EP 412 Can We Achieve Authentic Diversity?

EP 412 Can We Achieve Authentic Diversity?

No matter the effort we say is being put behind the movement for more diversity in the workplace, the sad reality is that the numbers are dismal.  In the Fortune 500 companies where diversity numbers are compiled, fewer than 4 percent of their workforce is racially and ethnically diverse.  Additionally, a study of 279 companies found that White workers occupied 86 percent of C-suite positions.  And yet in America we are approaching a moment when forty percent of the workforce is non-white.  In the period of the pandemic, that percentage seems low as we see so many people of color populating the front line workforce keeping America operating in this tremulous moment.  Michelle Silverthorn, author of ‘Authentic Diversity: How to Change the Workplace for Good’ takes us to school in her informed and reassuring way that there is a path but it will require an honest discussion of race, admitting that we are a mosaic, not a melting pot, and at times stepping out of our comfort zones into a place of discomfort and new discovery.  We move beyond EEO speak into an honest conversation very quickly.  You may want to listen twice to gain new insights.


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