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The terms “diverse candidate” & “diversity hire” have hit my eardrums a 
number of times in recent convos with #recruiting leaders. If you’re in the #HR space, you have an obligation to change this language. They will derail your #DEI work. Here's how. 
/1
number of times in recent convos with #recruiting leaders. If you’re in the #HR space, you have an obligation to change this language. They will derail your #DEI work. Here's how. /1
These terms:
1) Insinuate that someone got the job or is being considered just because they are a member of an underrepresented or marginalized group, which is obviously hugely tokenizing and a gateway for belonging breakdowns./2 https://www.upwork.com/resources/belonging-breakdown-journey
1) Insinuate that someone got the job or is being considered just because they are a member of an underrepresented or marginalized group, which is obviously hugely tokenizing and a gateway for belonging breakdowns./2 https://www.upwork.com/resources/belonging-breakdown-journey
2) Leave room to infer that skills and expertise are secondary or the bar has been lowered to prioritize diversity./3
3) Show that - rather than being an integrated front-end input to your core hiring strategy - #DEI is a tangential afterthought in people’s minds and behaviors./4
4) Estrange key change agents. Diversity is a group characteristic to which everyone contributes. Yet the prototype of “diverse” in the US workplace is typically a Black person (man in particular) or a woman (White in particular)./5
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-13413-001
https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-13413-001
This false conception leads to zero sum thinking and a lack of engagement for folks who don't see themselves as beneficiaries of diversity practices./6
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/norton%20sommers%20whites%20see%20racism_ca92b4be-cab9-491d-8a87-cf1c6ff244ad.pdf
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/norton%20sommers%20whites%20see%20racism_ca92b4be-cab9-491d-8a87-cf1c6ff244ad.pdf
5) Demonstrate laziness. Because these terms are simply inaccurate, they display sloppiness within our people functions, which is a bad way to build legitimacy and rigor./7
I’m not overly picky about language because we have bigger fish to fry in the talent space, but folks who are frontline gatekeepers to opportunity have a responsibility to shift the paradigms upon which hiring teams operate./8
Simply modeling how we talk and conceive of inclusive hiring sends ripples into the org that will benefit candidates and new hires, the hiring managers who integrate them and our whole orgs.
When we know better, we must do better./9
When we know better, we must do better./9
PS - Apply to work with me as our Talent Acquisition Director if you’re already walking the walk on this one./end https://careers.upwork.com/jobs/4257889003?hsLang=en
To clarify, this is not a subtweet about the fabulous candidates I’ve talked with about this role! How tacky would that be? They’ve all been lovely and on point.
