Let’s Talk About Adding Groups to Diversity, Equality, & Inclusion Discussions

By: Stephanie Diana Eubank

The weekend I sat down and wrote this was both Father’s Day Weekend and Juneteenth.  For those that are not familiar with the history of Juneteenth and why it is celebrated,

there is a beautiful article from The Smithsonian that can be found at https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/historical-legacy-juneteenth.  On June 19th,1865, Union troops landed in Texas and announced that the President of the United States freed the enslaved people.  It is a day to celebrate Freedom and collectively have hard conversations about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).  So, to celebrate a weekend of celebrating the fathers in our lives and the diversity of our country, I want to draw attention to how remote work is helping to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with giving more opportunities for the dads in our lives as well. 

 As seen in the Forbes article, Stahl (2022); workplace diversity and DEI have been studied academically in the business sector since 1990.  The studies since then have shown positive effects on business by encouraging

diversity in the workplace.  Diversity in the workplace is defined as having people of different ages, genders, ethnicities, sexual orientations, cultural backgrounds, and educational levels.  However, I would further argue that people of different economic backgrounds and family structures should also be added to this definition as remote work gains more favor as a modality of work. The article, by Stahl (2022), comments on the benefits to the workplace that embrace diversity, gains more recitative and innovative thinking and product development, develops more room for growth within an organization, and enhanced decision making. However, Stahl (2022); forgot to mention findings from another Forbes article, Johansson (2017), which details how DEI decreases group thinking. To put it plainly, group thinking is where everyone gets stuck and new ideas are not being formed, just groups who have worked together for a long time and not working to get new material. Think of it as a workplace-wide writer’s block.

This brings us to why Diversity in the workplace must include having a workforce comprised of people of different:

·         ages, ·         genders, ·         ethnicities, ·         sexual orientations, ·         cultural backgrounds, ·         educational levels,·         Economic backgrounds, and·         Family structuresAccording to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), parents make up a large part of the workforce.  Although men statistically, per the BLS, make up a larger portion of the workforce there are a growing number of single parents.  A shared unconscious bias in Human Resources (HR) is that women will not be as devoted workers as traditionally; women are the ones addressing children’s issues.  However, times are changing, so single parents are both taking on child-rearing roles.  Making that unconscious bias moot.  Remote work also plays a role in helping parents develop work and life balances so that communities and families have a greater chance at thriving. 

Remote work has a bonus to add to increasing diversity, equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace, specifically with the demographic of those who come from different economic backgrounds.  The BLS also notes that the rise in remote work has created more opportunities for socioeconomic growth for those from other socioeconomic backgrounds.  This addition to the DEI allows for more creative problem-solving.  So, this weekend as we celebrate father figures and Juneteenth, we should all take a minute and embrace the chances for more change by incorporating DEI and how Remote work enhances these positive changes. If you enjoyed this post, please like, share, and subscribe.  And remember,

Remote is here to stay.

Stephanie Eubank

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