Equity & Access Resources

Purpose: To encourage the user to consider how bias may influence their decision-making, and to identify ways to curtail it.

Instructions: Reflect on the following questions regularly. Identify areas in need of improvement, and create goals to address them.

Have you ever…

• Educated yourself about the experiences of people from backgrounds other than your own?
• Reflected on your upbringing in order to understand your own biases?
• Examined your own behaviour and attitudes to identify how they may either contribute or combat prejudice?
• Changed how you use language to eliminate terms that may be hurtful to others?
• Caught yourself generalizing someone based on one of their group identities?
• Discredited someone’s identity (or example, by saying something like “I don’t even think of you as ”)?
• Comfortably discussed issues of racism, prejudice, or systemic discrimination with others?
• Spoken up when other people use prejudicial language or behaviour?
• Openly received feedback about how your behaviour may be insensitive or offensive to others?
• Made a conscious effort to ensure people can contribute to a conversation, regardless of their background?
• Worked to ensure that your workplace, staff, volunteers, etc. reflect the diversity of your community?
• Critically consumed media (e.g. news, fictional programming, social media posts) with negative stereotypes or biases in mind?

Purpose: To assess a job candidate’s awareness of equity issues, and experience working with diverse populations.

Instructions:

1. Probe for past experiences and lessons learned. Past behavior is the best predictor for future behavior, so prompt the candidate to tell stories about their experiences and takeaways. Here are two questions you can ask:

To what extent has pursuing racial or other types of equity and inclusion been a priority in your work, and how did you approach it?

• Why was this important to you?
• What were some of your core challenges?
• What have you learned from these experiences?

Can you talk about a time you navigated dynamics around race or other identities in your work? What did you do?

• What do you think were the root causes of those dynamics?
• What were some of your core challenges?
• What lessons did you learn?

2. Use scenarios and simulations to see your candidate in action and observe their ability to spot and manage complex issues of identity. Give them a chance to complete an exercise that’s similar to what they’d be doing on the job and include an equity and inclusion component.

Below are two examples:

• For a lawyer position: “Here’s a fact pattern describing a hypothetical matter. What are some equity considerations that arise for you?”
• For an IT position: “We serve people of many different ages, backgrounds and experiences, and our staff and interns reflect this diversity. Given this, how would you approach training and supporting our staff in meeting their technology needs?”

3. Weave in opportunities for your candidate to demonstrate their competence throughout the process. Testing someone’s ability to navigate issues of equity and identity shouldn’t just be relegated to an “equity section” of your interview process. It should be integrated throughout. Here are two ways to weave it in:
   • Get your candidate to demonstrate their understanding in the context of other topics by asking specific follow-up questions, like:

° How did you account for equity and inclusion when you were setting recruitment goals for your firm?

° Do you think there were any differences in race/gender/other identities that influenced how that conflict played out?

• Have them interact with a cross-section of your team that is diverse both in role and across identities. Then observe and ask for feedback from those people, with an eye for patterns or discrepancies.

Adapted from: 3 Ways to Test for Racial Equity & InclusionCompetency, The Management Center

Purpose: To learn how to incorporate client-centered thinking into your practice, using a real story from a client submitted through the #TalkJustice initiative.

Instructions: Read the story below, and then consider the questions that follow.

“When I bought my first house, I had some difficulties communicating with my lawyer. He was a great lawyer and tried to make sure I understood and asked me in each meeting that if I had any questions. The problem was I did not have much knowledge on this. A lot of time I did not understand what he was talking about so I could not raise any questions or my questions were about simplest things that hardly be a question.”

• How do you think this situation happened? Try to imagine:

° How the conversation between lawyer and client might have unfolded.

° How you might know the client could be feeling this way.

• Is this an experience someone could have in your workplace?

° If not, why not? What processes or training do you have that would prevent this from happening?

° If so, what can you change to reduce the chance of something like this happening?

Ask yourself:

What is the culture of my workplace? Are equity-deserving groups represented and do all individuals feel included?

• E.g. Does it have pictures on the wall that reflect a commitment to make all people feel welcome? Are there other artifacts or materials in the reception area/lobby that foster a sense of belonging in all people that enter?

Does my workplace take opportunities to be more representative? Do groups feel that they can bring their culture to work?

Are there ways to expand the culture to include the life experiences and personalities of diverse groups of people?

• E.g. Am I valuing extensive work/volunteer experience with marginalized groups the same as other experience?

Does my workplace offer formal learning opportunities to learn about diverse issues and groups?

Are work social activities representative of the values of the dominant group? Do all employees feel comfortable attending?

• E.g. Do they always take place at a bar? Are food options varied to accommodate all peoples’ lifestyles?

Does my workplace encourage employees to attend events in the community that would allow them to learn about systemic discrimination and first-hand experiences? Does my workplace welcome people into “our space”?

• Do I actively listen to and believe the lived experiences of community members without external validation and without judgment?

Does my workplace celebrate equity-seeking groups all year long or only during designated periods?

• E.g. Pride Month, National Indigenous History Month, Mi’kmaq History Month, African Heritage Month, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Women’s History Month etc.

Thinking outside of the dominant culture at my workplace, would people who are not like me feel free to be themselves at work?

• How can I encourage all employees to be their authentic selves, including myself?

What assumptions do we make as we carry out our work? What equity implications do these assumptions have?

• E.g. As a client walks into my office, am I assuming anything about them based on stereotypes or assuming that they are like me? Am I letting them tell their story and asking questions after?

Ask your clients:

Is there anything else you think I should know about your background so I can better represent you?

Is there anything that we discussed that I could explain better? How do you feel about the services I have provided you with so far? Is there anything I can do to help you further?

Purpose: For many people, identifying the right terminology to use when speaking with or about equity-seeking groups is a source of concern. They want to know what the “correct” term is, to avoid causing offense. While there are no simple answers to this concern, we can articulate some basic principles to assist readers with navigating these conversations.

Instructions: When identifying appropriate terminology, keep the following principles in mind:

1. Because there will never be consensus over which terms are correct, it is best to defer to more formal language at first.
   • For example, use “2SLGBTQ+” rather than “gay”.
2. When referring to a personal characteristic, use adjectives rather than nouns.
   • Examples include using “people in the Black community” rather than “the Blacks”, or “persons with a disability” rather than “the disabled”.
3. Keep abreast of which terms are considered outdated.
   • For example, terms like “Oriental”, “visible minority”, or “Indian” are considered outdated in Canada. Use “East Asian”, “People of Colour” or “Racialized people”, or “Indigenous” instead.
   • Consider keeping up to date with terminology to be part of your ongoing self-education, as you engage with individuals and other cultures. Helpful resources include, but are not limited to:

° Law Society of British Columbia’s Guidance for Lawyers on Using Inclusive Language

° Queen’s University’s Inclusive Style Guidelines

° British Columbia Public Service’s Guidelines on using inclusive language in the workplace

4. Avoid use of “in-group language”.
   • Sometimes, people from equity-seeking groups will refer to each other using terms that are widely considered slurs or are otherwise offensive.

It is not appropriate for people outside the group to use these words. Even if someone in your social circle has granted you “permission” to use such words in their presence, do not use them elsewhere. It is also inappropriate to use them under the guise of quoting song lyrics, television shows, or other pop culture artifacts.

5. Only refer to descriptors of these characteristics if they are relevant.
   • Referring to characteristics superfluously can cause as much offense as using an outdated or inappropriate term.
6. Above all else, defer to the preferences of the person about whom you are speaking.
   • Listen to how the person with whom you are speaking describes themselves, and echo this terminology.

• There is nothing wrong with asking, for example, “Do you have a preference for which term I should use?”