D&I Friday Read No. 273 – Special Edition – Best of 2019

Welcome to the latest edition of our Diversity & Inclusion News Round-Up. Today we are sharing with you the Best of 2019, with some of our favourite articles and videos. Happy Holidays everyone!

Inclusion
Research shows that inclusive companies are more successful. But what can we do in our day-to-day work? Interesting HBR article giving some ideas on how to make meetings more inclusive.

Inclusion
21-year-old Fatima Timbo, who has dwarfism, did a body positivity video for the BBC, talking about the challenges being confident in herself and how she wants to inspire others. Definitely worth watching!

Women in STEM
Very interesting (long) read about the history of women in STEM. Almost 180 years ago, the first person to write a machine algorithm was Lady Ada Lovelace, a woman. In the ‘60s, computer programming was seen as a women’s job. So what happened that we are now battling to get women into coding?

Inclusion
Kurzgesagt, a German YouTube channel and design studio, released this really interesting video about loneliness, how important this feeling was for our ancestors and what the impact is nowadays. Worth watching!

Gender Bias
Very interesting! According to a study, published in the American Sociological Review, a simple switch from a 1-10 to a 1-6 rating scale in performance reviews can eliminate gender gaps. This is caused by biases, linking a perfect 10 to the stereotype of male excellence.

Generation
We should never use the excuse that we are “too old” to learn something new. Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins took up running at 100 (!) years old and is now, at 103 years, the holder of several world records. Read more here.

Racial Bias
Consumer goods company Procter & Gamble released this really powerful video “The Look”, as part of their campaign to raise awareness about racial bias. Please watch!

Inclusion & Tech
Open Bionics is a British bionic arm start-up that is backed by investors like the F1 team Williams. Watch Tilly Lockey, a 13 year old girl, getting her independence back thanks to her bionic arms.

Generation
How does it feel to age? At the MIT AgeLab, researchers are helping to design a world that is more inclusive for older people. Watch the video.

Racial Bias
Have you ever noticed anything about human-like robots? They are usually white. And according to a new study, this might be due to racial bias. Very interesting read!

D&I Friday Read No. 272

Inclusion
Great article about why it is so important for companies to ensure that employees feel that they belong. According to the latest research, employees with higher workplace belonging show significantly higher job performance, fewer absences and better retention.

Neurodiversity
ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) is usually described in a negative way, something that needs to be fixed. Very interesting article about the creative side of ADHD and how the thinking style of people with ADHD can lead to innovation.

LGBTQ
The Hallmark Channel, a popular American TV network, got into trouble this week. An advert from Zola, a wedding website service, got pulled after airing because a conservative group complained that it showed two brides kissing. This immediately caused a huge backlash on social media, which then led to the company saying they will reinstate the advert. Read more here.

Diversity
For many years, Google has been publishing the “Year in Search”. This year, the video is all about heroes – especially every-day heroes who are making a difference. Worth watching!

D&I Friday Read No. 271

Equal Pay
Intel, who has been investing heavily in D&I in the past years, just released their latest diversity report, including detailed pay data. Looking at their top pay tiers, they are still dominated by white and Asian men – not a big surprise in the tech industry. |

Diversity
34-year-old Sanna Marin has just been appointed Prime Minister in Finland, making her the youngest prime minister in the world. Finland’s government is now led by 5 women, with 4 of them under 35. Interesting article looking at the country’s diversity strategy.

Gender Identity
The popular dictionary Merriam-Webster just announced its word of the year for 2019 – the non-binary pronoun “they”. According to the dictionary, the searches for the word have risen by over 300% in the past year, influenced by various artists talking about their gender identity. Read more here.

Diverse Representation
There is very little black representation in mainstream animation projects, but Sony Pictures Animation just released “Hair Love” a very sweet short movie about an African American dad learning how to style his daughter’s hair. Worth watching!

D&I Friday Read No. 270

Gender Roles
A new report, released this week, looked at the difference between men and women and their need to take family responsibility leave. While men almost have the same need as women, they usually don’t take full advantage of it, even if the leave was fully paid. Gender role expectations seem to be the main reason for this – impacted by their managers but also by their own families.

Women in the Workplace
Interesting read! There is an ongoing myth that women are mean to other women in the workplace and don’t support each other. According to new research, there is actually no empirical evidence that women are inherently hostile to other women though and it is the environment that might lead to difficult work relationships.

Inclusion
Have you heard of code-switching? Code-switching means adjusting how you speak, behave etc. depending on who you are with, typically to fit in better with that group. Underrepresented groups might use this behaviour to avoid discrimination in the workplace – but it comes at a cost! Read more here.

Sexism
I guess this didn’t go as planned… The exercise bike company Peloton lost USD 1.5bn in value due to backlash to their Christmas advert published this week. The advert, featuring a woman who was gifted a bike for the holidays, was criticised as sexist and dystopian.