Katelyn Jones on Equality, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

What's the difference between equality and equity? 

Equality is giving everyone the same thing. But equity is giving everyone the opportunity to be successful. So, to do that, you actually have to pay attention to the ways that historic legacies and current discriminations affect marginalized people. 

Define diversity. 

A demographic mix among a collection of people. And typically in those demographics we think about things like ethnocultural and racial groups, as well as women, LGBTQIA+ persons, and people with disabilities, as well as other marginalized persons being represented in that collection. 

How can we measure diversity and inclusion? 

So, diversity is pretty easy to measure, it's just a matter of counting the number of people that fall into different demographic categories. But inclusion is a bit trickier. So, to understand how inclusive a given environment is you actually have to talk to people. You have to understand how comfortable they are bringing their entire selves to work and identifying ways that they feel included, as well as ways that they might be feeling excluded in a given space to determine how inclusive or not it may be.