Diversity

“Diversity” or workforce diversity is the collection of different demographics in a group or team (e.g., gender, race, ethnicity, background, education, language, age, religion, belief systems, political orientation, neurodiversity etc.). 

It’s important to note that diversity is only applicable to groups not individuals. Thus, calling a person of color a “diverse” person is incorrect. 

A related concept is “inclusion,” The practices and approaches to either include or exclude people from a group or team. Inclusion covers topics such as psychological safety, a feeling of being valued, being allowed to be the authentic self, and more. 

Inclusion in turn results in a feeling of belonging by team members who are included in the group. “Equity” refers to practices that provide not just equality (everybody gets the same treatment) but also preferential support for those people or groups who had less opportunities because of their background or other factors. 

While diversity is easy to measure, evaluating inclusion, belonging, and equity is a lot harder.