Blogging About Communication

Do words matter? Might changing the word school to learning community affect the behavior of students and educators? Might relabeling a population a community alter how members think about themselves? How do the words we use influence our attitudes toward one another? How might they influence our attitudes toward how we should approach our differences?

THE SITUATION

Due to political and legal pressures, feelings about the words Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) have changed. Many colleges and organizations have either ended or sidelined DEI offices and programs. To say the least, the DEI landscape is under flux and challenging to navigate. What are schools and businesses to do? Instead of being interpreted as creating a welcoming environment that values difference and ensures equitable access opportunities, some now perceive the practice of DEI to be discriminatory.

SOME FAVOR REFRAMING DEI

Might renaming diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts make it more palatable? What if the program was called Inclusion, Belonging, and Engagement (IBE) or Accessibility, Talent Development, and Opportunity instead (ATO)? Might the words used change people’s perception?

SOME FAVOR SUBSTITUTING A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Critics of DEI believe that Merit, Excellence and Intelligence (MEI) should be the priority, not DEI. They prefer prioritizing talent and achievement, skills and performance, over identity characteristics. The contention is that people should be treated as individuals rather than as group members.

BLEND APPROACHES

Some who believe that DEI ignored merit, call for a remix that balances DEI and MEI factors, giving consideration to both individual merit and diversity.

YOUR GAME PLAN

Look at your institution where you study or the organization where you work. Consider what needs to be done to foster a space where merit and diversity are not perceived of as at odds with each other? Might focusing on idea diversity in addition to identity diversity help? Demonstrating acceptance for demographic differences, as well as for a wide range of perspectives and life experiences, can avoid the creation of ideological echo-chambers that impede effective decision-making. Where viewpoint diversity exists, more robust discussions occur. Such discussions can help sharpen arguments—encouraging critical thinking, idea-testing and idea-refinement, and producing better outcomes. In settings where constructive disagreement is able to flourish, dialoguing succeeds in nurturing bridge-building—the discovery of ways to communicate constructively across differences. It’s not only DEI or MEI, but the ability to engage constructively with disagreement that ultimately will lead to better performing schools and organizations.