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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Glossary

We seek to discuss topics surrounding diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging using accurate, clear language. Members of the School’s DEI Council have assembled the terms below to help facilitate open and meaningful communication. This list is not exhaustive and will be amended and extended as discussions in the School progress and our language evolves. We hope you find these definitions useful.

Terms

  • Bias: A form of prejudice that results from our need to quickly classify individuals into categories.
  • BIPoC: An acronym used to refer to Black, Indigenous and people of color. It is based on the recognition of collective experiences of systemic racism. As with any other identity term, it is up to individuals to use this term as an identifier.
  • Discrimination: The unequal treatment of members of various groups, based on conscious or unconscious prejudice, which favors one group over others on differences of race, gender, economic class, sexual orientation, physical ability, religion, language, age, national identity, religion and other categories.
  • Diversity: Socially, it refers to the wide range of identities. It broadly includes race, ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, veteran status, physical appearance, etc. It also involves different ideas, perspectives and values.
  • Equity: The fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all people, while at the same time striving to identify and eliminate barriers that prevent the full participation of some groups. The principle of equity acknowledges that there are historically underserved and underrepresented populations and that fairness regarding these unbalanced conditions is necessary to provide equal opportunities to all groups.
  • Gender Identity:  A person’s internal, deeply held knowledge of their own gender. Everyone has a gender identity. Please note: gender identity is not visible to others. You cannot look at someone and “see” their gender identity.
  • Implicit Bias: Negative associations expressed automatically that people unknowingly hold and that that affect our understanding, actions and decisions; also known as unconscious or hidden bias.
  • Inclusion: The act of creating an environment in which any individual or group will be welcomed, respected, supported and valued as a fully participating member. An inclusive and welcoming climate embraces and respects differences.
  • Intersectionality: A social construct that recognizes the fluid diversity of identities that a person can hold such as gender, race, class, religion, professional status, marital status, socioeconomic status, etc.
  • “Isms”: A way of describing any attitude, action or institutional structure that oppresses a person or group because of their target group. For example, race (racism), gender (sexism), economic status (classism), older age (ageism), religion (e.g., anti-Semitism), sexual orientation (heterosexism), language/immigrant status (xenophobism), etc.
  • LGBTQ+:  Acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer. The Q generally stands for queer when LGBTQ organizations, leaders, and media use the acronym. In settings offering support for youth, it can also stand for questioning. LGBT+ is also used, with the + in place of Q in recognition of all non-straight, non-cisgender identities.
  • Microaggression: The verbal, nonverbal and environmental slights, snubs, insults or actions, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate hostile, derogatory or negative messages to target persons based solely upon discriminatory belief systems.
  • Patriarchy: Actions and beliefs that prioritizes masculinity. Patriarchy is practiced systemically in the ways and methods through which power is distributed in society (jobs and positions of power given to men in government, policy, criminal justice, etc.) while also influencing how we interact with one another interpersonally (gender expectations, sexual dynamics, space-taking, etc.).
  • People of Color: A collective term for persons of Asian, African, Latinx/e and Native American backgrounds, as opposed to the collective “White”.
  • Queer:  An adjective used by some people, particularly younger people, whose sexual orientation is not exclusively heterosexual (e.g. queer person, queer woman). Typically, for those who identify as queer, the terms lesbian, gay, and bisexual are perceived to be too limiting and/or fraught with cultural connotations they feel do not apply to them. Once considered a pejorative term, queer has been reclaimed by some LGBTQ people to describe themselves. However, it is not a universally accepted term even within the LGBTQ community, so use caution when using it outside of describing the way someone self-identifies or in a direct quote.
  • Race: A social construct that artificially divides people into distinct groups based on characteristics such as physical appearance (particularly race), ancestral heritage, cultural affiliation, cultural history, ethnic classification, and the social, economic and political needs of a society at a given period of time
  • Sexual Orientation:  The term for a person’s enduring physical, romantic and/ or emotional attraction to another person.
  • Social Justice: Social justice constitutes a form of activism, based on principles of equity and inclusion that encompasses a vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure. Social justice involves social actors who have a sense of their own agency as well as a sense of social responsibility toward and with others.
  • Stereotype: A form of generalization rooted in blanket beliefs and false assumptions, a product of processes of categorization that can result in a prejudiced attitude, critical judgment and intentional or unintentional discrimination. Stereotypes are typically negative, based on little information and does not recognize individualism and personal agency.
  • System of Oppression: Conscious and unconscious, non-random and organized harassment, discrimination, exploitation, discrimination, prejudice and other forms of unequal treatment that impact different groups. Sometimes is used to refer to systemic racism.
  • Underrepresented/Underrepresented Minority (URM): Term used by the University of Washington to describe groups that are underrepresented in the UW in comparison with their numbers in the general population. According to the 2021-2022 UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity Fact Sheet, URM means “federally recognized underrepresented minority populations (African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and Latino/Hispanic).”
  • White Supremacy: A power system structured and maintained by persons who classify themselves as White, whether consciously or subconsciously determined; and who feel superior to those of other racial/ethnic identities.

The terms contained in this glossary have been reproduced from the following resources:

  1. Anti-Violence Project. Glossary. University of Victoria.
  2. Colors of Resistance. Definitions for the Revolution.
  3. Cram, R. H. (2002). Teaching for diversity and social justice: A sourcebook.
  4. Equity and Inclusion. Glossary. UC Davis.
  5. Potapchuk, M., Leiderman, S., et al. (2009). Glossary. Center for Assessment and Policy Development.
  6. Center for Diversity & Inclusion. Glossary of Bias Terms. Washington University in St. Louis.
  7. Ontario Human Rights Commission. Glossary of human rights terms.
  8. GLAAD Media Reference Guide.
  9. College of the Environment Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Glossary. The University of Washington.