OPINION: "It is a both and - NOT an either or" by Chris Cartwright
Oct 16, 2020‘It is a both and – not an either or’: Bridging the Intercultural with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Realms
by Chris Cartwright, MPA, EdD, Science Editor
I have been pondering the bridging of intercultural (IC) work with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work for quite some time now. This last year has caused me to refocus my attention toward equity and even more so on racism as the United States and the world have lunged sometimes forward and sometime backward into a series of gruesome murders and righteous civil actions due to acts of racism. Living in Portland, OR there are times when the ‘whitest city in America’ seems apocalyptic and then quirky as ever and even peaceful within the same moment. We live in complex times.
I was pleased by the frank discussions held during the recent SIETAR USA conference, addressing antiracism work as well as the many ways that interculturalist can align their work in the DEI realm. The honoring of Andy Reynolds and Donna Stringer, two pillars of this bridging of intercultural and DEI work is a callout to the value of the work and the people who forge ahead with it. But we are often plagued with the idea that the two constructs are parallel silos with little in common. I disagree. I acknowledge that there are DEI professionals with little interest who see little value in the types of cultural analysis of interaction that so fascinates interculturalists. Conversely, there are interculturalists with little background or interest in the power and privilege, let alone racism parameters that so often frames the work of the DEI professional. Depending on the work the professional does, their constituents and assignments may not call for such a bridge to be mentioned, let alone crossed. But I’m optimistic enough to believe that either camp can see the value in each other’s work and when possible, at least meet at the half-way mark.
In a recent former SIIC (Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication) faculty Zoom call, I shared a dilemma I was confronted with where a trusted DEI colleague expressed exasperation with any individual intercultural efforts focused on helping the client better understand their own cultural perspectives, values, behaviors so as to better understand those of a colleague who are culturally different (I call this IC 101; The Self-to-Other Framework). My colleague insisted that these efforts can make no significant change and that ONLY working on deep structural change is of any value. … So my core practice has no place in the DEI world? To which my colleague Donna Stringer replied, “Chris, it’s a both and, NOT an either or”, and I trust her insight.
Several years ago I served on a campus Diversity Council where we decided to see if we could make an impact the hiring of a diverse staff and faculty. We carefully analyzed the campus position notices, recruitment mechanism, screening process, and interview protocols. We met with deans, department chairs, HR professionals, and union officers to better understand what the cause of the seemingly intractable, majority-white hiring might be. We produced a report, and got some policies and procedures passed and a few were implemented. We followed that with a manual with recommendations at each step of the hiring process and followed all of these with required training for all university hiring department chairs and at least one committee member on each search and screen committee. We had protocols for more inclusive language in position postings, more diverse recruitment processes, more equitable screening and interview processes and kept this working for 4-5 years running. When we compiled the data, we found a slight uptick in diverse hires, especially in the staff roles, but the shift in faculty hires was uneven across disciplines and in general—negligible. The new campus Diversity Officer deemed the initiative a failure and discontinued all of the work. I was baffled.
When I shared this story with one of my mentors, Jean Lipman-Blumen, she quoted her mentor Peter Drucker, the business educator and leader. Drucker would admonish his associates working on organizational change that “Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. Ah, I said to myself, we attempted to shift the organizational structure without bringing the hearts and minds of the deans and department chairs who ultimately were making the faculty hires. … We had ignored the culture and tried to regulate the behavior. … Can you hear Donna saying ‘It’s a both and, not an either or’?
But who better than an intercultural professional to employ the IC 101, Self-to-Other Framework and guide the deans and department chair to understand that their organizational culture (read US-centric, dominant, white male culture) is NOT equitable or inclusive … and may well even be racist? Who better to educate the constituents of the legacy of racism and deprivation than a committed antiracism facilitator? Who better to decode and realign exclusive organizational structures than a dedicated DEI professional? Why not work together, or combine practices if you have acumen in more than one of these schools? This is seriously hard work—it seems better to have company than to slog it alone!
Dr. Lipman-Blumen wrote that “we live in a world where inclusion is critical, and connection is inevitable.” The COVID-19 Pandemic, world-wide economic disaster, Black Live Matter, and Me Too Movements have all taught us that we are highly interconnected and interdependent. Despite being socially-distanced in place for most of the year, I have never felt more connected to my friends, colleagues, and other people from around the world more than I do now. I have never felt the immediacy of my own racist upbringing and culture than I do now. I have never been more hopeful for deep structural change that leads to a more equitable and inclusive world than I do now. … and I’m damned glad to have the professional colleagues of SIETAR to join arms and cross this bridge with—we’re in this together and I trust the wisdom of this membership.
