Breaking Bias

“For employees to feel that they have a voice — and to know that their voice will actually be heard — we have to create an inclusive environment where people feel safe,” began Krull. “They need a sense of belonging and a place to be their true selves.”

From a broader perspective, however, creating a culture of inclusion is often easier said than done, added Habashi.

“As researchers and as people who work in industry, we know that not everybody is able to find their voice,” she said. “Even if they do, they may not be able to use it without being seen as too aggressive or ambitious. Women especially are more likely to have their ideas taken and credited to someone else, so finding your voice is also about creating an equal playing field that allows inclusion to happen.”

And not all employees in the same workplace should find the same voice, noted Jeyathilak.

“You don’t want everyone to think and act alike, so at my company we’ve tried to break the ‘group speak’ mechanism and have people focus on creating a personal narrative that they can own,” he said.

“For me, it’s about being present and having a presence,” continued Roberson. “I once heard that if you aren’t managing a brand, it doesn’t mean you don’t have one, it means that someone else is managing it for you. The same principle applies to having a personal narrative and a voice in the workplace.”

For Beard, the comments of her colleagues on the panel highlighted what she views as the different psychological levels of finding your voice, especially among women and other underrepresented employees and communities.

“It begins on the individual level by announcing your voice, and then moves to a group and interpersonal level before reaching the organizational and societal level,” she said. “That’s what we’re seeing now as more and more people are stepping up and speaking out.”

Such discussions continued throughout the conference, gaining additional focus and depth with keynote and breakout sessions on topics ranging from inclusive leadership and implicit bias to global gender equality and the power of community.

“There’s great research going on, but it often ends up in an academic journal and never gets back to businesses where they can actually put some of these findings to use,” Lange says. “What was exciting about this conference is that it brought together the researchers who are doing the great work and the leaders who want to make their organizations better.”

To watch a video of the opening day panel in its entirety as well as a view a photo gallery from the conference, visit us on Facebook at http://bit.ly/2FxDkQt and http://bit.ly/2G4LLDV, respectively. The next conference is planned for November 11-13, 2020. Companies and alumni interested in helping with planning or suggesting issues to shape the conference should contact Dr. Kossek at ekossek@purdue.edu.

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