Improving diversity and inclusion as allies

 

I have previously written about the underrepresentation of women SCA rapier awards and created a summary report. There are 3 major benefits from collecting data on representation in women in leadership positions:

1. Describe the problem

2. Identify targets for intervention

3. Get the community invested

Describe the problem

In general, people not directly impacted by an issue will not realize the magnitude of it, and identifying what exactly is happening is important. For example, we found that the rate of admission of women to the Order of Defense has not changed in the 5 years since its creation. This demonstrates that limited female advancement is a self-perpetuating cycle. Only women who thrive under the current paradigm are advancing, and that is being used as a model of what a qualified female candidate should look like. Since this is the minority, there are fewer examples of success, both for women coming up through the ranks and for mentors.  This means active steps need to be taken to change the situation.

Identify targets for intervention  

We also found that the issue is happening at all stages, resembling a “leaky pipeline”. A pipeline issue cannot be rectified by stances such as “Show me a qualified female candidate and I’ll promote them.” There needs to be changes to mentorship at earlier levels. Additionally, the perception of what is a qualified female candidate also needs to be examined closely as there is often a lot of bias that has been built into every step of the way.

Seeing numbers like this can be discouraging, especially for those who have been working hard and having countless conversations to bring visibility to these issues. But, there’s good news. There are multiple examples of interventions including codes of conduct, training for recognizing unconscious bias, and setting goals for inclusivity.

Get the community invested

There are decades of research showing diversity is crucial for innovation, problem solving, and impact of groups. Therefore, these rates of dropout and barriers for women has a profound negative effect on the entire community. Women and minorities collectively are more than half of the population. Unchecked toxic behavior makes participation less fun for everyone. Younger generations have higher expectations for environments that are free of harassment, and an increasingly interconnected society means information about egregious behavior spreads rapidly. Together, this means that these issues must be addressed if the SCA is to survive long term.

What can I do?

Fortunately, overt, active hatred (such as misogyny, racism, and homophobia) is becoming less common. However, there is still a lot of barriers to further equality buried in implicit biases, microaggressions, and passive acceptance of systems and behaviors that marginalize minorities. Therefore, allies cannot be passive in their efforts, but must actively learn to be actively anti-hate.

Conversations examining implicit biases and previous shortcomings may make you feel like you are under attack. The Oatmeal does a great job explaining why. Allies need to be open minded and willing to learn from mistakes, otherwise allies are forcing minorities to spend their energies on soothing hurt feelings rather than focusing on their training. However, simply asking “what can I do?” also fails to help the situation as it again puts the burden onto minorities. Allies need to self-reflect to discover what unconscious ideas and behaviors are causing harm and resolve to act independently. There are a lot of resources out there to help people become a better ally, and this is a good place to start:  

1. Discover your implicit biases

2. Confront and overcome implicit biases

3. Learn about microaggressions and how to recognize and address your microaggressions.

4. Learn 5 types of bystander interventions

5. Recognize that “invisible labor” expected of minorities to address community issues contributes to burnout and reduces time available for other activities such as training: 

Recruiting allies who are willing to take an active role in improving their own behavior and intervening on behalf of others is a crucial first step. Allies also need to provide opportunities for minorities to talk about their experiences and give input on issues. This information can be used to create plans and guidelines, such as generating a call to action.

Call to action

In this context, a call to action is suggested actions for individuals to uphold the policies and values of the SCA. There is a SCAharassment and bullying policy and a DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) mission andstatement of SCA core values. A mutual agreement from groups (i.e. Order of Defense, local leadership, etc) to bridge the gap between the goals of inclusiveness and fairness outlined in these policies and the current challenges is sorely needed. These calls to actions should include how hurdles will be identified and addressed as well as the expected behavior from members. An excellent example of this is the shared statement by the Order of Defense to reject hate speech and work together to improve the culture. 

However, it isn’t just the leadership who can make these changes. An effective call to action will suggest actions available to individuals of all levels and support those advocating for these changes. Here are 4 starting points for your calls to action:

1. Create an environment that is inclusive, response, empowering and safe for people of color and gender and sexual orientation minorities, including allowing individuals to speak about predicaments without fear of reprisal.

-Discuss training structures including fighter practice locations and format, teacher availability and support, seeking input specifically from minority groups.

2. Actively question, challenge, and counter biases and assumptions, including:

-Award Orders: How people are described, how problems are framed and explained, and how requirements for advancement are created and communicated.

-Marshalls: Training on interventions for issues involving calibration, shot-calling, or harassment.

- Everyone: implicit bias examination, efforts to improve, and receptiveness to suggestions.

3. Foster a diverse fighting community and make efforts to actively welcome those falling into minority groups, including:

-Leadership: Plan initiatives to improve mentorship, accessibility, and non-award recognition for minorities. Set goals for inclusivity, such as quotas for number of women and minorities being discussed in circles.  

-Teachers: seek to improve ability to work with those who have different physical or learning needs.

-Mentors: seek training in DEI issues and allyship, both within the SCA and without.

-Officers and event organizers: Make active efforts to represent minority groups among teachers, those assisting in demonstrations, and in written/visual forms of communication.

-Everyone: practice appropriate welcoming statements for new observers of diverse ages, ethnicities, and gender expressions (i.e. asking for pronouns, use of technology).

4. Create clear guidelines for reporting problems so that they can be discussed and improved on. Currently, there are different mechanisms for reporting harassment and marshallate problems with poor guidance for how to bring up problems that do not meet those criteria or aren’t severe enough for sanctions. There is also no effort to mitigate repercussions on the reporting party. Enforcement and consequences for violating these policies are inconsistent. These procedures need to be accessible to participants every level of experience with improved transparency of implementation.

Conclusion

Institutional barriers are the biggest hurdle to overcome in the quest for equity. Each assumed step has built in bias that is reinforced if accepted as “just the way things are”. Individuals have a responsibility to examine and work on their biases. There are also opportunities at different levels to develop resources and plans with input from minority groups. The good news is that there are several models in the real world that have been successful at developing awareness of and creating different roads to inclusion. Addressing these issues are vital for the community as a whole and will improve future recruitment, retention, and quality of training.

 Perin de la Serena