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Social Inclusivity
Social Inclusivity highlights a process ensuring equal opportunities by improving the ability and dignity of individuals who are disadvantaged due to their identity (The World Bank, 2019). As part of social inclusivity two macro trends were identified: Social Acceptance and Gender Inequality
Social acceptance is the movement of people signalling their wish to include you in their societal groups and form relationships (Leary, 2010). Social acceptance has created population segments that are challenging the way the world is seen, gaining significant rise in buying power and impacting the way businesses operate (Cesar, 2015). The LGBTQ community can be defined as just one example of social acceptance. These ‘newly established’ groups cover the ideologies of gender blending, blurred lines between gender dressing and gender transitioning (Rossi, 2019). The flow of these societal trends; gender blending, gender transitioning and non-binary identification, can be summarised to equate to social inclusivity, whereby communities are moving towards acceptance (Avery, 2012). Today, Gen Z is referred to as the most well-educated generation: with a liberal set of attitudes and a great openness to emerging trends (Parker et al, 2019). Thus, suggesting how the trend is only likely to evolve further until full acceptance is achieved. Furthermore, the growing visibility of different lifestyle concepts is projected through social media, by the idea of a flexible identity spectrum for sexuality and gender. In the world of cosmetics and fashion, the attribute genderless is becoming more relevant (Friedman, 2017). This refers to colours and designs of styles, products and hairstyles not correspond to traditional gender clichés (Trendone, 2019).
Gender equality is one of the key challenges facing society today. Across the world it manifests in many ways including pay, employment opportunities and access to education (TimesHigherEducation, 2019). It can be said that inequalities in pay are induced by the education system whereby gender norms are influenced and defined from an early age. The 2019 Women, Business and Law report, produced by the World Bank, identified that gender discrimination is evident in 187 countries and only six countries globally give women equal legal work rights as men (Whiting, 2019a). It was identified that men are paid significantly more in most UK Businesses and the gender pay gap has widened in favour of men (Petter, 2019). It is predicted that closing the gender inequality gap and gender pay gap will take 108 years and 202 years respectively (Whiting, 2019a) (Petter, 2019). Noted by a group of female leaders, gender equality may not be achieved due to political forces (Whiting, 2019b). An open letter was written “calling for a redoubling in policies and in legal and social frameworks that will achieve gender equality and inclusion” (Whiting, 2019b). #BalanceforBetter was the key theme around this year’s International Women’s Day, 8th of March, communicating the beneficial impact of a gender balanced world (Whiting, 2019b).
