Leading Libraries Series: Leading for Inclusion

Power and privilege

 

How privilege works

When we explore the topic of Inclusion, the term privilege is often used to describe the advantage available to people because they fit into a specific social group or have certain demographics as part of their identity. The term privilege can also be controversial for some, and there are many debates as to whether it is a useful or appropriate term. Whatever term is used, the concept of 'unearned advantage' remains the same.

In this module we will be using the term privilege. If this term does not work for you, then you can replace it with one that does. It is important to explore the concept and what it means for your leadership, rather than limiting the conversation and progress because of terminology. In fact, it would even be a useful activity for you and your team to discuss and agree what terminology works for you. Can you find a way to be inclusive in the language you use around inclusion?

 

Pause for reflection

Reflect on your own understanding of the term ‘privilege’.

• What does the term mean to you?
• How do you feel when the term is used? What is the impact of these feeling?
• How does terminology and language help or hinder conversations and progress in Inclusion?
• What language and terminology suit you and your context best?

 

How personal characteristics affect privilege: protected characteristics + 1

Society and the vast majority of work places are constructed, and operate in ways that benefit and support people from certain group.

One way to explore this is through the legislative lens of Protected Characteristics + 1

The additional one (+1) has been included to acknowledge the research and observed knowledge showing that 'socio-economic status & class' can make a difference, however it is not formally recognised as a characteristic.

These characteristics are listed below:

• Race
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Religion or belief
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Socio economic status and class (the +1)

In the West privilege tends to be:

• White
• Male
• Heterosexual
• Middle aged
• Able bodied
• CIS gender
• Christian
• Single
• People without direct child care responsibilities
• More financial resources and middle class

 

Pause for reflection

Reflect on the 'protected characteristics' identified by the Equalities Act.

• Which of these characteristics affect you directly - conferring privilege to you or creating potential disadvantages for you?
• How does thinking about those characteristics affect your understanding of your own privilege?

 

Privilege and identity

Privilege is often invisible, and people who have it are usually unaware of it. This can make conversations about privilege a little tricky or even challenging. Privilege is personal, in order to explore and understand it we need to explore our identity and membership of social groups. We then need to explore how society and our work places are designed and how they operate, so that we can understand who might be getting an unearned advantage over others.

Let’s explore some examples of privilege together:

 

Example 1

In London there are 272 underground stations, and only 82 of those stations have step free access from street to train. If you are able bodied you can use all 272 stations and will not need to plan a different route because of your physical needs. You therefore have able bodied privilege.

If you are a wheelchair user or have difficulty walking or using stairs, then you are at a disadvantage as only 82 of the stations are easily accessible to you. You will need to plan a specific route which is likely to add more time to your commute, you may even need to change your mode of transport which could cost more, or you may even decide not travel as the route is too difficult.

In this situation you are at a disadvantage in comparison to your able-bodied counterparts, who have unearned advantages that they probably didn’t even think about.

Example 2

During the Covid-19 pandemic most people were required to work and study from home. This meant that domestic duties, child care and home-schooling took place alongside virtual home working. In the field of Academia, it became apparent that women were publishing far fewer articles than men during this period. This pattern continued in other industries, and it was noted that on average women were making fewer contributions at work than men. There are many complex contributing factors to this, however some significant ones include:

• Women were largely responsible for the lion’s share of domestic and parenting duties at home which stretched their personal resources.
• Many organisations became prone to working long hours, and working at pace in response to uncertain times.
• Working hours as well as ways of working advantaged men and/or people without childcare or caring responsibilities as they could work longer hours, often uninterrupted.

Virtual home working mirrored and amplified gender inequality in the workplace. Ways of working, working hours and behaviours meant that most men and people without caring responsibilities had privilege, and were able to contribute and perform at work more easily.

Example 3

A white person in an organisation is highly likely to:

• meet and work with people in senior leadership positions who are of the same race
• access content and materials, from the media to academia, that portray powerful and influential people who are of the same race
• experience standards of dress, hairstyle and use of language that match their own culture
• engage in conversations about racism without feeling it will impact their day-to-day safety or credibility at work, or worrying that they will be perceived as self-serving
• call out racism or exclusion, even against white people, and not be told they are ‘playing the race card’
• perform well at work without being called a credit to their race
• come to work each day without the weight of having experienced some form of racism outside of work
• fit in with and be part of formal and informal groups at work, this includes most social activities and understanding in-jokes and cultural references.

These are some examples of white privilege at work, where white people can more easily fit in and are already seen and considered as credible, able and powerful based simply on their race. This does not mean white people do not experience challenges. It means that they have less to consider and/or recover from in comparison to people of colour. They have an un-earned advantage based on their race. This is evident in statistics around race based pay gaps, employment rates, and racial representation in senior leadership positions.

 

The role of privilege systems

Peggy McIntosh is an anti-racism activist, scholar and pioneer in the field of privilege, with a focus on white privilege and male privilege.

As a woman, Peggy started her research into privilege by exploring the unearned advantage men have in comparison to women, and the negative impact of this on outcomes for women in comparison to men. Through her research, Peggy discovered that white (racial) privilege was an even greater contributing factor to outcome, as white men have more privilege than black men, and white women have more privilege than black women. Peggy then shifted the focus of her research to understand white privilege – the unearned advantage than comes from one's race, and the impact this has on people’s life experiences and outcomes at work.

Here is a short video in which Peggy talks about privilege systems. Please watch it and note down any insights or reflections.

How Studying Privilege Systems Strengthens Compassion – Ted Talk by Peggy McIntosh

 

Pause for reflection

This can be done on your own or as a team exercise

• What privilege(s) do you hold and how has this influenced your life experiences and current leadership practice?
• How does privilege operate in your organisation / system? Who benefits and does not?
• How can you use your privilege and your leadership role/influence to the help level the playing field?

To develop your understanding of privilege and what this means for you as a person and a leader, please read ‘White Privilege and Male Privilege: A personal account of coming to see correspondences through work in women’s studies'.

Continue to: Working positively with power