The Inclusion Dividend by Mason Donovan & Mason Donovan

Author:Mason Donovan & Mason Donovan [KAPLAN, MARK]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781937134419
Publisher: Bibliomotion, Inc.
Published: 2013-04-15T16:00:00+00:00

Equal Capacity for Bias, Different Impacts

The vast majority of human beings are biased, for all of the reasons enumerated above. This is the place we are all equal, and our group identities don’t make a difference. You will remember this as the individual level of the Level of Systems Framework. White people, for example, aren’t necessarily any more biased than people of color. This should be reassuring to some, who feel that diversity and inclusion work suggests that some individuals are better than others in terms of their level of bias. Again, we are all equal, and the work of diversity and inclusion is not about good or bad individuals. The impact of bias, however, is not equal. The biases of insider groups are generally the biases that carry the day, have more “oomph,” and get institutionalized at the organization level. They become systemic biases, which means they have broader impact.

As an example: because men hold a disproportionate number of leadership positions, and the percentage was even higher in the past, the image of good leadership is often based on typical male leadership styles. Men and women are socialized differently. They are taught to behave, and to lead, in different ways. If the image of good leadership is based on typical male behaviors, then many women will find it hard to be seen as good leaders and get promoted into leadership positions. In one organization we work with, executives describe how they want leaders to have “presence.” When we ask them to describe what a person with “presence” looks like (we ask them to do this quickly, without thinking), the description is almost always of a tall man in a dark suit with short hair and glasses. It is not hard to see the implicit or unconscious bias present in this image. It is also not hard to see the systemic impact. Organizations pay a price for this, because research on leadership, particularly the recent work on emotional intelligence, suggests that behaviors women are socialized to use are effective and underutilized in many organizations.

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