Diversity and inclusion committee

[TickledOnion]

I work in an industry that was traditionally very male dominated. My company has been really good at treating women equally, creating a gender balance on the board, removing the gender pay gap, being family friendly etc. I love working there.

They are now thinking more seriously about diversity and inclusion and have invited anyone who is interested to join a committee. I have noticed that the 2 people running the committee have added their pronouns to their emails signature. I know I should join the committee but I’m terrible at confrontation and get very flustered when I try to put my point across.

Any advice please?

I joined ours at work to have the inside view and ensure alternative views are heard. If I speak up it is third person so I'm not necessarily sharing my own opinion just how women may be impacted. Ignore the pronoun thing. I also sent HR the Maya judgement. Go for it.

Joining the committee doesn't mean you have to have confrontation, or even speak that much. But it would let you know what is happening and allow you to respond if you felt you needed to.

In terms of getting flustered, you could pre-plan responses to comments that you might be expecting, and have a list of points about each topic that you are concerned about to hand.

Please please do this. Otherwise, the committee will consist of those who display their pronouns, and therefore (I would presume) will push through trans rights/stonewall policies. Perhaps also some people who aren’t aware of what is happening and will just go along with their suggestions as it sounds progressive.

You don’t need to be confrontational but merely question suggestions as they come up, eg. have we checked that our policies are in line with the Equality Act?, do we need to do an impact assessment to check no one is adversely affected?

I know I should join the committee but I’m terrible at confrontation and get very flustered when I try to put my point across.

Great opportunity to learn how to overcome those issues. There's tons of online coaching.

Thank everyone. I’ve registered my interest. I think I was getting ahead of myself worrying about being confrontational.

AND, it is important to have someone to raise the often ignored protected characteristics, such as disability.

Google has a slew of #IamRemarkable events next week. You might be able to identify some useful training events to attend.

iamremarkable.withgoogle.com/

You're exactly who they need, you can make a difference by asking questions and presenting evidence, don't listen to your internal doubting voice. The wise ones of MN will always be here to support you with any links to info you might need.

@endofthelinefinally

AND, it is important to have someone to raise the often ignored protected characteristics, such as disability.

Couldn't agree more. Diversity and inclusion is in danger of being a byword for LGBT+ whilst ignoring those who face issues because of disability, race, religion, sex, age etc

Everyone needs to have a voice, if you're comfortable championing more than one of those voices that can only help your company face the future in a meaningful and helpful way.

The 9 protected characteristics enshrined in law because it never hurts to repeat them
age;
disability;
marriage and civil partnership;
pregnancy and maternity;
race;
religion or belief;
sex;
sexual orientation;
gender reassignment

People will probably disagree with me on this, but in similar situations I tend not to disagree on the smaller points in order to push a case for the things that I consider to be most impactful. E.g. instead of contesting the ‘trans women are women’ narrative (which would be unsuccessful and make is easy to write everything I say off as a fringe opinion) I focus on particular situations. I also - and I know this won’t go down well on here - am prepared to use their bonkers language to get my point across. For example…

‘CIS women are likely to face additional barriers into this industry due to early female socialisation and possible impact of pregnancies, so we should ring fence some places on the management fast track programme just for them”

“People who menstruate are likely to need to use hand basins and will need privacy to do so, so the proposed toilet plans will have to be adjusted to allow for this”

Etc.

You probably should not sign up, as the point of the committee is "diversity and inclusion" and not division. I doubt you qualify if gender critical. You can't have diversity and inclusion if it is not inclusive.

I think people who add pronouns are often just doing it because they think it's the done thing, they aren't generally aware of GC arguments and just think they're doing the right thing/what's expected. They probably don't need challenging and unless you have trans people at work the whole debate may never even arise. I would join the committee because as others have said, it's important to champion protected characteristics

@MishyJDI

You probably should not sign up, as the point of the committee is "diversity and inclusion" and not division. I doubt you qualify if gender critical. You can't have diversity and inclusion if it is not inclusive.

Oh grow up. Advocating for one group's needs on a committee doesn't mean that other groups are excluded and that discussions will be divisive. She qualifies because she is interested and has at least one of the Equality Act protected characteristics. Being "gender critical" doesn't affect that in the slightest.

“To ensure inclusion, it was necessary to exclude feminists”

@MishyJDI

You probably should not sign up, as the point of the committee is "diversity and inclusion" and not division. I doubt you qualify if gender critical. You can't have diversity and inclusion if it is not inclusive.

I want to join the under 14s football team and they won’t let me just because I’m 37, who do I complain to about their lack of inclusivity?

@MishyJDI

You probably should not sign up, as the point of the committee is "diversity and inclusion" and not division. I doubt you qualify if gender critical. You can't have diversity and inclusion if it is not inclusive.

Perhaps the OP has particular relevant and valuable knowledge about at least one, possibly more, of the other protected characteristics which could help other people on the committee to widen their understanding of what diversity and inclusion means. Some people have a very narrow view of the scope of diversity and inclusion.

One day, and I hope it's not too far away. Someone with some real influence is going to try and calculate how much diversity & inclusion departments actually cost. They will also show us what their real value is. As far as I can tell, people have become less inclusive because they see inclusive warriors (which means they are extremely exclusive) as an OTT clique jumping on every bandwagon going.

Not a comment about you op or your post, I'm just miffed about all stuff right now . Please go for it

I would join to have a chance to speak for those whose voices are not heard.

There is a weird view, perhaps shared by Mishy, that you need to "be" something in order to represent. (As well as a hint that diversity and inclusion is only about gender identity.) It may be a chance to speak to, say, junior Muslim women and ask what holds them back. (For example training courses on the other side of the country can be difficult for those who have only ever lived at home.) Or people with disabilities. Or ask black staff if there is anything that makes them uncomfortable. Often it does not take a lot to make a real difference. The very sad thing about this whole gender thing is that genuinely disadvantaged groups are now being overlooked. And then if the gender thing comes up you can talk about the potential clash of rights, if there is one, and how to find a constructive solution and ensure that no one is inadvertently discriminated against. So if you have a transwoman in the building it might be sensible to ensure there is a gender neutral toilet but also one that is single sex, so that no one feels uncomfortable using the organisation's toilet facilities. Or say dress code, if there is one. DH is expected to wear a suit and tie when representing his organisation. Obviously not appropriate for a trans-woman. But then again, some women may want to have headcoverings or modest dress.

@MishyJDI

You probably should not sign up, as the point of the committee is "diversity and inclusion" and not division. I doubt you qualify if gender critical. You can't have diversity and inclusion if it is not inclusive.

Agreed, it seems very odd to sign up to a Diversity and Inclusion initiative with the aim of making it less diverse and inclusive.

If women aren't welcome on the D&I committee, why does the company bother to take steps specifically to address gender inequality?

Not sure why some people think I am against diversity and inclusion. As a woman from a minority religion I am very much for it. I just don’t want to see one groups inclusion at the expense of another group.

@endofthelinefinally

AND, it is important to have someone to raise the often ignored protected characteristics, such as disability.

This is so important. My company are trying to push pronoun usage because "it's kind" while operating in a two storey building with no lift to the second floor...

@MishyJDI

You probably should not sign up, as the point of the committee is "diversity and inclusion" and not division. I doubt you qualify if gender critical. You can't have diversity and inclusion if it is not inclusive.

But surely if truly inclusive then people with opinions other than inclusive ideas should be included. Otherwise it wouldn’t be truly inclusive?

I wouldn’t worry about the wokescolds, tickledonion, they usually forget about the other eight protected characteristics, and don’t understand that championing “diversity” means that you need people with a range of opinions and voices.

I find that asking questions is a good way to avoid being too confrontational. For example, with announcing pronouns, you could ask whether anyone has considered the potential disadvantage to women of reminding people of our sex. Don’t weigh in on trans issues at all- just focus on women/religion/disability and keep pushing the needs that those groups have.

Good luck!

Those with an axe to grind will join. Those who want to promote on the new religion will join. Self important Bullies will join.

Old fashioned ‘rights for all’ will join (and get bullies by the first 3 who don’t give two hoots about shouting anyone down or bullying them to how their way).

Maybe take a deep breath and join - have the facts to hand, keep a cool head and try to stop the crazy.

I&D generally doesn’t mean that at all these days.