belong (see my former post for how EDI connects with employee engagement).
For the reason above, EDI is then underfunded and under-resourced. It’s seen as “yet another thing people have to do,” rather than an elegant way to address several important people priorities.
What’s missing with EDI?
EDI is missing the diversity within all of us. Until everyone sees how we are inherently diverse - that we all want and need to feel included for our differences, and that we belong - we will be limited in the impact of what we do with EDI.
