Trend 6: Who Am I? The Rise of Multiple Identities |
Trend 6: Who Am I? The Rise of Multiple Identities
Profiles in Diversity Journal
2013-02-08
Mary-Frances Winters, CEO
The Winters Group, Inc.
“I am Latina, Muslim, millennial, mother and I want you to understand all of me.” The check the one box identity answer is a thing of the past. Diversity and inclusion practitioners will have to understand the multi-dimensional intersections of identities that employees want acknowledged, valued and respected.
Andres Tapia, President of Diversity Best Practices, and I co-authored a paper in 2011 entitled Who Am I? Who Are We- Really? which explores the multiple identities of individuals, organizations, and nations. We posited that a one dimensional view of diversity was a fundamental flaw in the current models of diversity work.
We all have multiple identities. No one is uni-dimensional. I identify as an African American woman, a baby boomer, a widow, a mother, a liberal with parents of Canadian heritage.
President Barack Obama exemplifies the conundrum of intersection of multiple identities well. His father is from Kenya and his mother was white American, officially making him bi-racial. He lived in Indonesia and Hawaii during his formative years, making him what anthropologists call a “Third Culture kid. However he is most often identified in a uni-dimensional way as “African American”.
Consider these statistics:…
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Tags: Mary-Frances Winters, Profiles in Diversity Journal