Going Beyond Tokenism

If you don’t keep up with the change, you will be left behind

–

Bradley Walsh

All organizations have learned that they need to be change drivers in a developing country like India. Some readily took up the responsibility, while others learned the hard way.

With increasing emphasis on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in organizations, while recruiting, it has become important for them to keep in mind the need to onboard people from diverse backgrounds to uphold an inclusive brand image.

The majority of top companies have achieved good workforce diversity but a major question that remains to be asked is whether their responsibility is only until the recruitment of these people. What happens after that? Who is responsible to ensure they are not discriminated against or left aloof? Who is accountable for building the spirit of inclusion in an organization, which rather than just satisfying its bubble reputation, works towards making room for its employees to feel a sense of belonging?

Niki Dhameja MBA 2022-24

This is the point when one needs to think about going beyond tokenism.

Tokenism is the act of doing something in order to show that a company is including people from minority or marginalized groups, but without sincerity and without showing an intent to increase diversity and promote inclusivity i.e trying to give the appearance that people are being treated fairly, while they may not actually be.

According to Outlook India, only 4% of the transgender population is employed in the private sector, and out of all these organizations, only 12 to 13% of them have allgender toilets. In the rest of the organizations, they generally use the male washrooms that at times makes them feel embarrassed or a topic of discussion amongst the others.

In an interview published in the India Times, Nyra D’souza, a transgender woman told, "I never took a bathroom break when she worked at a Mumbai outsourcing firm – uncomfortable in the men’s washroom and not allowed in the women’s facility "

Solidarity Foundation, a Bangalore-based rights group that works with sexual minorities, had placed 15 transgender people over the last year Shubha Chacko, executive director of Solidarity Foundation says, “Companies are becoming more open and talking about these issues, but integration is still not part of their DNA”

While we have taken the first step of opening up, talking about, and trying to accept diverse people there is still much to be done We need to steadily work our way towards the next step of trying to incorporate these people into the organization, making them feel equal and not discriminating against them on any basis India is one of the most populous countries in the world It takes a significant amount of time to accept any kind of change fully As such leaders must take up the responsibility to pave the way and make way for others to follow them

One critical step in combating tokenism and encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion is to ensure that employees are not expected to be the sole representative of their entire group.

What is needed is to move beyond token gestures and establish concrete frameworks for increasing diversity and inclusion and reprimanding behaviours and practices that undermine these efforts. True inclusion, equity and diversity will not be realized until we eliminate tokenism from representation.

People, in addition to management, must take responsibility to avoid tokenism. Those of us who are new to certain areas must take advantage of every opportunity to build relationships.

It's critical to join organizations that will empower you outside of your job so you can show up and perform as expected at work."

"Tokenism doesn't change stereotypes of social systems but works to preserve them since it dulls the revolutionary impulse" - Mary Daly

Let us welcome these changes wholeheartedly by developing a new mindset and being accepting of everyone. Let us try to unlearn the fact that we are all not the same and need not be so and enliven the fact that we are all unique in our way but still equal. Let's take a pledge to "Go beyond Tokenism"