Fostering Mutual Understanding
Transform Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Initiatives
In this lesson, Valerie Purdie-Vaughns from Columbia University discusses the evolution of corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs beyond women and African Americans to encompass a broader range of groups, emphasizing the need for sensitivity, awareness, and ongoing transformation in the workplace.
The Neurobiology of Intergroup Relations
Emerging neuroscience reveals that workplace stereotyping creates a self-fulfilling prophecy through stress, which disproportionately affects stereotyped groups by impairing their executive function, leading to underperformance compared to colleagues who do not face such stressors.
Identify Biased Filters in Hiring
Bias in hiring stems from a lack of self-awareness among CEOs and managers, who must recognize subtle biases like elitism, familiarity heuristic, and career archetypes to expand their talent pool and embrace diversity effectively.
Rethink Performance Evaluations
As companies increasingly rely on data-driven performance evaluations, they risk entrenching cognitive biases that distort assessments, highlighting the need for ongoing bias training to ensure fair evaluations and avoid homogenizing their workforce.
African-American Women and The C-Suite
African American women have historically embraced leadership roles in their communities, balancing careers and motherhood without seeing conflict, yet they face greater challenges and isolation in the workplace compared to their white counterparts, often lacking the necessary support and sponsorship for advancement.
Signal Your Capacity to Lead
Diversity issues should be approached institutionally, but until barriers are broken, underrepresented individuals must actively signal their executive presence by showcasing experience, connections, and leadership potential through assertive engagement in workplace opportunities.
The Diversity Life Cycle – Striving for Growth, Change, and Rejuvenation Over Time
To effectively improve diversity, companies should adopt a life cycle approach that integrates proven psychological methods, empowering affinity groups to influence change while focusing on key metrics in hiring, promotions, and retention to address biases comprehensively.
It doesn’t matter if negative stereotypes are held consciously or unconsciously. They still harm the receiver, who tends to internalize the feeling of exclusion from the group. According to Columbia University psychologist Valerie Purdie-Vaughns Greenaway, this “outsider status” can sap one’s ability to concentrate and be authentic with others, ultimately affecting performance and productivity at work.
Learning Objectives
- Recognize the effects of bias in the workplace.
- Think more broadly about DEIB initiatives.
- Rethink hiring practices and performance evaluations.
- Find ways to offer women of color more institutional support.
- Help members of underrepresented groups advance their careers.