Belonging vs. Inclusion: Why You Shouldn't Replace One With The Other

I want to save you a lot of time getting confused with buzzwords.

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I recently come across an article by Robert Livingston called:

Belonging Is a Feeling. Inclusion Is How You Foster It.

This references some confusing issues:?

1. People are talking about belonging in ambiguous ways
2. People are separating Inclusion from belonging and this isn’t always helpful.?
3. People want to replace Inclusion/Diversity with belonging?

It’s worth exploring so you don’t get confused by the contradictions out there.?

I’m not going to do a full breakdown? of the article?

But we’re going to address two key elements from it's subtile:

"Why I don't add "belonging" to DEI, and why companies should never substitute it for "inclusion""

Let’s start with the basics.

What is belonging and what is inclusion?

The author says “the subjective perception that one has been included.”?

He defines? “inclusion” as:

“ intentional actions undertaken by individuals or organizations to make individuals feel seen, welcome, and appreciated —particularly? individuals from social groups that have been traditionally excluded from the space.?In short, inclusion is the opposite of exclusion.”

But why doesn’t he add Belonging to DEI?

The author says inclusion and belonging are both important in organisations.?

But “ belonging is subjective whereas inclusion is intentional. “

He says belonging is important but companies can’t actually “do” belonging.?

For me this appears to be about the ability to operationalise belonging in the workplace.?

He’s already said?

- Belonging is subjective perception

- Inclusion is intentional action.?

- You can’t “do” belonging

He says it seems to be “more of a state of mind than an action.”

The Professor also says you should focus on inclusion and THEN belonging will naturally follow.?

I really wanted to learn more about WHY Belonging would follow Inclusion but it wasn’t covered in the paper.?

I think it’s a big deal because this speaks to the second part of the subtitle?

Why companies should never substitute it for "inclusion"

This matters because people are already substituting it for Inclusion.?

From what I observe in real life.?

The reason that so many people talk about Belonging is because they don’t think that Belonging naturally follows Inclusion.?

This speaks to the central premise of the article.?

“Instead of the acronym “DEI”, companies are now using “DEIB” or simply “DIB”.?“

The Professor even talks about a New York Times article called:

Why Some Companies Are Saying ‘Diversity and Belonging’ Instead of ‘Diversity and Inclusion’

That has a line that says:?

The changing terminology reflects new thinking among some consultants, who say traditional D.E.I. strategies haven’t worked out as planned.

I have not read that article.

I don’t know who “some consultants” are.

I don’t know what traditional D.E.I. strategies are.

Ok. I think I do know traditional D.E.I. strategies are. ??

I think I’m opposed to a lot of them!?

In the full show I explain a common problem with how organisations use inadequate measures of Inclusion.?

I also explain why this leads them to incorrectly conclude that they need to focus on belonging and not inclusion.?

The key point being.?

They’re not drawing on enough evidence.?

The evidence isn’t high quality.?

This doesn’t solve the problem.?

This doesn’t help you nurture Inclusion.?

Let's talk about how we think about Inclusion and Belonging.

Here we think of of Inclusion as a systematic business strategy to ensure everyone can share the same advantages and benefits

- Everyone can perform

-Everyone can belong

-Everyone can reach their potential.?

Did you notice that for us belonging is part of Inclusion??

And that’s not an accident.?

This is consistent with what many researchers call the Shore model of Inclusion

Dr. Lauran Star talks about it her book Evidence Based Inclusion.

Dr. Stefanie K. Johnson describes it in her book Inclusify:?

I talk about it almost every week.?

We did a show where I outlined 6 inclusive themes you can’t afford to ignore.?

This was based on the work of Professor Lynn M. Shore and colleagues.

They conduct meta-analyses on the research. ?

This means they study large bodies of research and look for themes.?

Not one bit of research.?

Lots of research.

According to them:?

(Therefore according to a large body of research.)

Inclusion is found at the intersection of Diversity and Belonging.??

It’s a delicate balance between the individual and the collective.??

How people balance their individual identity (Diversity) with being accepted by the group (Belonging).?

This is one of the reasons that I place Inclusion first.?

This is why I don't add "belonging" to DEI

Because Belonging is part of Inclusion.?

My favourite way to talk about “Belonging” is as a form of acceptance.

I find this to be practically useful when working with clients?

But it also means I’ve got useful ways to check in and follow up.?

I like the work of Professors Roy Baumeister? and Mark Leary in that context.?

Their famous paper discussed the human need or a motivation to be accepted by others in a group.

This gives you a sense of belonging.?

I also prefer this approach because in a work contexts it avoids confusing issues like:

- Family?(Is your employer a family relationship?)

- Ownership?(Does your employer own you?)

I don't think these things are helpful.

It may contradict your experience.

This matters because in the article the author picked up on 4 ways that belonging is discussed in contradictory ways.

- Belonging is about bringing your whole self to work.

- Belonging is about bringing White people, particularly White men, into the conversation.

- Belonging is about avoiding social identity labels.?

- Belonging is about leadership providing support to traditionally marginalized social groups.

The Professor said this was contradictory.

I’m not going to speak to this because the themes came from the New York Times article I mentioned earlier.

Exploring that would mean talking about what the Professor said about an article I haven’t read. ??

I think that's too much guesswork.

I don't encourage you to guess when doing this work.

I'll let you make your own mind up instead.

We think about Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in distinct ways that work for us.?

One of my goals is for you to think about Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging in distinct ways that work for you.

I talk about this in more detail in the show.

In terms of the statement.

Why I don't add "belonging" to DEI and why companies should never substitute it for "inclusion"

For us the answer is pretty simple.?

It’s because it’s already there.

Belonging is part of Inclusion and not separate from it.

I've got my reasons.

I want you to have yours.

I don’t want you to get caught up in buzz words.?

I don’t want you to argue with people who agree with you?

I want you to use what we've shared here to make your own mind up.?

Send me a message directly if you want to discuss any of this further.

Have you shared this with a colleague yet?

Think about who needs to know this.

They need a friend like you.

As always

I’m cheering you on.

Dr. Jonathan

Book a call with me if you want to get on the waiting list for The Evidence Based Inclusion Program.