It seems not that long ago in a lecture theatre in a high profile genomics institute I sat listening to a talk by an influential UK scientist, and science leader. The talk was about equality, diversity and inclusion. It was a powerful talk with important points about the need to embrace diversity and inclusion, as this betters society, science and organisations overall.
Key arguments were made about considering diversity beyond gender, ancestry, sexual orientation or religious belief. Diversity should be taken in its broadest sense to mean diversity of thinking, of opinions, of cultures and beliefs, diversity of ways of working and leading. I am paraphrasing but the sense of the message was “if you find yourself in a meeting hearing back the echo of your own views and opinions, then you know you do not have sufficient diversity in the room”. Totally agree. And yet, the reality of the organisation hosting this very talk is much different to this aspiration…
A key undercurrent message from this talk was to invite views and opinions, and we were told “you have a voice, you should use your voice”. This seemed an open invitation for us to express our concerns and views, an open door to seek our opinions… How can organisations, employers and funders better capture and incentivise diversity? How can one better assess people’s contributions to science, education and the running of an organisation beyond the traditional CV, which most in a lazy assessment of people’s value reduce to a set of bibliometric measures?
Yet when twelve us came forward with our concerns in the form of a whistle-blowing referral, highlighting significant concerns over governance and leadership that had an impact on the very topic of “equality, diversity and inclusion” the message that came back was strong, loud and clear. We were told in no uncertain terms to “please shut up”! A simple, public denial of there being a pervasive problem, though “management mistakes” had happened, there was not a widespread problem, and all the noise was just because of a single aggrieved individual. But twelve is not one, is it?!
So which is it? Do you want to hear our voice or not?! Is it not time that leadership and organisations stopped “talking the talk” and instead started to “walk the walk”? “Judge people not by their words, but by their actions.” Policies and aspirations are good, but only if they are implemented equitably and if they have a true positive impact. Else they are just empty pretty words, no more, no less.
So please, if you are in a position of power and leadership, if you can influence decisions and policies, if you can affect change (and we all have a role to play in our daily lives): “stop talking so much and start acting more!”