DEV Community

Discussion on: Diversity vs Inclusivity: Understanding the Difference

Collapse
 
eli profile image
Eli Bierman • Edited

This a very thoughtful post, thanks for sharing! You explain the difference between these two concepts so well.

Your description of an inclusive team dynamic feels spot on. I think having a diverse team as early on as possible is a really important part of building that inclusive dynamic, and it can be hard to build that dynamic later.

A team that is not diverse is inevitably less inclusive for anybody who doesn’t fit the existing patterns (e.g. being a person of color in a majority white space), since they may not have people they can identify with in the organization. That takes a psychological toll that other people on the team may not experience.

Diversity is arguably even more important in the early stages of a company, because it’s a formational period for the company culture, and early employees are often offered leadership opportunities as well. I don’t agree with inclusivity first and diversity later, since later may become too late if the culture has crystallized. I think inclusion is a great frame as long as diversity is still an explicit and measured goal.

Without seeing someone like you supported within the organization, there is no concrete evidence that the team understands how to support people that fit your patterns yet. Some people are willing to help an organization through this learning process on top of doing the job they were hired for, but the additional labor is usually uncompensated if the company is not prepared to provide that additional support that may not have been necessary for other people that self-selected into the team.

I also don’t think diversity of personality or political views is a meaningful form of diversity to strive for, since there aren’t generational systems of oppression across those axes as there are on the basis of race, gender, age, disability, criminal record, neurodivergence, etc. There is the additional complication that diversity of personality is usually used to refer to a group of white people.

Thanks again for the thoughtful post. I appreciate you sharing your perspective on the topic. :-) I’d be curious to hear more about the signs you saw that Kenna has an inclusive culture, despite the all-male dev team when you joined.

Collapse
 
molly profile image
Molly Struve (she/her)

Thank you for the incredibly thoughtful response. I definitely can see where you are coming from when you say that diversity ideally should come as early as possible to help the culture become inclusive. I never thought of it in that light but I would agree.

At Kenna, even though I was the first female on the dev team it was already comprised of people of color and different nationalities. When I interviewed I also noticed the different personality types between everyone on the team. Some people were quieter and more thoughtful while others were bubbly and personable. Seeing and hearing how all these different personalities thrived made me feel like I could find my spot here, I bet they would accept me and all my quirks. I think thats what inclusiveness does, it helps you feel at home because the people around you accept every piece of you.

Collapse
 
tchaflich profile image
Thomas C. Haflich

I'm on a pretty small team now, and most of them are not only introverts, but shy introverts. In addition to increasing inclusivity/diversity of background, we could probably use some more extroverted and communicative sorts of people just to create a more welcoming and balanced kind of culture. Right now we're all huddled at our desks not talking to each other. Having many different types of personalities so that everyone can find their niche would definitely be a boon.

I also do think that while inclusiveness is critical for the wellbeing of the team, diversity is key for the wellbeing of the product or service you're creating. The ultimate goal is to make something for people, and that's best done when the team knows the people they're working for. The world itself is a diverse place, so lacking any bit of experience or knowledge means that you're missing that part of the world reflected in your output. (This also of course means that you have to listen to your team, not just tick off your diversity checklist!)