These are some items which may indicate good or bad things about the diversity and/or friendliness to a diverse audience of a particular workplace or environment.
| Red | Green |
|---|---|
| WASP names seem required. | Presence of people who possess non-WASPy names; colleagues seem comfortable using them. |
| Pseudonyms, even persistent pseudonyms, are disallowed and/or spoken out against. | The need for pseudonyms is respected and explicitly allowed. |
| Assumptions are made about names when creating email addresses and doing other not easily changed data entry. | Name preferences are asked about explicitly. |
| Name preferences are not asked about
Name preferences are not respected when someone volunteers them Name preferences are asked about, but promptly ignored if they do not suit a very narrow standard, or not communicated to departments which would need to know them (for example, the department in charge of creating email addresses). Requests to have an incorrectly entered name changed in a system are denied. |
Name preferences are communicated to all necessary individuals or departments, and corrected promptly if wrong. |
| Software which cannot accommodate "unusual" name conventions is used without question or defended. | Software accommodating the names of its users is considered important. |
| Directory features do not disambiguate between people with the same name, or make it excessively difficult. | It's easy to find out which of several "Jane Smith"s in the directory is the one you need to contact. |
It is necessary for colleagues to remember the former name of someone who has changed names since arriving.
|
There is no need for anyone to use or remember someone's former name (with the exception of some form of note in a private employee record).
|
| An interview team composed solely of white, able-bodied, heterosexual, cisgender men. | An interview team including women, people of color, people with visible disabilities, people with a marginalized sexual or gender identity, people with intersectional minority identities, ... |
| A public complete team listing composed solely of people who appear to be white men. | People who are not white men are valued team members. |
| All communications take place via phone or video conference, with no textual option. | Options for contact include text as well as audio. |
| Barriers to physical access, no stair-free entrances, no stair-free access to other floors, on-site decisions which block access (items stored in accessible bathroom stalls, items stored which block wheeled access to accessible entrances and/or lifts or just random rooms), unawareness that people may need accessible facilities, et cetera ad nauseam. | Fully accessible physical facilities, including stair-free entrances, and general awareness of which routes and services are not fully accessible (if any). |
| Inaccessible website, with "features" like navigation elements in images with no alt text, maze-like flyout menus, technologies which are hostile to screen readers, technologies which require extensive mouse use. | Accessible website. |
| Directions to the site which consist of a screenshot of a map website. The address is given as part of the image. | Directions to the site including the address in text, any special instructions in text, and awareness of people who will be arriving via methods which are not single-driver car. A link to a map website is included (if relevant). |
| Any awareness for the safety of the surroundings is mostly focused on the presence of variously marginalized people in the area. | Awareness of safety considerations of access to the location like: nighttime lighting and any dark spots, access control to the space (and what to do if locked out), whether there is nighttime foot traffic, knowledge of typical crimes reported in the area, police or private security patrols, if police or private security have a history of violence. |
| Recruiting that talks up "perks" as incentives to join. | Recruiting that mentions substantial benefits like excellent healthcare plans. |
| Minimal parental leave | Generous leave for new parents |
| Unbalanced maternity/paternity leave | Equal leave for anyone who becomes a new parent |
| Healthcare coverage significantly restricts benefits for people with disabilities, mental health care, or gender reassignment surgery | Healthcare coverage is inclusive |
| Healthcare initiatives that include office weight loss programs. | Healthcare initiatives that acknowledge HAES (Health At Every Size) principles. |
| Pervasive diet talk, discussion of "clean" eating, obligatory performative guilt at eating/guilt at eating the "wrong" thing, pushiness to make people eat things they don't want to. | When food/eating is discussed, it is not terrible. No moral value is assigned to particular foods. When food is offered, it is all right to accept without expressing guilt, or all right to decline without explanation. |
| Slurs against marginalized groups are used | Slurs against marginalized groups are not used |
| When slurs against marginalized groups are used, they are not challenged | If someone uses a slur against a marginalized group, someone makes it clear that this is inappropriate for the environment. (Ideally the situation would not even come up outside of training materials.) |
| The only people who seem to be standing up for the interests of various marginalized groups are members of those groups, e.g. the only one asking how this change will affect voice control software users is the voice control software user. | The interests of marginalized groups are well-represented, including by people who do not seem to be members of those groups. There are reference documents for checking specific points of friendliness, and they are known and used by people besides members of the marginalized groups. |
| No mentoring is offered. New employees are expected to discover what all the parts of the existing code are themselves, discouraged from asking questions, and socially ignored (unless they share enough hobbies to be a "cultural fit"). | New employees are assigned one or more mentors to introduce them to the code and the work environment. |
| No code of conduct or a weak code of conduct like "don't be a jerk". | An explicit code of conduct detailing specific unacceptable behaviors, and possible consequences. |
| "Zero tolerance" codes of conduct. | A scale of consequences that takes into account multiple factors, but which includes the possibility of complete and permanent exclusion when that is the consequence that is called for. |
| T-shirts are ordered in "unisex" (straight-cut) sizes only, with a maximum size of XL. | T-shirts are ordered in both straight-cut and fitted styles, and extended sizes are offered in both styles. |
| Swag is ordered in two colors, blue and pink, or perhaps blue and lavender. | Swag is one color or multiple colors. If pink is present, there are other choices. |
| The pink or lavender one is smaller or has worse specs than other colors. | All items have the same specs. If there are items designed for smaller hands or smaller bodies, there is a choice of colors. |
| Official or unofficial company text contains a lot of microaggressive language, such as war-like metaphors for tasks, slurs for task targets, gendering that reinforces stereotypes, etc. Use of such language is unchallenged or even promoted. Removal of this language is questioned or fought. | Neutral and inclusive use of language is standard and/or promoted. Removal of aggressive, uninclusive, or microaggressive language is encouraged. |
| No mention of typical work schedule. | Expected work hours are mentioned: by time, location, and duration. If work outside of expected parameters has to happen, it will be compensated for accordingly.
It is stated whether the work schedule is optimized for coverage (enough people for all roles at all business hours, including days and times where nobody wants to work), collaboration (maximizing the time everyone is in the same place at the same time to work together), or flexibility (everyone chooses a schedule and location that works best for them). |
| Inflexible work schedules, inequitable distribution of preferred work schedules, or work schedules that treat purely recreational activities with the same priority as emergencies or significant cultural observances. | Work schedules which can be modified to accommodate things like:
|
| Hints or outright statements that the work expected will intrude into leisure time or other obligations, possibly without compensation. | Acknowledgment that workers are entitled to personal lives and time outside of work without disruption. Clear information on what sorts of crises might cause intrusion of work into personal time, and what sort of compensation (overtime for hourly workers, extra time off, other considerations) is provided when work intrudes into non-work time. |
| "Oh, we all leave the office by six! It's great!" Unsaid: "So you're going to be in the office at nine every day without fail." | Explicit mention of the expected start time as well as the end time. Acknowledgement of sleep schedule diversity. Willingness to work with people's individual sleep schedule and outside obligations in scheduling. |
Complicating factors
- Smaller companies encounter some items less frequently, such as parental leave: a small company which has only been in business a few years may never have experienced an employee taking parental leave.
- Out of date information: if a policy or the local culture has changed recently, people you ask may not know how things currently are.
- A company with a smaller t-shirt budget may have purchased an array of shirts for an event but run out of the most popular fitted cut sizes quickly.
- A job seeker may find out about a potentially dealbreaking red flag after accepting a job offer.