Five years ago, organizations throughout the world were making commitments to diversity, inclusion, equity and accessibility (DIEA) (12). Today, there is a backlash towards DIEA policies, with many being rolled back (13). But these terms are often misrepresented and misunderstood.
We break it down for you ☝️
Though some organizations are leaning away, our team is leaning in. Why? Because we know the evidence points towards teams being stronger and science working better when diverse perspectives are included (14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21).
Bonus Definitions 📝
- Bias: The conscious (explicit) or unconscious (implicit) opinion, preference, prejudice, or inclination formed without reasonable justification that prevents a balanced or even-handed judgement (6).
- Stigma: Stigma is defined as negative attitudes, beliefs, or behaviours about or toward an individual or group of people because of a characteristic they share. Stigma can include stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination (22).
Share if you think these terms are getting a bad rap.
A big thank you to IDEA-STEM (@idea_stem) and Ingenium’s (@ingeniumcanada) truth, reconciliation, equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility (TREDIA) team for reviewing this post.
Sources
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace | Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
- The Importance of DEI and Why it Matters | CultureAlly
- DEI: What it is and why you should have a strategy | Canadian Chamber of Commerce | February 2023
- Types of Diversity in the Workplace To Be Aware Of | CultureAlly
- What Does Intersectionality Mean? | CultureAlly
- Glossary of Terms | Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion | January 2022
- Disability inclusion glossary | Understood
- What DEI Is—And What It Isn’t | The Seeker Newsmagazine Cornwall | February 2025
- Three of the most popular DEI Myths debunked | Forbes | January 2024
- Can We Talk About What DEI Isn’t: 5 Myths I Hear All the Time | Medium | March 2025
- Explaining Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA), The Trump Administration’s Recent Actions on DEIA, and the Impact on Disabled Americans | AAPD | February 2025
- The History of DEI: Why It’s Critical for Its Future Survival | Forbes | December 2024
- Corporate Mentions Of ‘DEI’ Dropped 72% In 2025, Analysis Finds | May 2025
- Our Approach | Canadian Association of Science Centres
- The 50 – 30 Challenge: Your Diversity Advantage | Government of Canada
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion | National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) | May 2023
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Medicine: Why It Matters and How do We Achieve It? | Journal of Surgical Education on ScienceDirect | August 2021
- The impact of diversity and equality management on firm performance: Beyond high performance work systems | Human Resource Management | November 2010
- How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation | BCG | January 2018
- How Diversity Can Drive Innovation | Harvard Business Review | December 2013
- Building a Diverse and Inclusive Public Service: Final Report of the Joint Union/Management Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion | Government of Canada
- Mental health – Recognizing and Addressing Stigma at Work | Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS)
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