State of progress in diversity and inclusion initiatives across industries and contexts
he December 2020 special issue of Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research focuses on progress in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) initiatives across organizations. Guest editors Mira Brancu and Theodore L. Hayes discuss key takeaways.
1. What is the special issue about?
In this special issue, we offer six articles on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Some articles focus on the content of consulting on EDI topics, and others focus on the process of consulting on EDI topics. The authors of these articles summarize three fundamental themes that can help consulting psychologists improve their work in this area: evolving terminology, emerging trends, and training needs.
2. What is the significance of the issue?
Consultants are frequently sought out to help organizations respond to and improve efforts focused on issues of social equity, inclusion, and belongingness in the workforce. Leaders are recognizing the importance placed on these issues from an employee engagement and satisfaction perspective as well as from a business outcomes perspective.
Consulting psychologists are in a unique position to blend their expertise in organizational change, emotional intelligence, psychological principles, and diversity and inclusion efforts. This special issue offers insights for consulting psychologists who are interested in doing more of this work, including current trends, gaps, opportunities, and critical professional issues.
3. Tell us about a few key takeaways.
Consultants bring their personal perspectives and reactions to the professional services they provide. The authors in this special issue help us appreciate those different views in the ways they describe their work across contexts and industries and the insights shared.
The need to improve consistency in terminology in the consulting field, as well as across fields, remains a critical goal. Differences in terms, and even definition and use of the same terms, seem to reflect differences across industries, author experiences, and evolution over time with respect to specificity and application. Clarifying the field’s terminology will help us connect with the language of business.
Terms such as intersectionality, social location, and privilege, which are commonly understood and used within social justice and other related fields, are less used in consulting psychology, though they are becoming more common.
4. What are some practical implications of the articles featured in the issue?
We believe that consulting psychologists who address the EDI needs of organizations will ultimately need to add to their training ideas discussed in other fields such as social justice and sociology, similar to current important supplementary training in business, organizational development, and human resources.
Part of our external practice of helping organizations understand diversity and inclusion efforts requires a parallel internal practice for consulting psychologists to understand what we bring to it as individuals and as a field, and how our own experiences might affect our practice. The burgeoning awareness of the power of EDI and intersectionality in organizations challenges us as professionals and as participants to build a new community of better shared practice. We hope this special issue offers an avenue to begin that dialogue. This collection of articles provides examples of the work we have yet to do externally and internally, which will help us define what we can do together to make an impact.
This article is in the I/O Psychology topic area. View more articles in the I/O Psychology topic area.