47 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Terms and Definitions

This glossary defines the key diversity, equity, and inclusion terms beneficial for employers and employees to understand.

Ageism: Discrimination against individuals based on age and age-based stereotypes. 

Ally: Someone who is not a member of a particular group — usually an underrepresented group in terms of race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc. — but who is active in supporting that group. 

Bias: An inclination or prejudice for or against a specific individual or group.

BIPoC: An acronym referring to Black, indigenous, and people of color recognizing their collective experiences of systemic racism. 

Bisexuality: Romantic and/or sexual attraction to people of more than one sex and/or gender. 

Cisgender (Cis): A descriptive term for people whose gender identity and expression align with those typically associated with their assigned sex at birth.

Code Switching: Adjusting one’s style of speech, appearance, behavior, and expression in ways that will optimize the comfort of others in exchange for fair treatment, quality of service, and employment opportunities. 

Colorblind: The belief that everyone is — and should be treated — the same, without reference to differences or historical inequities based on race. Colorblindness de-emphasizes or ignores race and ethnicity as significant factors in identity or access to resources. (See Equality)

Critical Race Theory (CRT): Academic and legal concept originally developed in the 1970s which proposes that racism is a social construct, and that it is not merely the product of individual bias or prejudice, but also something embedded in legal systems and policies.

Cultural Appropriation: The non-consensual use of cultural elements such as symbols, art, and customs, often for purposes of profit, and generally without understanding/respecting their place and value in the original culture.

Cultural Assimilation: Adapting to a dominant culture by giving up aspects of one’s original culture.

Cultural Pluralism: An ideology that recognizes the contribution of each group within a culturally diverse society and encourages the maintenance of culturally relevant lifestyles, languages, ideas, and practices. 

Disability: Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

Diversity: Refers to all the ways in which people and groups differ from each other, including race, ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, veteran status, physical appearance, ideas, and perspectives, etc. 

Discrimination: The unequal treatment of specific groups based on conscious or unconscious prejudice.

Emotional Tax: The effects on an employee’s well-being and ability to thrive at work as a result of feeling different from peers, usually because of gender, race, and/or ethnicity, and dealing with bias.

Employee Resource Group (ERG): An employee-run group organized around common backgrounds, experiences, or interests to network, share views, air concerns, look for solutions, teach others, and promote professional development. 

Equality: A goal of providing each individual, regardless of gender, age, race, sex, religion, etc., with the same resources and treatment. Like colorblindness, it’s based on the idea that everyone has the same worth and deserves the same treatment. However, it can create inequities by failing to take into account that people may have different needs and require different resources to have equal chances of achieving success. 

Equity: A concept that aims to level the playing field. An equity approach recognizes that employees with different circumstances can need different types of support to reach their full potential, and treating everyone the same may not result in fairness. Equity allocates resources according to need with the goal of giving everyone a genuinely equal chance to succeed. 

Ethnicity: A group defined by common characteristics and traditions, such as language, religion, regional background, culture, foods, etc.  

Gender: A classification system based on societal ideas and expectations of the behavior, actions, and roles appropriate to specific sexes.

Gender Dysphoria: Refers to the psychological impact and stress that a person may experience when their gender identity is misaligned with their sex assigned at birth — frequently experienced by transgender individuals though not all transgender people experience gender dysphoria

Gender Expression: The way a person expresses their gender outwardly through clothing, voice, or other characteristics 

Gender Identity: A person’s internal sense of being male, female, or otherwise. Gender identity is not necessarily visible or obvious externally.

Gender-Neutral: Unisex or all-gender inclusive language, facilities, etc. 

Gender Non-conforming: Feeling and/or exhibiting gender expression that differs from societal expectations.

Harassment: Comments or actions that can be perceived as offensive, embarrassing, humiliating, demeaning, or unwelcome.

Identity Group: The particular group, culture, or community with which an individual has a sense of belonging. Identity is a matter of individual freedom and choice; no one should be pressured to identify with a specific group.  

Implicit Bias: Also known as unconscious or hidden bias, this refers to unconscious negative attitudes toward, or stereotypical views of, people and groups. 

Inclusion: The characteristic of a workplace climate that makes members of diverse groups feel welcome, respected, and an integral part of the organization. 

Institutional Racism: The ways in which institutional policies and practices create different outcomes and opportunities for different groups based on racial discrimination.TTT

Intersectionality: The diversity of identities that a person holds simultaneously, such as gender, race, class, religion, professional status, marital status, socioeconomic status, etc. and the ways in which people are affected  — often in complex and compounding ways — by the multiple forms and levels of privilege and discrimination associated with these identities. 

Intersex: Individuals born with variations and discrepancies in anatomical sex characteristics (formerly known as hermaphroditism or pseudohermaphroditism.

LGBTQIA+: An inclusive term for those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual.

Marginalization: Devaluation of underrepresented groups outside mainstream society because of their differences from the dominant culture.  

Microaggression: Everyday verbal, nonverbal, and environmental slights, snubs, or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative messages to members of marginalized or underrepresented groups. 

Multicultural Competency: Achievement of an understanding and acceptance of diversity; a willingness to respect and learn from people with different cultural backgrounds. 

Neurodiversity: The full spectrum of variation in the human brain regarding sociability, learning, attention, mood, and other mental functions. This term recognizes that variations in human neurological function like autism and ADHD are normal and natural.

Non-binary: Indicating a person who does not identify exclusively as a man or a woman. Non-binary people may identify as both, neither, somewhere in between,  something completely different, or varying over time.

Patriarchy: A system of power distribution that prioritizes men, relevant both to societal structure and interpersonal interactions.

People of Color (POC): A collective term for men and women of Asian, African, Latinx, and Native American backgrounds.

Personal Gender Pronouns: The pronouns an individual regards as aligned with their gender identity and appropriate to use when referring to them. 

Privilege: Advantages and preferential access to resources based on membership in a dominant social group.   

Queer: Anyone who identifies outside of traditional mainstream gender or sexuality. 

Race: A social construct that assigns people to demographic groups based primarily on observable physical characteristics, like skin color, hair texture, and eye shape, as well as ancestral heritage. 

Safe Space: An environment where everyone can feel comfortable expressing themselves without fear of attack, ridicule, or denial of experience.

Sexual Orientation: Categorization based on an individual’s physical and romantic attraction to other people. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not the same. 

Stereotype: A generalized perception of a specific group that can result in prejudicial attitudes and intentional or unintentional discrimination. 

Structural inequality:  The disadvantage of one social group compared to other groups, rooted and maintained, consciously or unconsciously, through institutional practices, ideologies, and policies/laws. 

Transgender (Trans): A descriptive term for people whose gender identity and expression differ from those typically associated with their assigned sex at birth. 

Unconscious Bias: See “Implicit Bias.” 

Underrepresented Group: A defined group with lower participation in a specific subset than in the general population. For example, since women comprise 50.5% of the U.S. population, but only 28% of the directors of S&P 500 companies, they are underrepresented in this subset.

Kanarys is Your DEI Champion

At Kanarys, we are the diversity, equity, and inclusion people with the data-driven approach. Since 2018, Kanarys has aimed to change the world by creating equitable workplaces where everyone belongs. We guide your organization’s DEI path every step of the way with courage and collaboration. It starts with data, analytics and insights, and continues with recommendations and implementation. 

Our mission, as your partner and champion in the ever-evolving DEI journey: Help you understand what it takes to foster lasting, systemic change today and for tomorrow. Because when you succeed with DEI, your employees can thrive—and so can your organization.