Diversity

During the recent leadership contests, much has been written about the nature of society in the United Kingdom. I have heard many comments claiming
that the UK is one of the most culturally diverse and tolerant societies in the world. When such claims are being made it is normal to present statistical evidence demonstrating a breakdown of ethnicities, drawing attention either to the increasing numbers of citizens born outside the UK or to the growing numbers of people who would not identify as Christian.

When Liz Truss appointed her cabinet of 31 Ministers, seven were people of colour, including three of the top four posts. While the equivalent number of Ministers has dropped to five in the current cabinet, the top job is held by a Punjabi Indian who is a practicing Hindu. The appointments were rightly
applauded as more evidence of the growing diversity in society.

While I welcome the fact that there is now a more visible representation of a  variety of ethnicities in politics and in society at large, I fear that
we are in danger of using the statistics to claim something beyond the raw data. In short, we judge our success as a multicultural society purely in
terms of a head count. How diverse we are, somehow becomes an indicator how
tolerant we must be. Numbers then become the end game in our journey to
multiculturalism.  But all statistics can measure, is the extent of the diversity of society.  Statistics alone are no measurement of how people
from those various ethnic backgrounds feel either valued or included in society. In short diversity and inclusion are not the same thing.

Let me use an analogy. I love Bake Off and I am always amazed when I see
what can be created from a small amount of everyday ingredients in the hands
of a skilled and experienced baker. I find it remarkable that the same ingredients can create a beautiful cake in the hands of one baker while another baker produces the unenviable soggy bottom using the same produce.

In this analogy, the ingredients represent diversity. Inclusion happens only when the ingredients are put together with expert handling in the right
context. They are more than the sum total of their parts. They become something new. You can have diversity (the ingredients) without inclusion
(the cake), but you can't have inclusion without it being built on diversity. Diversity is a necessary first step on the road to inclusion

It is hard work building a truly integrated, shared society which values all its members and includes them at every level of decision making and nation
building. It involves learning about other cultures, religions and histories. It recognises that while our history was not shared, our future can be, when we move beyond diversity to inclusion.

So do we value what we measure - numbers, or measure what we value - inclusion.