It is the intersectional understanding of gender that was highly stressed at the multi-disciplinary Gender Studies program that has informed my work at IN-VISIBLE the most.
As the gender equity discourse is just starting to establish within the corporate world, it is important to make managers understand how intersecting identities constitute employees’ lived experiences and that different people need different things to feel safe and comfortable at work.
In Germany, the conversation is mostly held about women and what they should do and learn to get into better positions. This is in stark contrast to the abundance of studies and research from Gender Studies and related disciplines that hint at structural issues within the (working) world that disadvantage underrepresented groups.
Change needs strategies and willpower, and as we see with regards to best practices, it needs a clear stance from leadership.
Rea
Thus, towards the end of my time at POLIS, I wondered why the academic insights are not finding their way into „diversity management“ strategies. It was my frustration about this gap between an abundance of information within academia on one hand and the conversation held by diversity managers on the other hand, that motivated me to found IN-VISIBLE.
As a female founder with an academic background in Gender Studies, I since bring intersectional, state-of the-art perspectives into the discussions at workplaces and assist organisations to turn their D&I vision into actionable opportunities and strategies.
As we hear much talk about gender equity and other forms of diversity - but see very little change, is of utmost importance to hold managers accountable - and to offer them tools and support on their journey. My time at POLIS was characterised by an interdisciplinary mindset that fostered exchange between disciplines and provided an alternative to an academic silo mentality.
In my work with IN-VISIBLE, I encourage organisations to apply this way of working and to use existing sources of information within academia—there is so much that can be learned from others.
As the conversation about diversity has gotten a lot of media attention, in our workshops we find employees surprised that sexism and gender-based discrimination is still an issue.
However, it is important for us to stress that only because the topic has been on a lot of people’s minds, change does not just happen.
Change needs strategies and willpower, and as we see with regards to best practices, it needs a clear stance from leadership.
Moreover, gender equity, which is the focus of our work, can not be separated from conversations about sexism, racism and classism within any work culture.
Obviously, no organisation wants to be affiliated with sexism or other forms of discrimination, however, proactively challenging one’s own corporate culture and structures and investing in employee awareness signals to the outside world: we are on it.
No mind is entirely free of biases, no organisation is built upon neutral terms—we need to unlearn and rebuild our ways of collaboration, the sooner the better.
Get in touch with Rea and IN-VISIBLE:
Website>>
LinkedIn>>
Instagram>>
Facebook>>