The Meta corporation (Mark Zuckerberg) is shutting down its diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Donald Trump only acknowledges the genders male and female. Friedrich Merz approves of this - at least, that’s what he said in the TV debate last Sunday. In the German election campaign, the discussion is almost exclusively focused on limiting migration. In this context, I feel that refugees are not spoken about with the same respect as people who do not have a refugee background. What is wrong with this world? I thought we had long since left these discriminatory times behind us.
We were already on a good path - with diversity and anti-discrimination programs in major companies, as well as laws like the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) in Germany from 2006, the Anti-Discrimination Directive in the EU from 2000, and the UN Charter of Human Rights from 1948.
To be fair, I must mention that I have not heard of any German company rolling back its anti-discrimination programs the way Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump have.
On the Contrary, just last week, the CEOs of Siemens, Mercedes-Benz, and Deutsche Bank warned of a rise in xenophobia in Germany and spoke out in favor of diversity in society and their companies.
From my personal professional experience, I can also confirm that German companies are actively committed to diversity and anti-discrimination. At the end of 2024, together with fellow trainers, I conducted training sessions for several hundred future leaders of a major German corporation on the topics of diversity, equal treatment, and inclusion.
Among other things, the training aimed to clarify how discrimination arises in the first place: How does discrimination occur, even when employees and leaders do not intentionally seek to disadvantage people in their environment? I would like to explore this question further in this newsletter as well.
From my understanding, discrimination emerges from personal privileges: privileges create stereotypes about those who are less privileged, stereotypes might develop into unconscious bias, and unconscious bias can, in turn, lead to discrimination.
Every society upholds privileges for certain groups. These privileges are rooted in the dominant religion, traditions, or past legal systems. Privileges for one group always mean disadvantages and discrimination for another. The issue becomes particularly critical when individuals are unaware of their own privileges. This often leads to them not even realising that they are unconsciously prejudiced against those parts of their society that do not enjoy these privileges.
In Germany, privileged individuals are still predominantly white, heterosexual, married, educated male Christians (or, more recently, atheists) from the middle and upper classes.
The formation of stereotypes about people who are not so familiar to us has psychological reasons. That is to say, we struggle to deal with the unknown, so we quickly form judgments (opinions) about everything - including things we neither know nor understand. This almost always leads to prejudice when we are unfamiliar with certain aspects such as languages, religions, preferences, backgrounds, or personal histories. This is where the problem begins! Most of these prejudices arise unconsciously. As a result, we tend to trust some people more than others - often for no valid reason and, unfortunately, without realizing it. The consequence is that we do not reflect on our potentially false assumptions and the behaviors they cause, which means we cannot correct them. This is how unconscious discrimination arises. However, for the person experiencing discrimination, it makes no difference whether the act was intentional or unconscious. The goal must always be to prevent discrimination!
The privileged - meaning us - have structured the world in a way that is comfortable for them. In doing so, they have implicitly created systemic barriers for those who are less privileged. Examples of such systemic barriers include:
- Stairs everywhere
- Only Christian holidays are days off
- Beauty standards set by advertising and social media
- Inflexible and non-inclusive education systems
- Western value systems dominating society
- Everyday routines such as standard work hours, etc.
- Language that uses only the male form
- And countless other examples...
Inclusion means removing these barriers so that everyone has the same opportunities. This means adapting the system for all people. Inclusion goes a huge step further than integration, because integration requires a marginalized group to adapt to the existing system of the dominant group. This means that marginalized groups face systemic barriers that they must overcome with great effort - often unsuccessfully.
To help us better recognize our unconscious bias, I would like to highlight seven key dimensions of diversity:
- Social background (education, financial resources)
- Health or disability (physical and mental)
- Transcultural diversity (geographical origin, skin color, cultural background)
- Generational diversity (age)
- Gender
- Religion or worldview
- Sexual diversity and identity
Discrimination can be reduced in the workplace, in public offices, when renting apartments, in supermarkets, in daycare centers, and in many other areas if we stop making unconscious judgments about unfamiliar aspects of these diversity dimensions. This is easier said than done, but it is absolutely worth the effort.
I'd like to conclude with three key reasons why fostering diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-discrimination in companies remains essential:
- Legal obligation: Companies, public institutions, and governments have long been required to comply with laws such as the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG), the EU Anti-Discrimination Directive, and the UN Charter of Human Rights.
- Strengthening democracy: By reducing inequality, we protect democratic values and promote a stronger, more cohesive society.
- Economic benefits: Fewer sick days among employees and higher motivation due to a culture of appreciation; greater innovation potential, since diverse perspectives drive creativity within teams; greater attractiveness on the labour market and for the business location as a whole.
In a nutshell: Diversity, equity & inclusion are not just ethical imperatives - they make social and economic sense!
This text first appeared in my newsletter "It's innovation Wednesday". It is published once a month. For subscription click here