I just got back from an event where we listened to a psychological researcher discussing her work using virtual reality technology to study people’s reactions to the warning signs of sexual assault in a party setting. It was SO COOL.
In my research, I am interested in two phenomenons. Ambient harassment, where people witness or hear about harassment happening to someone else, and institutional betrayal, or when an institution fails to provide justice or support to victims of sexual violence.
Sometimes I feel like these are conflicting topics. Sometimes I don’t know if they make sense in the same PhD thesis, but then I try to remind myself that all research outputs I read - from papers in journals, to presentations, to conferences, all of these stories are curated. My research will also be curated as and when it is presented in these formats. The messiness that I see and feel in my soul about my research is probably similarly messy to how these other researchers work also felt to them. I am practicing self compassion, particularly when greeted by my good friend Imposter Syndrome.
But this talk and topic was so cool! It really invigorated my interest in bystanders and what I could do with my research. I love the idea of using technology, or testing technology that’s being used in current bystander programs, or using the technology to further my research. This pub talk made me think - how can I use virtual reality in my research? Could I design an experimental study? How fucking COOL would that be? But what would it look like?
I’d like to look further into experimental designs around harassment and sexual violence. It would be a really cool thing to be able to talk about, and right now I’m feeling rather stagnant with my run of the mill survey design. There’s a company called Vantage Point, which is currently testing their equipment in workplaces with scientific researchers.
That’s all my brain can muster right now on the topic. I have a pizza waiting for me.
As a leader, your authenticity matters - especially to your queer employees
Leadership is a powerful influence in organizational culture. As leaders, our role is crucial to creating workplaces that are inclusive, safe and set our people up for success.
Every business has a ‘culture’.
What is a business's culture? Culture is an ambiguous word, and we're starting to hear it more frequently in and about our workplaces. Many organizations include blurbs about their company culture right on their websites, but what is it really?
Culture is co-created by the people in the organization. It's the shared values, attitudes and beliefs that we share, and these ideas influence the way things are "around here" or how they get done. Casual Friday is a great example - do you love it or hate it? That says something about your values, and if your company loves casual Friday, it tells you something about theirs.
Businesses can have cultures that focus on particular goals, such as innovation, inclusion or safety. They can have aggressive cultures, that worship competition and cutthroat negotiations, and they can embrace diversity. Similarly, if harassment, discrimination or bullying goes unnoticed or unaddressed, these issues can become part of company culture too.
Company culture is especially important for queer employees.
The micro-cultures of our businesses, organizations and universities can often unintentionally recreate the larger cultures they belong to - so we can often see issues of discrimination and disadvantage that happen in larger society happening in our businesses too. Queer employees are particularly vulnerable to harassment, discrimination and abuse at work because often our larger culture is slow to react to these types of abuse in life, and this vulnerability can compound with issues regarding race or gender. This makes queer women of color particularly vulnerable to violence, especially if they are trans.
Did you know, research shows that 90% of queer people experience anxiety and stress when it comes to work? This ranges from coming out stress, to being misgendered, to harassment and lack of accessibility to safe bathrooms (1). It's not surprising when you consider the range of social stigma and discrimination that make navigating life difficult for queer people - but it does make it our responsibility as leaders to respond.
And whether we're front line managers, executive board members or company CEO's, our employees learn what rules matter and which rules can be disregarded through observing us. We transfer information on our values and attitudes towards others, ourselves and the company to our staff in three major ways:
Where do we allocate time and resources? We either have enough time or money, and what we do with both says plenty about our organizational values. Leaders that talk frequently about diversity without any follow through will struggle to get employees on board with inclusion initiatives. Funding mentorship programs, being transparent with pay discrepancies and creating spaces and avenues for people to return back to work or get re-skilled are all good ways to put our money where our mouth is (2).
What do we tolerate? Leaders who tolerate harassment, discrimination or bullying only create breeding grounds for these unacceptable behaviors in their workplace (3). Stamp it out when it's brought to you, don't wait for it to make your workplace sick.
We influence our staff through role modeling (4). Employees interpret what's actually important by paying attention to what matters to us. When we behave inclusively, when we make an effort to promote initiatives around equality, and when we encourage diversity, employees see where we put our effort and understand that those actions and behaviors are valued by the company.
While it may be convenient, the old phrase "do as I say, not as I do" is often ineffective - therefore, being an authentic leader might be the best thing you can do for your company's culture.
Belonging to a tribe is an innate human need, and it is a survival skill that has kept us alive through most of human history. It's the feeling that we are part of a group. There is a theory in scholarly literature called optimal distinctiveness theory (5), which explains this need with a caveat - that we also need to be appreciated for uniqueness within that group. Every employee has an optimal level where they feel as though they belong to a group that still appreciates them for their uniqueness outside of the group identity.
If people are too insular in the group, they can lose their sense of identity and this can sometimes cause friction. If a person is too unique, they can be excluded from the group and their sense of belonging can suffer. This can be the case with queer employees who belong to organizations that still struggle with discrimination, incivility and micro-aggressions.
So be an example to your employees, and show them that celebrating difference is part of your company culture. Attending diversity trainings, questioning hiring or promotion decisions when bias, and don't be afraid to let your employees get to know the real you. If you want a company culture that values diversity and inclusion, encourage belonging and authenticity in your team by (6):
Share decision-making, and ask for your employees opinions. Show them their individual voices matter.
Demonstrate fair treatment to everyone, be accessible to all your employees when they need you.
Don't tolerate discriminatory behavior, even if its from your partners or friends.
Practice having the courage to be transparent and authentic about who you are. Practice valuing your own uniqueness, and show how we're all different and that it is an advantage.
Be authentic to yourself when you show up for work so you can better show up for your queer members of staff.
----------------------------------------
Further reading:
1) Irwin, J. (2002). Discrimination Against Gay Men, Lesbians, and Transgender People Working in Education. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 14(2), 65–77.
2) Michàl E. Mor Barak, The Inclusive Workplace: An Ecosystems Approach to Diversity Management, Social Work, Volume 45, Issue 4, July 2000, Pages 339–353
3) Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191.
4) DeSouza, E. R. (2011). Frequency rates and correlates of contrapower harassment in higher education. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 26(1), 158–188.
5) Brewer, M. B. (1993). Social identity, distinctiveness, and in-group homogeneity. Social Cognition, 11(1), 150–164.
6) Brunk, R. (2018). A statistical analysis of inclusive leadership and its benefits to organizational climate and perceptions of inclusion. University of Leeds.
kaledo-art
baratheonpilled
jbbartram-illu
izzy806
tangentwithtanner
titsay
turnnoffyourmind
pixelskylines
2087
annaxmalina
areudirty