Diversity: A to Z

Check out the following A-Z list of diversity terminology below. How many of the terms do you find to be surprising? puzzling? useful? new to you? known already? interesting?

• A = Affirmative Action:
  • the proactive efforts of an organization to recruit and advance qualified people of color, women, persons with disabilities and veterans and to correct institutional exclusion in higher education.
• B = Bias:
  • an inclination or preference either for or against an individual or group that interferes with impartial judgment.
• C = Cisgender:
  • a term used to describe people who, for the most part, identify with the gender they were assigned at birth.
• D = Disparities:
  • commonly refer to group differences in educational, health, economic, legal, and other outcomes. Disparities highlight social group membership in structuring privilege and inequality and stem from intentional discrimination as well as from unconscious bias.
• E = Equity:
  • the proportional distribution or parity across groups, sometimes confused with equality. Equity refers to outcomes, while equality connotes equal treatment. Individualized educational accommodations for students with disabilities are based on this concept.
• F = Family of Choice:
  • persons or groups of people who form an individual’s close social support network, often fulfilling functions of blood relatives. LGBTQ individuals facing alienation or rejection from their families may call upon their “chosen family” for support.
• G = Gender Neutral:
  • suitable for, applicable to, or common to both male and female genders.
• H = His/Her/He/She:
  • personal pronouns, with HIR being the gender neutral pronoun for his or her.
• I = Inclusion:
  • expanding upon efforts that promote diversity on the basis of demographic differences; in the field of organizational management, inclusion refers to intentional policies and practices that promote a sense of belonging for every employee, customer, or client.
• J = Justice:
  • the quality of being just, impartial, or the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action or conformity to the principle or ideal of righteousness, the quality of conforming to law.
• K = Kinship:
  • the state or fact of being kin; family relationship or relationship by nature, qualities, et cetera; affinity.
• L = LGBTQ:
  • Lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender, questioning.
• M = Multiculturalism:
  • acknowledging cultures, religions, races, ethnicities, attitudes, and opinions within an environment.
• N = Native American:
  • a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North America or who maintains cultural identification through tribal affiliation or community recognition.
• O = Oppression:
  • a systematic phenomenon based on the perceived and real differences among social groups resulting in the exploitation of one social group by another for the benefit of the oppressor group.
• P = Privilege:
  • power and advantages benefiting a group derived from the historical oppression and exploitation of other groups. Or unearned access to resources only readily available to some people as a result of their group membership.
• Q = Queer:
  • an umbrella term which embraces a matrix of sexual preferences, orientations, and habits. Sometimes used as a sexual orientation label instead of “bisexual” as a way of stating a non-heterosexual orientation without having to state affinity to a specific group.
• R = Race:
  • a social construct that artificially divides people into distinct groups based on characteristics such as physical appearance (particularly color), ancestral heritage, cultural affiliations, cultural history, or ethnic classification. Racial categories subsume ethnic groups.
• S = Social Justice:
  • involves a vision of society where the goal is full and equal participation of all groups. Also involves social actors who have a sense of social responsibility toward and with others, their society, and the broader world.
• T = Transgender:
  • an umbrella term that may include transsexuals, cross dressers, drag queens, drag kings, butch lesbians, and any other people transgressing the socially constructed confines of gender.
• U = Undocumented:
  • not having the official documents that are needed to enter, live in, or work in a country legally. Or not having supportive evidence that would consist of documents of written proof.
• V = VEVRAA:
  • Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act; prohibits federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment.
• W = White privilege:
  • a right, advantage, or immunity granted to or enjoyed by white persons beyond the common advantage of all others.
• X = Xenophobe:
  • a person who is unduly fearful, especially of people of foreign origin.
• Y = You:
  • the pronoun of the second singular or plural; referring to anyone, singular or plural in general.
• Z = Zie:
  • third person singular gender-neutral pronoun, with variants zim (them), zir (theirs), and zimself (reflexive).