Discrimination

What is discrimination?

One definition of discrimination is ‘to recognise a difference’ between one thing and another. For example, discriminating between food of high quality and low. Discrimination can also be positive, or negative – when talking about behaviour, the latter is the most commonly reported.

Did you know?

Positive discrimination, where used to address a deficit, is often accompanied by vehement protest, often outstripping protests about negative. You may recall an interesting case which occurred in media debates about NZ University admission processes in 2020.

The commonest meaning of discrimination is to treat a person differently and comparatively worse based on a personal characteristic or status. Currently, common discriminatory characteristics seem to be gender, skin tone, ethnicity, ability or religious beliefs – but can change over time, and with geography.

Some rarer, perhaps more unusual characteristics used to discriminate are education level, the school one attended and maternal/parental status. If you would like to learn more, check out the topic of Protected Characteristics:

Generally, those with characteristics in the minority tend to fare worse, e.g. in a workplace or industry dominated by females, males may fare worse, as would staff who identify as transgender, non-binary gender, genderqueer, agender or genderfluid. If you would like further information about minority gender, or what gender classifications might mean, check out the links above.

Did you know?

Sexual harassment can also be understood as discriminatory behaviour – treating one gender worse in relation to another. Discrimination also occurs in specific communities living with impairment. For example, in the deaf community, some ‘frown upon’ and marginalise those who seek cochlear implants.

How common is discrimination?

Discrimination is more common than you might think – much is silent or goes under the radar. Even those who are doing it may be unaware of what they are doing. For example, unconscious bias might influence day to day decisions we make, such as who is assigned what task at work.

Why does discrimination happen?

Discrimination happens for many reasons – discrimination could be the result of a specific view, values, or past experiences. Some people have fixed ideas and are reluctant to rethink these in the light of further evidence. Others may discriminate from fear or uncertainty. Some may not even know why they act like this.

Feelings about discrimination

On the receiving end, discrimination can leave a person angry and feeling they have been unfairly treated, especially where they have little chance of retort, changing the person’s behaviour or when it happens repeatedly. As with other negative treatments, victims can have acute feelings of uncertainty, ‘what exactly just happened?’ Where discrimination occurs publically, the victim can feel uncomfortably shamed and in the limelight.

What does discrimination look like?

The 'isms:
sexism, racism, homophobia

Jokes:
'don't throw like a girl'

Judgement/double standards:
angry women are ugly/angry men are manly

Employment issues:
awarding a job to a person on the basis of their gender, where irrelevant to the position

Employment conditions:
making it difficult for parents to work specific shifts so they can take their child for medical appointments

Marginalisation:
‘forgetting’ to ask one staff member to a social event

Offering unsolicited advice:
Would you like me to back that trailer for you?

And of course we also have incidents at the extreme end of the spectrum which are the source of much suffering and loss of life. These most appalling acts cannot be undone but can serve as a reminder to us all of why we need to skilfully prepare, and look after each other.

What can we do about discrimination in the short term?

The IFFy Method © - Discrimination
Copywright to WoRD LtD. Publication also in press.

If you can, try this method out in a pair or at a group meeting – it’s good to hear other ways to say things.

Given the potential for suffering around discrimination, it seems sensible and honourable that we should do everything in our power to counter its continued presence in our society.

However, like sexual harassment, speaking up comes with a risk to both bystander and victim.

ONLY if you feel safe and skilled enough, or that a situation is more handleable, the IFFy method can help you respond to a perpetrator in a non-encouraging, non-threatening way.

This method accounts for those who discriminate but who are unaware or those who have inherited behaviours or can’t yet see that their actions are unfair. If the person is militant in their intention, this method can also lower the likelihood of conflict at the time of the incident.

This method can also assist a victim during an event, help the perpetrator to reflect on their actions and values and avoid escalating conflict. As before with harassment, this method might feel counterintuitive.

It is important to practice this method (say, with a colleague) with concrete scenarios specifically involving discrimination. Get your colleague to tell you how it sounds to them – and whether you are striking the right tone. A good strategy for ongoing staff development is to also bring this method to a staff forum.

IFFY = a mnemonic in which each letter stands for part of a sentence.
I = Indirect approach at the outset
F = Focus on you/the group/victim (NOT the perp)
F = Focus on what you would like to achieve (positive, NOT focused on what the perp has done)

Example Scenario 1: Meeting
Example Scenario 2: Boss

The chairperson is ignoring one member of staff who has indicated that they would like to comment on an issue. The chairperson is known for their tendency to favour one gender at meeting time.

Consider the following questions:
Q – What makes this discrimination?
Q – What do you think might account for the chairperson’s behaviour?
Q – What can you say or do?

You might say the following:
I wonder if we can get a wide range view of the whole staff demographic
I’m curious to hear views from all angles
Let’s get a feel for the whole spectrum of ideas – I would like to hear from…

Why do you think these phrases are more likely to be effective than challenging the chairperson?

Your boss says to you ‘You won’t be needing time off over Christmas, will you? You don’t celebrate that where you are from.’

Consider the following questions:
Q – What makes this discrimination?
Q – What do you think might account for the behaviour of the boss?
Q – What can you say or do?

You might say the following:
I’m hoping to get some time with my family over summer, of course.
I’ve planned a few days between boxing day and new year, as it happens.
It’s a great season to be out and about, I’m aiming to get a few days where possible.

Why do you think these phrases are more likely to be effective than challenging the boss more directly?

What can we do about discrimination in the long term?

IFFy can help us counter discrimination in the long term by giving us a way to approach casual acts that go under the radar for some, but which have a lasting and cumulative effect on others.

While we are making great headway with declarations of equal opportunities, we also need to ensure that these espoused values in the workplace match behaviours. For example, if we have a policy for equality in employment, we need to ensure this actually happens. For some, this may mean education and staff development – the missing link in many workplaces (see earlier comments re: culture change).

Food for thought

The phenomenon of minority stress describes the cumulative effect of stress on those who are in the minority in a community or workplace. One example of cumulative minority stressors is how a person of non-binary gender might get treated with surprise by a medical practice receptionist, who then insists that their personal pronouns (‘they’) cannot be recorded in an electronic notes system, and the person also gets stared at in the waiting room. These stressors are over and above worries about medical conditions for which this person seeks assistance and can be constant. Over time, these stressors can have a significant and long lasting effect on a person’s health and wellbeing - in the interests of humanity, we should learn to support each community member with our actions (e.g. see IFFy)