What is the Role of a Diversity & Inclusion Specialist?
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After 9 months of going back and forth on whether or not I should take the leap and start my own consultancy business in diversity and inclusion, I decided to finally let go of my fears and share my new journey with the world.
Amongst the many messages of support were a few questions along the lines of: What is a diversity and inclusion specialist?
Therefore, I will briefly explain what the role entails, my areas of interest and expertise, as well as the two main issues facing diversity and inclusion efforts in the French workplace.
So, what is a diversity and inclusion specialist?
Simply put, a diversity and inclusion specialist:
1) seeks out and conducts research in order to identify and understand the social, economic, and political issues that are negatively impacting a business, an organisation and/or society at large,
2) finds ways to eliminate or at least improve these issues (ranging from an increase in monetary aid to the disenfranchised to cross-cultural awareness), and
3) promotes a (more) diverse and inclusive environment (through the creation or aggregation of inclusive resources that can be understood by broad and varied audiences).
In the past, diversity and inclusion efforts in France have primarily focused on the issues surrounding women and people with disabilities. However, diversity and inclusion specialists can choose to focus on the plight of one or a combination of underrepresented and/or marginalised groups – i.e. BIPOC, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, LatinX, womxn and Asian – in their society.
Given my cultural and racial background, professional experience, research interests and lived experiences, I have chosen to primarily focus on racial and ethnic diversity.
The primary challenges facing diversity and inclusion efforts in the French workplace
In France, the majority of diversity and inclusion specialists are white males. Hopefully, this will soon change given the fact that more and more businesses are finally starting to understand the socio-cultural and financial value that racial and ethnic diversity will bring to their teams. Undoubtedly, C-suites will have to actively seek out specialists who are members of these minority groups in order to bring about real and effective change.
Moreover, since it is illegal to request information about an individual’s race and religion on legal documents, businesses, researchers and government officials are not able to accurately keep track of how many Black people and people of colour currently reside and work in France.
“Racial and ethnic categories are not officially recognized in France. The French census does not disaggregate data by race or ethnicity, because French laws prohibit officials from doing so. France is officially color-blind.” (Ware 186)
Unfortunately, in order to get around this hurdle, many researchers have used other information, such as one's surname, parents' country of origin and mother's maiden name, in order to assume one's racial background, religious beliefs and ethnicity (Nadeau & Barlow 260). Thus, any and all forms of research conducted on racial and ethnic discrimination, whether linked to the workplace, jails or housing, is based on assumption.
“Discrimination in the workplace and housing market is rampant, and the nation’s prison population is estimated to be overwhelmingly Arab and black—though the ban on racial statistics makes the exact population impossible to measure.” (Piser Breaking France's Race Taboo)
It does not take a degree in social sciences to figure out how detrimental this is in implementing systematic change and getting those in the majority to understand their privilege, especially when taking into account France’s colonial history.
Having access to this data will mean that French businesses will finally be able to track their progress when it comes to hiring practices, as well as better understanding the challenges (i.e. microaggressions, racism) faced by people of colour and foreigners in the workplace.
Sources:
Nadeau, Jean-Benoît, and Julie Barlow. The Bonjour Effect: The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed. Duckworth Overlook. 2016.
Piser, Karina. “Breaking France's Race Taboo.” The Nation, 10 Aug. 2018, www.thenation.com/article/archive/breaking-frances-race-taboo/.
Ware, Leland. “Color-Blind Racism in France: Bias Against Ethnic Minority Immigrants.” Washington University Journal of Law & Policy, vol. 46, no. 185, 2015, pp. 184–244., doi:10.1107/s0108768107031758/bs5044sup1.cif.