What is diversity to you

What Is Diversity?

Bailey Reiners is a former Built In content marketer who covered recruiting, tech trends, employee engagement and diversity and inclusion for BuiltIn.com. Reiners holds a bachelor of arts in art history and psychology from Lawrence University.

Bailey Reiners is a former Built In content marketer who covered recruiting, tech trends, employee engagement and diversity and inclusion for BuiltIn.com. Reiners holds a bachelor of arts in art history and psychology from Lawrence University.

Diversity is increasingly one of the most talked about topics in the HR and recruiting industries, but that doesn’t mean it’s a simple subject to digest. We’re glad you landed on this page, because with any new or challenging topics it’s important to start with the basics.

This guide is a great jumping off point to better understand the complex nature that is diversity and — of course — inclusion. We’ll start by defining diversity and explaining what diversity is, then finish with insight from 10 experts on the importance of diversity in the workplace.

Diversity Definition

A guide to supporting the development of rising women in tech.

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Definition, tips on inclusivity & insight from 10 experts What is Inclusion?

What is Diversity?

The number of factors that define diversity is truly unlimited. Throughout an individual’s life, the unique biological and genetic predispositions, experiences and education alter who they are as a person. These nature vs. nurture interactions are what diversify and evolve the human race, allowing individuals to connect and learn from each others differences.

While such idiosyncrasies are infinite, there are a number of factors commonly discussed, considered and tracked. If you’re looking to better understand the topic of diversity, you should know the following most common individual differences that are referred to when considering diversity in the workplace.

What Diversity in the Workplace Means to 10 Companies

The topic of diversity is well. diverse. There are many aspects to consider when it comes to diversity and creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Not only that, but if you ask any number of experts what diversity means to them, they’ll respond with a wide variety of answers.

So to provide you with a greater range of opinions on the matter, we chatted with some experts to hear what diversity means to them and their unique teams. Here’s what they said:

Diversity is Everyone’s Concern, Especially in Tech

“We’ve heard tech referred to as ‘the new Wall Street,’ which means that the tech community has the opportunity to create a new global standard for the kinds of voices and products that power our economy. Lack of workforce diversity is not a standalone problem — it’s an issue due to larger systemic injustices our country is still working to address, alongside global market forces.

In order to unify behind diversity, the tech industry needs more champions in CEOs and informal influencers, and not just diversity teams. We need companies willing to admit where they fall short and why. The industry has to care and act, on every level, and that may make people uncomfortable for a while. Ultimately these efforts can generate positive change.

Actions like diversifying the company’s vendor and supply chain, auditing company culture for exclusionary norms and definitions of high performance, creating safe spaces and forums for marginal voices to be heard, investing in pipeline-building programs like Girls Who Code or Code2040. These are real and tangible ways any company can contribute, and these actions add up.”

Bonnie Olivia-Porter, Director of Global Operations at Tala

Inclusion is Just as Important as Diversity

“I look at diversity pretty broadly. To me, diversity is about even more than skin color, sexual orientation or gender — it’s about bringing in people with different points of view. When you bring in people with different worldviews, whether that is work, life, or cultural experience, they bring something to the table that we all collectively learn from. That’s what makes us stronger.

Diversity is something that doesn’t just happen. You can value diversity, but you have to put a process and culture in place that values this frame of mind. You have to be inclusive. Having women in leadership at Pangea didn’t happen by accident. It’s because I’ve focused on that. It’s not about meeting quotas — we have to work really hard to make sure that there’s an infrastructure in place that’s welcoming and attractive to all kinds of people.”

All Forms of Diversity Contribute to Creativity

“Diversity — whether of thought, ethnicity or experience — is of the utmost importance to engineering organizations. With diverse backgrounds in the workplace, there’s greater depth you get to pull from when troubleshooting an approach. A homogenous group of people will give you less creative emergence of new ideas if everyone is speaking from the same set of experiences.

By hiring a more diverse group of people, and ensuring a workplace environment where space is created for those voices to be heard, divergent ideas come to light and allow our team to discover a more robust way to approach a problem or a more well-thought-out definition of what winning looks like — whether that be attentive performance metrics that consider different network speeds in locations around the globe or the color schemes of a product.”

Charles Garrett, Engineering Manager at Percolate

With Diversity and Inclusion Must Come Equality

“Though we may share things in common with other individuals, at the end of the day, everyone is their own person and can bring different things to the table, which is why diversity is so important for innovation. The UiPath Brooklyn office is a very diverse place, which I think is hugely beneficial for the workplace and the company. By working alongside people of different backgrounds, experiences and working styles, creative concepts can be born from bouncing ideas off of each other and offering feedback and suggestions. Equality in the workplace is also important for encouraging employees from all backgrounds to feel confident in their skills and achieve their best. The higher the team morale, the more productive we all are.”

Thushara Sathkumara, Backend Software Engineer at UiPath

Diversity Isn’t Just an Internal Business Strategy

“We believe that diversity is something that is necessary for us to continue being successful as a company. We have partnered up with various organizations rooted in diversity in order to further our recruiting efforts in that realm. We have also held meet-ups and will continue to host events with these organizations in order to keep reaching out to talent from different communities.”

Susana Min, Technical Recruiter at System1

Diversity Starts with the Hiring Process

“We hire the right people for the right jobs. That is the right thing to do for the company, for clients and for the person. For us, diversity is baked into our talent pool. We have offices in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Austin, all diverse cities with great talent. We look for people who have heart, desire and the ability to do the work, no matter their race, gender, sexual orientation or age. Inclusiveness is part of our culture; if you are here, you are MomentFeed.”

Carey Bettencourt, Chief Client Officer & Chief Revenue Officer at MomentFeed

Diversity Training is Beneficial to Everyone

“Every new employee goes through an interactive training on diversity, equity and inclusion. While this isn’t too uncommon, we teach that the biggest barrier to diversity is indifference and have each employee consider moments in their lives in which they felt excluded.”

Kelly O’Connell, Principal Product Manager at ActiveCampaign

Diversity is a Natural Part of Growth

“Since diversity is a natural part of our growth, we don’t take our talented resources for granted. We have committed to partnering with multiple diversity strategy firms, which focus not only on diverse talent acquisition but also on the unique factors involved in the retention of women and minority groups in technology.”

Avni Agrawal, Senior Marketing Specialist at MatchCraft

Diversity is Key to Problem Solving and Innovation

“Diversity is a critical element of Pareto’s culture because our experiences define how we approach problems. Not just work experience, but life experience too. We want our people to draw upon all their experiences to generate the best ideas and solutions. Having a team with varied experiences, backgrounds and cultures gives us rich perspectives when it comes to problem-solving.”

Diversity is Linked to Increased Profit & Innovation

“[My role] will involve creating frameworks that ensure ethics and diversity is part of the culture and the soul of the company, from development to deployment. We’re not just doing it to go through the motions. We actually believe that diversity increases the level of innovation within companies and increases the culture and the ability to deliver for customers.

Most Fortune 500 companies have diversity scorecards, with figures linked to the profit and loss statements of each of their individual business units. AI solves the tech problem, and if ethics and diversity are at the soul of the solution, it also helps them solve their diversity ROI issues as well.”

Will Griffin, VP of Ethics & Diversity in AI at Hypergiant

How to create core values that will inspire your workforce.

What Does Diversity Mean to You?

Diversity – a simple word with a seemingly simple meaning. But when we look closer it seems there is a world behind it.

Diversity. Diverse. Distinct. Different.

What comes to your mind when you hear these words?

We can think about cultural diversity, people from different countries, different in their origins, in the way they look, in what they eat, in how they speak. That’s one part of the discussion, but not all of it.

We are diverse in the way we think: people have different thoughts, opinions, ideas, beliefs, and values that are shaped, for example, by religion, politics, education, and culture.

We are diverse in the way we communicate. Think about how many languages, dialects, or accents you know of, not only in the world but within your own country. These ways of communicating include sign language, body language, and other forms of nonverbal communication. Examples of these include gesticulation with your hands or even the whole body, pitch and volume of the voice, speed of the speech and so on.

We are diverse in our dreams, goals, backgrounds, and experiences, as well as in the way we experience gender, sexuality, and identity.

We are diverse in how we learn, store, and retrieve information – some people are better with words, some with images, others with music.

We are also different in life opportunities. Consider the disparity between people around the world in terms of access to education, quality food and water, healthcare, proper living conditions, law and employment opportunities.

And this list can go on and on and on…

All of these aspects contribute to shaping our own unique and beautiful identities and influence the way we experience life and interact with our surroundings.

The question is then “why?”, Why think about Diversity when we are working with peace education?

If we think about the vast meaning of Diversity, maybe the question we should be asking ourselves is “why not?”. How can we not include Diversity in peace education? Diversity embraces so many of our characteristics as individuals; our different origins, ways of communicating, beliefs, preferences, and dreams. How can we be inclusive and empathic human beings without considering each other’s different identities? Being an active global citizen starts with having the courage to be curious and explore and seek to understand our differences.

Diversity, as one of CISV’s educational principle, serves as our statement that “we appreciate the similarities between people and value their differences”. Within CISV, we explore our own identity as individuals and are encouraged to consider ourselves within our community, local or wider, in a global level. Respect and inclusiveness are at the heart of peace education. After all, to build a more just and peaceful world we need to respect one another and our differences, and act to include everyone in this journey!

As we start this new CISV year, how are you planning to learn more about Diversity?

Look around your own community, city, and country. What do you see around you?

What does Diversity mean to you?

We encourage you to reflect, explore, learn, and discuss with your friends what Diversity means to you and how you plan to apply Diversity Education within CISV this year!

Stay with us and we will help you to learn and reflect throughout 2018!

Coming up next: tips for trainers who will be training leaders, staffs, boards, or Junior Branch in the content area of Diversity !

Adriana Rodrigues

On behalf of the Diversity Campaign Team

What diversity really means, and why it’s crucial in the workplace

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Diversity has become something of a buzzword. However, organizations that simply look at diversity as a trend are missing out on the depth and value that a truly diverse and inclusive organization brings.

Diverse organizations are inherently happier, more productive, and more competitive in their industries.

But what does diversity actually mean?

It can seem like diversity means different things to different people to the extent that you might wonder, what is diversity, and does it have the same meaning at work? This article explains the concepts of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, including the types of diversity, why they’re important, and how to promote a truly inclusive environment.

What exactly are diversity and inclusion?

Inclusion, on the other hand, means that every individual should have an equal opportunity to access education, resources, opportunities, or any other treatment based on the qualities that make them unique.

Essentially, diversity and inclusion is a conversation about rewriting implicit bias — rooting it out wherever it exists and challenging the idea that different means inferior.

What are the 4 types of diversity?

The United Nations recognizes over thirty characteristics that represent diversity, but in truth, there are many more than that. Some are visible and some are not. Still, others are immutable parts of who we are, while some change many times over the course of our lives.

Broadly speaking, there are four types of diversity: internal, external, organizational, and worldview.

Internal diversity

External diversity

External diversity includes any attribute, experience, or circumstance that helps to define a person’s identity — but is not something that they were born with. Examples include socioeconomic status, education, marital status, religion, appearance, or location. These characteristics are often influenced by others and may change over time. They’re considered external since they can be consciously changed.

Organizational diversity

Differences in job function, work experience, seniority, department, or management level are referred to as organizational diversity. Often, entire departments or levels of a company can be homogeneous — that is, everyone looks the same, comes from the same background, or has the same experience.

Worldview diversity

Finally, worldview diversity encompasses a broad range of beliefs, political affiliations, culture, and travel experiences. Our worldview, or our perspectives, contributes to an innovative, inclusive work environment that is forward-focused. Anything that influences the way we interpret and view the world is part of worldview diversity.

Why do we need diversity and inclusion in the workplace?

The data show that diversity is good for business. The truth is a little more complicated. Diversity is good for business when the organization knows how to truly embrace, value, and make use of diversity in its leadership and workforce. Why?

Because when managers and leaders know how to draw out diverse perspectives, build on them, and be inclusive of all the perspectives available on their teams, they get better ideas, question assumptions, identify blind spots, develop new approaches, and create better solutions. As a result, they see massive team innovation, performance, and growth.

How diversity benefits the workplace

Diversity benefits organizations at all levels. Even beyond the moral imperative or a sense of fairness, the business case for investing in diversity is clear. Studies have shown that groups of people that are diverse in gender, race, and age perform better, make better decisions, and experience more profitability.

Here are a few more ways that diversity benefits the workplace:

Diversity in organizations keeps upper-level managers in touch with what’s happening in the company and opens clear communication from grassroots-level team members.

Diversity prevents groupthink at work

Avoiding groupthink is one of the biggest benefits of workplace diversity.

First documented in 1971, groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when individuals avoid disagreeing with a group or expressing doubt. The larger and more similar the group, the less likely individuals are to dissent.

Why? On one hand, individuals may feel such a strong group identification that it feels uncomfortable or threatening to disrupt the group consensus. Group norms and behaviors form and solidify quickly because they seem to share so much in common.

Even groups with the best intentions can fall prey to groupthink. Irving Janis, the psychologist who first researched group decision-making, found that behavior such as bullying, rationalizing, and lapses in moral judgment were more likely under these circumstances.

Having a diverse team provides access to a wider range of skill sets and experiences and different ways of thinking, behaving, and communicating. This facilitates the growth of new ideas and reduces groupthink.

What is diversity in the workplace?

Truly diverse and inclusive organizations don’t just have people that “look like” members of an underrepresented group. They pay attention to — and value — the differences that we can’t see, like economic background, immigration status, neurodiversity, and education.

Diversity in the workplace means having a workforce inclusive of different backgrounds and national origins. It means gender, socioeconomic, and cultural diversity — and beyond. It also means that the organization fosters a sense of belonging that makes everyone feel like they are part of the team.

Examples of diversity in the workplace

There are many examples of diversity (and lack of) in the workplace. Homogeneity can be in the eye of the beholder. It’s worth taking a moment and asking: what does diversity mean to you in a given situation?

People often fall into an unconscious habit of thinking of diversity in only one or two dimensions. But depending on the situation, you can almost always find a way to increase the level of diversity on a team, on a decision, in planning, or in a conversation.

Here are some examples of all the different levels of diversity you can see at work:

7 ways to promote diversity and inclusion

Changing the culture of a workplace is challenging but rewarding work. Many shy away from it because they don’t know where to start or aren’t sure that they’re doing it right. If an organization has previously tried — and failed — to implement a diversity initiative, they may decide that such initiatives don’t work or that the benefits are no longer worth the effort.

However, there will never not be a demand for inclusive and diverse workplaces. Now is always a good time to start, but if previous efforts failed, the organization needs to take a different approach.

Here are 7 ways to start examining — and shifting — your workplace to a more inclusive one:

1. Hiring practices

Ensure diversity in your hiring and recruiting practices by making sure that you are looking at talent from all backgrounds. Don’t needlessly apply barriers to entry in the hiring process, like advanced degrees, expensive certifications, or experience with certain firms.

Restate your organization’s commitment to inclusive hiring, regardless of background and disability, in the job description. Make sure that when conducting interviews, you represent diversity among the panel of interviewers as well as in potential employees.

2. Employee groups

Your employees are whole people, and they bring their entire selves to work every day. There is no way to separate work you and home you. Providing spaces where employees can gather with other people of their background, ethnicity, and/or who share certain interests are a way to make sure that people feel included and represented at work.

For example, you could create employee resource groups centered around being a female engineer or LGBTQ+ representation in the tech world. This creates a specific, safe place for people from underrepresented groups to feel less alone at work.

3. Inclusive leadership

Leaders set the pace for their organizations in more ways than one. Inclusive leadership boards make better decisions and are a powerful reminder to the rest of the company of the values the organization embodies.

Many people from underrepresented backgrounds are concerned about their ability to progress in their career (that ever-present glass ceiling), so seeing someone they can relate to in the C-suite reassures them that your organization is a place where they can thrive.

4. Transparency

Don’t try to build diversity on your own. Be transparent about your efforts and ask your teams for help. One person can’t see or fix everything by themselves.

Consider implementing regular meetings and feedback devices where your team can report on what they see, what needs to be improved, and discuss in a neutral space any concerns they may have. Be sure you follow up by acknowledging their concerns and implementing meaningful changes.

5. Allyship

Social justice issues are prevalent, and organizations can’t be quiet about where they stand. There’s possibly no faster way to lose the trust of your people than by putting out a statement that isn’t reflected in their day-to-day experience.

Take an unequivocal stance against racism, discrimination, sexism, prejudice, and harassment. These are human rights issues, not limited to special interest groups. Building an environment where people feel safe and valued means standing up for their rights.

6. Be vulnerable

A diverse workforce means diversity of thought. Ask people to contribute to the discussion, especially if they haven’t spoken up before. Remember, when a conversation becomes too homogeneous (in other words, when there is groupthink) it becomes harder for people to speak up with dissenting opinions.

Play your own devil’s advocate and discuss the pros and cons of your own ideas. This will demonstrate that you are interested in the best idea, not just the most popular one.

7. Do the research

Share the benefits of diversity with your team. Research continues to be done on the benefits of a diverse workplace. Across the board, employees are happier, healthier, stay longer, and produce more when they feel respected, valued, and included. Inclusivity builds trust within an organization.

Moving forward

Diversity isn’t just a conversation for others. Everyone has something that makes them different. Whether it’s a unique upbringing, educational background, way of thinking, or perspective on the world, we all bring our own strengths to the table. A diverse and inclusive organization is one that is at the forefront of innovation and social change.

Diversity Defined

What Is Diversity?

For the Greater Good Science Center, “diversity” refers to both an obvious fact of human life—namely, that there are many different kinds of people—and the idea that this diversity drives cultural, economic, and social vitality and innovation. Indeed, decades of research suggest that intolerance hurts our well-being—and that individuals thrive when they are able to tolerate and embrace the diversity of the world.

In North America, the word “diversity” is strongly associated with racial diversity. However, that is just one dimension of the human reality. We also differ in gender, language, manners and culture, social roles, sexual orientation, education, skills, income, and countless other domains. In recent years, some advocates have even argued for recognition of “neurodiversity,” which refers to the range of differences in brain function.

Research shows that differences do make it harder for people to connect and empathize with each other. Navigating differences can be tough, whether in the classroom, the workplace, or our personal relationships—and yet people all over the world do it every day. It’s a prosocial skill, like empathy or forgiveness, that can be developed over a lifetime with intentionality, knowledge, and practice. In diverse societies, cultivating our ability to forge relationships across differences can actually increase our well-being.

What are the Limitations?

What Does Prejudice Reveal About What It Means to be Human?

What happens when we define some people as more human than others? A Q&A with Susan Fiske…

Why I Skipped This “Diversity” Bake Sale

What UC Berkley’s College Republicans get wrong about racism and colorblindness.

How to Close the Gap Between Us and Them

A Q&A with Moral Tribes author Joshua Greene about emotion, reason, and conflict.

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Why Practice It?

Social connections are one of the single biggest predictors of personal well-being, and there is some evidence that making your network of connections rich and diverse can also contribute to health, success, and happiness.

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How Do I Cultivate It?

“Consider that not one of us is born learning how to drive, and yet by the time many people are adults, we find ourselves not even thinking about it even as we expertly maneuver the car,” write Jeremy Adam Smith and Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton in their essay “How to Stop the Racist in You.”

“One day, with practice, egalitarianism might be like driving a car: a skill learned over time but eventually so automatic as to be second nature.”

Here are some research-tested strategies for learning to cultivate diversity in your life, your workplace, and your community.

What is diversity?

The diversity definition refers to the existence of variations of different characteristics in a group of people. These characteristics could be everything that makes us unique, such as our cognitive skills and personality traits, along with the things that shape our identity (e.g. race, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, cultural background).

Contents:

To better understand and define diversity, we can think about it in a social context. For example, at work, you might interact with coworkers of different genders, age groups, faiths and so on. Likewise, at school, students may come from different socio-economic classes and have different personalities and physical abilities.

While the first things that come to mind when we talk about diversity are race and gender, there’s more than that. For a deeper analysis, you can refer to the breakdown of the different types of diversity.

Want to learn more?

Our comprehensive study on DEI at work, based on nearly 800 responses from HR and business professionals, is packed with insights and real actionables to boost your DEI strategy.

What is diversity in the workplace?

To come up with a workplace diversity definition, we have to think about all the different characteristics that employees (could) have. First, we have the protected characteristics, such as race, age, gender and sexual orientation. And secondly, we have all the different:

These differences, for example employees’ talents, are less obvious and require the organization’s effort and proactiveness to shine.

Diversity and discrimination

Diversity in the workplace is also closely tied with discrimination. Bias and discriminatory employment practices exclude people who have specific characteristics, making it difficult for organizations to achieve and maintain diversity. That’s why many companies take action; here are some more examples of diversity in the workplace along with ways to tackle discrimination:

What is diversity and inclusion?

In the recruiting and HR space, you might often hear the phrase “Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)”. There’s a reason why these two terms are distinct; diverse employees don’t automatically form an inclusive workplace where every employee is valued and given opportunities to thrive. To achieve both diversity and inclusion, companies could have people or teams (e.g. a D&I Manager) dedicated to designing anti-discrimination policies across the organization and ensuring that all candidates and employees get equal opportunities regardless of their protected characteristics.

The importance of diversity in the workplace

Building a diverse company means that you don’t discriminate against protected characteristics and that you’re an equal opportunity employer. This will help build up your employer brand and keep employees satisfied and productive (and it’s also the right thing to do).

While you might be obliged by law to be unbiased when hiring and managing employees, it’s not mandatory to actively aim to build diverse teams. However, there are some business benefits associated with diversity in the workplace, that you should take into account.

Read some studies and interesting stats that can help you build the business case for building diverse teams.

Want more definitions? See our complete library of HR Terms.

Frequently asked questions

Why is diversity important in hiring?

It increases your workforce’s range of skills, talents & experiences. And as such, hiring for diversity will help you better understand your customers’ needs. The more diverse your workforce is, the greater the chances are that your employees will be able to cater to individual customer needs.

What does it mean to be a diversity candidate?

In its broadest context, diversity candidates are defined as «individuals who bring unique perspectives or outlooks to the organization.» The new definition of diversity includes the traditional categories of race and gender.

What are diversity and inclusion performance goals?

Diversity and inclusion performance goals focus on having a diverse workforce that feels included and a sense of belonging within the company. Nowadays, employees are more focused on working with companies that have beliefs and values that align with their own.