The concept of multiple identities can bring people together based on factors other than gender, sexual orientation, religion, class or caste—while still recognising that these factors are an important part of who we are and how we experience and perceive the workplace and the world. Mary-Frances Winters uses the I am approach to introductions as a useful exercise to begin to understand multiple identities.
Indeed, the way we describe ourselves—those aspects of our identities that are so important that we choose to say them in the exercise—reveal what is important to us beyond what can be seen on the outside. In the DIAN India Virtual Meeting, people chose to describe themselves not only by their gender or religion, for example, but also included artist, athlete, pianist, surfer, son, ally, aunt and sister in their I am introductions.
However, with this greater understanding of multiple identities, intersectionality and a growing resistance to labels, a new question is being raised — is it time to throw out this siloed approach and are some of our efforts to drive inclusion for specific groups inadvertently creating greater exclusion of others? This was a discussion that was brought to the forefront by Deloitte, with their announcement in May to phase out their targeted ERGs and instead create more generic inclusion councils.
The panel of experts assembled for the DIAN India Virtual Meeting offered several insights—the first of which is that companies should engage in a careful analysis before disbanding ERGs. These groups have often functioned as important spaces where employees with common concerns and minority perspectives can come together, speak freely and hash out recommendations and ideas. Our experts note that few companies have reached the level of equality that is a necessary precursor to disbanding ERGs.
But we do need to be mindful that this can sometimes be too narrow an approach. Speaker Ritesh Rajani also noted that intersectionality and multiple identities can be incorporated into current ERG models by having various ERGs meet together to find and discuss areas of concern and develop joint solutions. Intersectionality and multiple identities - the need to move beyond a one-dimensional approach to diversity and inclusion This article explores two topics that are very much in the vernacular right now: intersectionality and multiple identities.
Intersectionality today Intersectionality has developed rapidly outside its original context, as many have found that its core messages ring true—that people who belong to two or more disadvantaged groups: are often at a double disadvantage or more , and their perspective has been left out of efforts to remedy discrimination, bias and prejudice Intersectionality requires recognising that there are people with more—and less—privilege even within disadvantaged groups.
Still a relatively new concept, intersectionality was added to the dictionary as recently as April In-ter-sec-tion-al-i-ty noun The interconnected nature of social categorisations such as race class or gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
Broadening inclusion The concept of multiple identities can bring people together based on factors other than gender, sexual orientation, religion, class or caste—while still recognising that these factors are an important part of who we are and how we experience and perceive the workplace and the world. Recognise that employees have multiple identities that shape their perspectives, and that some of these identities are privileges and others are disadvantages.
Companies should ensure that policies, practices and programmes are not only targeted to the most privileged group—in other words, ensure that you are not creating exclusions within your inclusions! Social identities are rigorously kept completely separate. The fourth strategy is the opposite of the third; instead of keeping the identities separate, there is a deliberate attempt to integrate the social identities. This is not easy, but the most effective of responses.
The key is to modify or reinterpret the behavioural norms so that there is not a conflict. Bicultural individuals are often successful at integrating distinct social identities, taking the best from both cultures.
Thus, to employ some stereotypical behaviour, a Franco-American might enjoy long mid-day meals while interacting more easily and openly with strangers. The result of an integrative strategy is not the subordination of any single social identity, but rather the creation of a blended identity — as in the creation of a Franco-American identity that is neither exclusively French or American, to use the previous example.
Each of these four strategies can reduce some of the stress and inhibition that results from conflicting social identities. However, the fourth strategy seems to be the strategy that leads to the most positive and sustainable outcome. Traditionally, such conflict management is framed in terms of interpersonal conflict — conflict between two or more people. Social identity conflicts are intrapersonal — within the individual.
Because intrapersonal conflict can also cause significant stress or anxiety, as well as undermining performance and attitudes, leaders must be as skilled in helping to resolve these intrapersonal conflicts as they are in resolving the more traditional interpersonal conflicts.
Leaders who have been able to integrate their own social identity conflicts will best be able to help others. In addition, the ability to integrate diverse social and cultural identities can be applied at the organizational level. Thus, leaders experienced in dealing with social identity conflicts can not only help with intrapersonal conflict, but interpersonal conflict as well — especially if those conflicts deal with diverse roles or cultural issues.
Leader Prompts - enable your leaders with these 50 practical and straight-forward mini-guides to handling common management challenges. Click here to find out more. Use our Ideas to:. Speak to us on how else you can leverage this content to benefit your organization. Jacob B. Hirsh, Sonia K. Though my Instagram account is public, it isn't meant for my family to see. I felt a little shy admitting this at the time, but I compartmentalize and curate my social media life to an exacting degree.
For me, Instagram is for friends and people who know me through the internet. Facebook is for keeping in touch with family and friends, and even then I put coworkers and family members in different groups. Twitter is where I goof around and spout random thoughts on everything from politics to the weather. My audience in each case overlaps to some degree, but they're not the same.
It's not just that either. I also have five Twitter accounts and a couple on Instagram. Some of them are private accounts that I share only with close friends. With some accounts, I focus on specific topics, or they're spoof accounts I created to make fun of something.
I created this Dupercuts account a few years ago to poke fun at Supercuts, for example. It might seem, at first glance, that I have multiple personality disorder, and it might seem confusing to have to juggle so many different sites. In reality, having multiple social media accounts is pretty common. She's also the author of the book It's Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens , where she explores the way social media affects how teens communicate.
The idea of just using Facebook as your primary online identity is actually the exception, she says, not the norm. Even back in the heydays of Usenet and IRC, having multiple identities was something a lot of people did.
Mallory Johns, our social media editor, shares the same sentiments. She says that the different social accounts reflect different parts of her persona.
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