Having studied Human Rights Law as part of my undergraduate degree, and International Humanitarian Law as part of my Master’s, I always had an aspiration to work in the area of improving the rights of humans around the world. In taking my current role as Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Manager in a new university, I playfully referred to it as “human rights light” – a gentle introduction to the world of difficult conversations with people in an attempt to broaden their perspectives to the benefit of wider, underrepresented and marginalised communities. I saw the opportunity to work with staff and students as having potential exponential benefits, not just for the current generations in the workforce, but the ones yet to come after us and beyond.
Nearly three years into this role, and having seen the responses by universities over the last 6 months, or the lack thereof, I am now seeing more clearly that even in a supposedly academic rather than corporate setting, EDI appears to be less focused on Human Rights and more aligned to Human Resources…
This makes sense when you look at the key drivers in the Athena Swan Ireland Charter. Despite its expansion to include more intersectional and potentially “controversial” issues such as trans and non-binary gender identity, consideration of race & ethnicity, and even specifically mentions sexual violence in its requirement for universities to provide a safe & respectful campus culture. The tangible measurables are generally taken from Human Resources data. From recruitment to career progression, the work of EDI is naturally intertwined with HR, Human Resources, not Human Rights.
For anyone coming to EDI from the charitable or NGO (Non Governmental Organisation) sector, this may be painfully obvious. Indeed, it may simply be the general understanding that EDI is not intended to be tackling human rights abuses or global injustices, but is by its nature designed to be more performative and superficial in nature. From rainbow logos to diverse awareness days, perhaps EDI is simply meant to be window dressing.
Michelle Mijung Kim disagrees with this, as of course, do I.
EDI can and must be meaningful if it is to be effective.
But, we cannot be effective if we are not being realistic.
We must, to paraphrase Arthur Ashe, start from where we are.
“Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can”
Arthur Ashe, the first black tennis player selected to the United States Davis Cup team, and the only black man ever to win the singles titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open.
So perhaps EDI is more aligned with Human Resources than Human Rights. But that is not to say it cannot still be meaningful and effective. We all have our parts to play in the choir of collective justice.
“One individual cannot possibly make a difference, alone. It is individual efforts, collectively, that makes a noticeable difference—all the difference in the world!”
Jane Goodall, is an English primatologist and anthropologist. She is considered the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees, after 60 years’ studying the social and family interactions of wild chimpanzees
If enough of us use our voices, audiences and platforms to speak out for meaningful change, eventually, we will gradually shift the dial from performative towards effectiveness. We simply have to start from where we are, and work from there.
Where can you start today?
Siobhán Kangataran 