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Sara Pervaiz Amjad shares broader prospective of D&I | |
| Staff Writer |
When it comes to approaching life with courage and curiosity, affinity-based mentorship can be invaluable. Seeing someone who is like me succeeding is incredibly meaningful, especially for those who come from marginalized groups that have been historically and systemically disadvantaged.
Anyone who feels they're doing something for the first time will be afraid, but if there is someone else who is like them, is a few steps ahead and looks back to say, “Come, it's not so bad,” or “Let me help you,” then the person will be able to challenge their fears and move forward. This can be crucial for women as we generally tend to be socialized to second-guess ourselves. Additionally, marginalized groups are often pitted against one another within patriarchal structures. There is a strong sense of zero-sum competition when it seems that fewer opportunities are available. You are encouraged to drag the other person back so you can move forward in their place when they lose out.
Furthering emphasizing on mentorship, Sara Pervaiz Amjad, Assistant Dean of Administration in Student Affairs at New York University Abu Dhabi stated, “Mentoring provides a unique chance to alter historically disadvantages outcomes. A mentor, especially one who belongs to a marginalized group, can feel safe in what they have accomplished and then create room for someone else from that group to overcome the same obstacles they encountered. In this way, affinity-based mentoring serves to both strengthen communities and increase access across all levels.”
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Next Gen Workforce
People are genuinely consuming a lot of content online, and there is a lot of popular social media content that the youth consume relating to identity, belonging, diversity, and inclusion. Gen Z tends to be values-driven in its consumer choices and bring values into discerning what they spend their time and money on.
Businesses aiming to appeal to a global market are shifting their marketing strategies to focus more on the company's values than the product itself. Compared to previous generations, today's youth is far more knowledgeable and prioritizes values above all else – these values tend to lean more towards liberal western understandings of global humanity. Consumers today care about issues of diversity, inclusion, equity, and justice, as well as mental health and well-being. We anticipate that these young people will enter the workforce and serve as agents of social change.
“However, it is crucial that we educate the younger generations on how to filter and select useful information from all that is out there. For a mentor, it is essential to also then be a content curator of sorts and guide younger people in the content they are consuming, situating it within the context different cultural backgrounds. Since there is so much information available, it's crucial to have some sort of direction and curation in content consumption,” argued Amjad.
Every environment needs D&I
In every setting, diversity and inclusion are crucial. Therefore, it is crucial to have a wide range of identities represented. The more diverse the team's members are, the more likely they are to come up with novel solutions to problems. At the same time, for diversity to be truly effective, it is essential to have affinity-based mentorship and intra-group community building.
But if you bring together people from diverse backgrounds, you will have a wealth of information and insight that no single person could ever provide by themselves. The ability to draw from a wide range of perspectives, expertise, and lived experiences is crucial. And that's where smarter answers can be found.
At the same time, just bringing a more diverse group to the table is not enough. To be able to draw from that wealth of information, it is essential that everyone feels like an equal contributor, and that power differentials that may exist within the group are acknowledged. For individuals from marginalized groups, affinity-based spaces can be helpful in creating more psychological safety needed to engage more fully in diverse intergroup spaces.
When you have people of different linguistic backgrounds and cultural identities, you have access to a wider range of ideas and insights and may reach a more varied consumer base as a result. Your team's ability to create products that appeal to a larger audience and address a broader range of problems is strengthened.
Women executives making in-roads
Having more women in positions of power is crucial. The way systems have been set up over the course of history, women have been disadvantaged and prevented from accessing opportunities, first, education, then employment opportunities, and then leadership opportunities within the workplace.
Traditionally in more patriarchal conceptions of the workplace, there may be a notion that emotions are not appropriate for the workplace and that success should be driven solely by tangible results. Employees, especially those from marginalized groups, feel compelled to hide parts of themselves to assimilate into the workplace. How can we co-create a work environment in which care is centered the same way more tangible results are, and all individuals are encouraged to bring more of their full selves to the work?
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Roadblocks
Discussing on the ongoing challenges, Amjad said that the MENA region is a change leader in the field of sustainability. As you may already know, in 2018 the United Arab Emirates passed a legislation ensuring that men and women doing the same type of work receive equal pay. The region is dedicated to upholding ideals of inclusion and leveraging its rich demographic diversity to create change. It is essential for people to visit the MENA region and witness firsthand how fast the region is transforming itself every year.
Sara Pervaiz Amjad, in her spare time from the past two years, has studied and invested heavily in various well-being and coaching modalities. She loves meeting new people and as much as she loves spending time with those she already knows. Living in the UAE provides a unique opportunity to interact with instructors, experts, and other students from all walks of life and diverse cultural background. Many of the instructors that come here to conduct classes are travelling instructors in the well-being field. She also facilitates seminars and theater-based workshops on diversity, inclusion, identity, and culture and is a coach and emotional bodywork therapist.
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