Dr Zubaida Haque is the former Executive Director of The Equality Trust, former interim CEO, and Deputy Director of The Runnymede Trust. A leading social scientist, Zubaida has significant knowledge of inequality, anti-racism, poverty and social justice issues within the UK. Dr Haque has significant experience working within think tanks, charities and government departments for over 2 decades. Here’s her exclusive Q&A with the newsweekly.
What do diversity and inclusion truly mean to you?
The reasons we have diversity and inclusion is that we have a moral responsibility as a society and as institutions to ensure that people from all walks of life feel included in workplaces, in schools, in society, and that they belong. Belonging is an important part of diversity and inclusion. And I think too often that notion of belonging is under-appreciated. I also feel diversity and inclusion are important not just for the individuals that it affects but also because it's good for institutions, and it's good for society. There's a broader discussion to be had about why inequality is bad. Too often, people think inequality is bad because of the individuals but actually, inequality is bad for the whole of society.
How does one strike a gender balance in society in various sectors, and what does one do once the equilibrium is established?
I don't think we should think about it in terms of gender balance. What we want for instance is for our workforces and institutions to reflect the populations they are embedded in. For example, the London Metropolitan Police Force has about 15% of Black, Asian and ethnic minority officers, but considering that they serve a population which is just under half of the London population, that's wholly inadequate, not just from a statistical point of view but also because it doesn't represent the population that it serves. The ramifications are not just about unfairness, but also about the lack of opportunity for some groups. It's also about the fact that in an institution or a business you're missing out on opportunities yourselves. We know from research that diversity improves the performance of companies. We just can't just talk about gender balance, we also have to talk about intersectionality.
How do you think we can educate Britons in order to truly embrace diversity and multiculturalism while making inclusion an almost reflex action? What should be the end goal of successfully practising diversity and inclusion in day-to-day life?
I'm still involved in lots of advisory groups on issues of diversity, equality, and inclusion, and I think what I've learned is - the way you make people realise that inequality, diversity, inclusion, and belonging, matter. It benefits everybody because I think if you just talk about benefiting certain groups, then two things happen. One - when you talk about benefiting certain groups, only certain organisations will deal with it. And it will be those organisations who are either NGO sector organisations who deal with those specific groups or institutions that absolutely need to have those groups involved. Or, women or black and ethnic minority people or disabled people, or in neurodiversity issues. You won't see much change. What you'll get is just a token change. What you'll get is a tick box, exercises, and what you'll get is skin deep. By skin-deep changes what I mean is that organisations, institutions, government, or police force, NHS and institutions making sort of token changes by hiring people of colour, but not recognising that actually, to have to make systemic changes you need to go much further than just recruiting people of colour recruiting women, recruiting people with neurodiversity. That’s what’s needed to make real systemic change. You need to look at your recruitment, retention, progression, and how people feel when they how people feel on an everyday basis. do they experience my micro-aggression? Do they feel that they belong? Do they feel that they have equal opportunities to progress? Are you including them? Are you making sure that they are treated, and viewed equally, that they have the same opportunities and so on, and that actually requires a really thorough, thorough and comprehensive approach?
