The Ultimate DEI Lexicon
A compilation of transformative language, empowering individuals and organizations to
build a more inclusive and equitable world.
A
Achievement Gap
Widespread disparities that exist in the
achievements between the majority and the minority groups.
Annual Hours Contract
A flexible work arrangement where in employers and employees agree they will work a given number of hours during the year, but the pattern of work can vary from week to week.
ASH (Anti-Sexual Harassment) Policy
An organizational policy that warrants action against any individual who sexually harasses an employee of the organization, while he/she is on duty. Any unwelcome sexually determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) such as physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks etc. amounts to sexual harassment.
B
Back-up Dependent Care
Refers to guaranteed dependent care that is used not on a regular basis when other forms of care are not available. This does not include resource and referral and is separate from backup child care. Dependents needing care can include elderly family members, spouses, terminally ill family members, and adult children with special needs.
Bias
A preference for or tendency toward a particular viewpoint or outcome.
Breadwinner
A person who earns money to support his/her family, often the sole one.
Break Free Career
A continuous, uninterrupted career with no incidence of breaks.
C
Career Anchortm
A combination of perceived areas of competence, motives, and values relating to professional work choices.
Career and Home Orientation
A ‘career orientation’ in which the concerned individual has an abiding interest in pursuing a career but treats it as equal and sometimes secondary to family responsibilities.
Career Aspirations
The tangible/intangible outcomes an individual aspires to achieve by pursuing a career. Some common aspirations include career advancement, job security, gaining professional expertise and/or achieving work-life balance.
Career Break
A period of time during which a professional chooses not to be gainfully employed, typically to cater to familial responsibilities or pursue other interests.
Career Breaker
Any factor (professional or personal) that results in a career break for a professional.
Career Comeback
The process of resuming one’s career after a
sabbatical.
sabbatical.
Career Continuity
The extent to which a professional’s career is interruption/break free.
Career Counseling
Guidance a professional receives from an external agent (boss/mentor/colleague/family/friends or others), that enables him/her make informed career choices and develop a career plan.
Career De-railers
Factors that pull a
professional away from a progressive career, very often domestic commitments.
Career Driver
A factor that drives a professional towards pursuing a career such as being the breadwinner of the family, to meet the financial goal for the family or self Career Achievement.
Career Enablers
Support systems that a professional avails of that in turn helps him/her manage professional and domestic responsibilities efficiently without conflict, thereby enabling his/her career aspirations. There are essentially three types of career enablers: 1) Self initiated 2) Organization-based 3) Family/society based.
Career Focus
The extent of focus and dedication a professional places on his career which forms the basis of his/her career plan.
Career Goals
The tangible/intangible goals a professional aims to reach through active involvement in his/her career.
Career Growth
The extent to which a professional has successfully climbed the corporate ladder.
Career identity
The distinction given to an individual or by a third party that defines the nature of the value that he/she brings to the work place. For example, Project Manager, Receptionist, Customer Service Representative, and Curriculum Designer.
Career Influencer
The support network that influences and shapes a professional’s career path that includes (not limited to) his/her family, colleagues, boss, mentor, friends etc. Career Intentionality Gap: The gap in career intentionality between two genders.
Career Intentionality
The extent to which a professional deploys intentions to chart his/her career trajectory.
Career Longevity
The length of an individual’s professional existence.
Career Motivator
The individual(s) a professional idolizes and inspires him/her to conquer greater career heights. This could be political leaders, corporate icons, social activists, actors etc. amongst others.
Career Orientation
The relative importance a professional attributes to his/her career as against his/her home.
Career Plan
The plan a professional adheres,, to attain career growth that can result in professional and personal development. Career Priorities: The priorities a professional assigns to various aspects of his/her career.
Career Primary Orientation
A kind of career orientation wherein the individual is ambitious and focused with respect to his/her career and gives greater priority to his/her career over home.
Career returners/returnees
The professionals who make successful career comebacks after a break.
Career Span
The span in years of a professional’s successful career. Pronunciation: Usage: A professional’s career span is a determinant of the experiential knowledge he/she has.
Career Sponsor
A senior level champion who believes in a professional’s potential and is willing to advocate and use their sway to help the professional land high-level assignments and positions.
Career Stage
The three active stages, namely early, mid and mature that an individual passes through in his/her career life.
Career strength indicators
Career tangible measures that are indicative of the effectiveness of organizational policies on the careers of its employees. Higher the value of these indicators, lesser is the chance of the professional leaving her job with the employer.
Career Success
The professional success that an individual has achieved by means of his/her career. Career growth is an indication of this success.
Career Trajectory
The path an individual’s career takes as he/she moves ahead in years. While a linear progression is most desired, the trajectory might also include career breaks or other occasional dips in a professional’s career due to unforeseen circumstances.
Cognitive Diversity
Diversity in an organizational workforce in terms of the differences amongst individuals basis their thought processes and cognitive capabilities.
Compressed Work hours
A kind of work arrangement in which employees work the same number of hours, over fewer days in a given period of time.
Corporate Dropout
An individual who voluntarily drops out of a successful corporate career to either pursue personal interests or hobbies, or to be the primary caregiver of the family.
Corporate Ladder
A conceptualized view of a company's employment hierarchy in which career advancement is considered to follow higher rungs on a ladder, with entry-level positions on the bottom rungs and executive level positions at the top.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
A management concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and interactions with their stakeholders.
Cultural Competence
Set of academic and interpersonal skills that allow individuals to increase their understanding, sensitivity, appreciation, and responsiveness to cultural differences and the interactions resulting from them.
Cultural Diversity
Diversity in an organizational workforce among individuals basis racial or ethnic backgrounds and the consequent cultural upbringing.
Culture
The way of life of a people, encompassing their ideas, values, beliefs, norms, language, traditions, and artifacts.
Customer diversity
Differences amongst individuals in an organization’s customer base in terms of age, gender, cultural background, physical abilities, race, religion, sexual orientation, education, experience etc.
D
D&I Champions
Organizations which are strong advocates of the concepts of diversity, inclusion and equality and have achieved significant milestones in the D&I space through specifically targeted initiatives.
Day Care Services
An enabler for professionals that refer to facilities of child care , which are reliable and affordable.
Differently-abled
A physical, mental, or cognitive impairment or condition that characterizes an individual.
Discrimination
Differential treatments meted out to different groups of employees in an organization.
Diversity and Inclusion (D & I)
Diversity is a mindset to spread the employee base with a vast range of human differences that are not limited to race, religion, gender, sex orientation, age, social class, physical ability. Inclusion is involvement of an organization where the inherent value of every individual is recognized.
Diversity Capability
The ability of an organization to embed diversity in its organizational culture.
Diversity Champion
An individual who exemplifies an unyielding commitment to diversity and inclusion throughout his/her campus communities, across academic programs, and at the highest administrative levels.
Diversity Competence
The ability to understand, appreciate and respond to the characteristics of coworkers from a diverse background that can ensure collaborative and cohesive working.
Diversity Consciousness: An attitude of welcoming and integrating diverse employees in an organization.
Diversity Index
A quantitative measure of workforce diversity in an organization.
Diversity Management
Initiatives that an organization spearheads to efficiently manage a diverse workforce to sustain diversity through recruitment, retention, talent development and best practices.
Diversity Maturity
This refers to the organization’s level of commitment towards diversity it and to which extent are they prepared for the task
Diversity of Physical Capabilities
Diversity in an organizational workforce in terms of the differences among individuals basis their physical capabilities.
Diversity of Sexual Orientation (LGBT)
The diversity in the workforce of an organization in terms of representation of individuals with varied sexual orientations (LGBT - lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender)
Diversity Readiness
The ability of an organization to adapt principles of diversity in its processes such as recruitment, retention, and training and development.
Diversity Recruitment
This refers to an organization’s recruitment process that focuses on hiring workforce without any gender bias and considers other minority groups to improve innovation at work
Diversity Sensitization
The awareness programs that an organization conducts in order to sensitize its employees of the need for workplace diversity.
Double Burden
The term used to describe the workload of women (and men) who work to earn money, but also have the responsibility of unpaid, domestic labour.
E
Early Career Stage
The career stage of a professional when he/she is at the threshold of his/her career and is typically aged between 20 to 30 years.
E-Gen
Professionals born in the decade 1971-80.
Employee engagement
A measurable degree of an employee's positive or negative emotional attachment to his/her job, colleagues and organization that profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform at work.
Equity
Refers to the process of creating equivalent outcomes for members of historically underrepresented and oppressed individuals and groups.
Ethnicity
The shared sense of a common heritage, ancestry, or historical past among an ethnic group.
Executive Coaching
Defined as working with a coaching professional to reach specific professional development goals—particularly those that are required or expected in high-level corporate positions.
F
Female LFPR
The labour force participation rate of women in the workforce.
Feminism
Refers broadly to an ideology and movement advocating complete gender equity.
Flexi Worker
An employee who avails of any flexible working arrangement in his/her organization.
Flexible Working Arrangements (FWAs)
A term used to refer work arrangements that are untraditional and in which the employee has autonomy over the time during which he/she works and the place from where he/she works.
Flexi-dishing
The process of identifying the responsibilities of a job role that can be carried out ‘flexibly’ and thereby imparting a flexible nature to that job role.
Free-Gens
Professionals born between 1945 and 1960.
G
Gen Y
Professionals born between 1981 and 1990.
Gen Z
The generation of professionals born after the 1990s and are now in the process of entering active workforce.
Gender
A socially constructed system of classification that ascribes qualities of masculinity and femininity or the existence of both to people.
Gender Audit
The process of evaluating organizational policies including legislation, regulations, allocations, taxation and social projects, keeping in mind of their effect on both genders in a given organization.
Gender Balance
An ideal condition in which there is a 50:50 representation of men and women in an organization and they are equally enabled to reach their full potential.
Gender Bias
Unequal treatment in employment and growth opportunities within an organisation (such as promotion, pay, benefits and privileges), and expectations due to attitudes based on the gender of an employee.
Gender Bilingualism
Refers to an approach that when ingrained in the organisational culture can ensure that all managers, both male and female, are able to’ speak the language’ and understand the behaviours of both genders, rather than just those of men.
Gender Chore Gap
The difference between the amount of housework done by women and men.
Gender Diversity
The diversity in the workforce of an organization in terms of male and female representation.
Gender Equality
An ideal organizational (and social) condition in which professionals of all genders are entitled to equal and fair treatment.
Gender Gap
The differences across different dimensions - social, economic, educational or political, between men and women in a society.
Gender Identity
A person’s internal sense of being male or female or the other gender
Gender Inclusivity
The practice of ensuring complete inclusion of all genders without any biases, in recruitment, training and development, promotions and other organizational initiatives.
Gender Intelligence
It is the ability to “understand the differences between men and women, not only in how they are hard-wired, but in how they make decisions, problem-solve, and communicate.
Gender Parity
The ideal organizational condition under which both genders have equal access to employment and development opportunities and are on equal pay scales.
Gender Roles
Are sets of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex.
Gender Sensitization
Refers to the process of modification of individual behavior by raising awareness on gender equality concerns.
Gender Stereotypes
Simplistic generalizations (often over generalizations) about the characteristics, differences, and roles of individuals belonging to a particular gender. Stereotypes can be positive or negative, but they rarely communicate accurate information about others.
Gender Wage Gap
The relative difference in the average gross hourly earnings of women and men within the economy as a whole.
Generational Cohorts
Groups of people who share birth years, history, and a collective personality as a result of their common defining socio, political, cultural and economic experiences.
Generational Competence
The ability to understand, appreciate and respond to the characteristics of co-workers from a different generation (younger or older) that can ensure collaborative and cohesive working
Generational Diversity
Diversity in the organizational workforce in terms of representation of various generational cohorts.
Glass Ceiling
Glass ceiling is the unseen, yet unbreakable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder.
H
Home Based Family Member Caregiver
This refers to a family member (s) of a professional who has the will, reliability and health to carry out his/her domestic commitments (household duties and child/elder care) while he/she is away at work.
Home Based Non Family Member Caregiver
This refers to a caregiver who is a non-family member hired by a professional to take care of his/her household and is in charge of his/her caring duties while he/she is away at work.
Home Primary Career Orientation
A kind of career orientation wherein the individual works but home is a bigger priority to him/her over career.
Human Development Index (HDI)
A composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which is used to rank countries/states into different tiers of human development.
I
IMP
Indian Man Professional.
Inclusion Maturity
A compliant, programmatic, leader-led integrated best practices model that an organization has towards inclusion.
Inclusion Readiness
This refers to organizations being inclusive ready with best practices to embrace people from a wide range of needs, abilities, interest and backgrounds.
Inclusion
The process of putting the concepts and practice of diversity into action by creating an environment of involvement, respect and connection wherein the underlying workforce diversity is harnessed to create business value.
Inclusive Workplace
A workplace that has been able to successfully implement practices for greater employee inclusion and development.
Inclusivity Index
A measure of the degree of inclusivity in organizational practices.
Intentional Career Pathing
The process of proactively and intentionally planning a professional’s career path.
Intersectional Diversity (or Intersectionality)
An analytic framework which attempts to identify how interlocking systems of power impact those who are most marginalized in society in various forms such as class, race, sexual orientation, age, disability and gender.
IWP
Indian Woman Professional.
J
Job Sharing
An alternate, flexible work arrangement in which one job is shared between two people, who might work alternate days, half weeks, or alternate weeks, or one person working in the morning and one in the afternoon.
Juggling Pressure
Refers to the pressure on a professional as he/she juggles the responsibilities of both his/her career and family.
Job Rotation
A situation in which employees are moved among two or more jobs in a planned manner. The objective is to cross-train employees, exposing them to different experiences and a wider variety of skills to enhance job satisfaction and advancement.
L
Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
The rate of participation of a certain group of professionals in the active labour force.
Labour Force
All individuals who are at least 18 years old and are employed or looking for work.
Labour market
a group within the labor force whose members are eligible for a particular job.
Lactation Programs
refers to programs that the company provides for nursing mothers to get support and information on lactation.
Lactation Support
Refers to infrastructural support offered by an organization to nursing mother employees.
Leaning-in
The now famous phrase coined by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg that refers to the process of a woman professional being more assertive at work and not letting biases keep her from pushing forward.
Linear Career Trajectory
A career trajectory wherein a linear progression of career happens in terms of career growth and success.
M
M curve
A curve shaped like the alphabet M that shows the labor force distribution of women by age with the age brackets 20 to 24 and 45 to 49 being two peaks. This concept was proposed basis research on Japanese women.
Male ally
Valued men who with an open mind work along side women for a better organizational culture and a better society.
Male LFPR
The labour force participation rate (LFPR) of men in the workforce.
Marginalization
Social exclusion; the placement of minority groups and cultures outside mainstream society.
Marital Status
The status of being an individual who is married or single.
Maternity Benefit Act
A legislation that entitles every pregnant woman in India who is formally employed to a total paid leave of 12 weeks (including leave taken before the birth of the baby).
Maternity Continuum
A series of strategies enabled in an organization starting from pre-maternity stage, during maternity phase and post maternity phase.
Maternity Enablement
Technologies and other factors that have been developed to an organization that enable pregnant women to either undertake self-monitoring activities or continue with her job profile without a pause.
Maternity Leave
A period of absence from work granted to a mother before and after the birth of her child. While the government of India warrants 12 weeks of paid maternity leave for any woman employee in formal employment, many organizations allow extended leave in order to retain valuable female talent.
Mature Career Stage
The advanced career stage of a professional where an individual is above 41 years of age and has made significant advancements in his/her career.
Mentoring
A professional relationship in which a subject matter expert (called the mentor) helps a junior professional (the mentee) in developing specific skills and knowledge that will enhance his/her professional and personal growth. The mentoring process is mostly one-to-one and is continual and evolving in nature.
Mid-Career Stage
The career stage of a professional when a person is aged between 31 – 40 years of age and is most likely to encounter opportunities for career growth.
Millennials
A common term used to refer both Gen Y and Gen Z cohorts.
Minority
refer to a person who has historically been in the demographic minority in the overall population sample.
Motherhood penalty
A term coined by sociologists who argue that in the workplace, working mothers encounter systematic disadvantages in pay, perceived competence, and benefits relative to those without children.
Multiculturalism
A work culture that acknowledges and promotes the acceptance and understanding of different cultures working in an organization.
P
Paid Paternity Leave
Refers to paid leave offered to new fathers on the birth of their child. It could also be applicable to adoptive fathers.
Partially Paid Maternity Leave
This is over and above the company's fully paid maternity policy, during which the new mother employee continues to be on leave but is provided a certain percentage of her compensation.
Part-time work
Requires employees to work a lower number of hours than would be considered full time by their employer.
Partial work, partial pay
Defined as working for a certain “percentage” of hours every day and getting that “percentage” of full-time pay for the designated role.
Pay disparity
Unequal pay distribution amongst individuals in the workforce who are on the same job role.
Peer group network
A professional’s network (organized or informal) comprising his or her colleagues.
PhaseBack Program
Structured reintegration programs for smooth reintegration of maternity returners, back to their roles.
Pipeline leakage
This refers to the exit of professionals along the talent pipeline from employment, very often to attend to family responsibilities. It has been observed that the leak percentage is significantly higher for women than for men.
Pivotal generation
Gen Z that is pivoting away from the usual millennial behavior to set its own behavioral and attitude standards.
Prejudice
A preconceived judgment or bias about an employee or a group of employees. A prejudice can be positive or negative.
Prenatal Programs
Refers to specific programs that pregnant employees are provided with before delivery.
Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH)
An organizational policy that prevents incidence of sexual harassment at work and penalizes the offender. Any unwelcome sexually determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) such as physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks etc. amounts to sexual harassment.
Privilege
The systematic advantage that is conferred to one group at the expense of another.
Product Diversification
Process of expanding business opportunities through additional market potential of an existing product.
Professional Ecosystem
The term used to refer to the collective conditions in which a professional works.
Pyramid Syndrome
Refers to the tendency of women to drop off workforce as they rise to mid-managerial and senior levels.
R
Race
Personal characteristics associated with race (such as hair texture, skin color, or certain facial features).
Remote Work
Defined as working offsite (often at home) on a full-time basis.
Returnee Lead time
Lead time is the latency (delay) between the initiation and execution of a process. In the context of a workplace, returnee lead time refers to the time allotted to women career returnees to integrate themselves to their work.
Right to Flexible Working
Refers to the right of every employee of an organization to request for flexible working to his/her employer under fair circumstances that warranty it.
Rural LFPR
The labor force participation rate (LFPR) of rural workers in the workforce.
S
Sabbatical
A period of absence granted to an employee traditionally to acquire new skills, to rest or to travel.
Second career programs
Refers to formal company programs towards identifying, hiring and advancing second career women - women returning to work after career breaks.
Second Career Women
Women who are ready to make a career comeback post a break as the reasons that previously led them to a break cease to exist.
SEGUE
The process of making a smooth transition from one state to another, unhesitatingly. The transition of a woman professional from a state of career break to that of formal employment is her ‘SEGUE’.
Self-initiated skill building programs
Authorized programs that provide for specific skill building either technical or soft skills that a woman professional enrolls in for the betterment of her career prospects.
Sensitization Programs
Initiatives that focus on enhancing awareness and sensitivity of professionals on certain ideas, events, situations, or phenomenon.
Sexual Harassment
Any unwelcome sexually determined behaviour (whether directly or by implication) such as physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks etc. amounts to sexual harassment.
Sexual Orientation
A predominant erotic attraction for the same or other sex, or for both sexes in varying degrees. Few, if any, obvious identifiable mannerism exists that distinguish between individuals of different sexual orientations. Sexual Orientation is not a choice, lifestyle or behavior; it is an inner sense of identity. Sexual Orientation is only one small aspect of a person's being.
Socio-economic Diversity
Diversity in the workforce of an organization in terms of representation of individuals with different social and economic profiles.
Staggered Hours Contract
A flexible work arrangement under which an employee can start and finish work at different timelines.
Stay At Home Parent
Parent who chooses to stay at home to care for his/her children and to attend to other domesticities.
Supplier Diversity
A proactive business program which encourages the use of minority-owned, women owned, veteran owned, LGBT-owned, disabled owned or any other historically underutilized business vendors as suppliers.
Succession Planning
Refers to a process of systematically and deliberately preparing for future changes of leadership in key positions. This process may involve identifying potential replacements and/or providing strategies for developing or hiring individuals to meet future needs.
T
Talent Pipeline
A pool of candidates qualified to assume open positions that have been created or vacated through a retirement or a promotion.
Talent Pool
A database of candidate profiles who are eligible for working in an organization. They could be limited to a specific area of expertise, or focused on a broad grouping of individuals who are capable of performing a variety of job tasks.
Tele Commuting
A flexible work arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work, instead work virtually from remote locations.
Term-time Work
A flexible work arrangement whereby an employee is contracted to work particular number of weeks per year on either a full or part-time basis. His/her non-working time is scheduled at regular, planned periods which are accounted for by a combination of annual leave and unpaid leave. Designated working weeks will normally coincide with school terms.
Tolerance
Recognition and respect of values, beliefs, and behaviors that differ from one’s own.
Transgender
A person whose core gender identity is different from their biological gender identity. A transgender person is someone who switches gender roles, whether it is once or many times.
U
Uberization of Workforce
Derived from the company Uber, the term refers to a transition to an economic system where corporates exchange under-utilized capacity of existing human resources while incurring low transaction costs.
U-Curve
A curve shaped like the alphabet ‘U’ that denotes the job satisfaction levels of employees at various career stages. According to this curve, the satisfaction is at a peak during the early career stage, dips significantly towards the mid career and rises again as the professional enters the mature career stage.
Unconscious Bias
Natural people preferences whereby an individual routinely and rapidly sorts people into groups. This preference bypasses his/her normal, rational and logical thinking.
Underrepresented
Groups who have been denied access and/or suffered past institutional discrimination.
Underutilization
The state of not being used enough or not being used to full potential.
Untapped Talent Pool
A large section of people who have spent years developing their skills that organizations may have overlooked in recruitment drives.
Up-skilling/re-skilling
The additional training to be imparted to or undertaken by an individual returning to career after a break, for him/her to meet the requirements of his/her job role.
Urban LFPR
The (LFPR) urban workers in the workforce.
W
Wage penalty
The penalty a professional has to face in terms of a decrease in salary he/she draws after a career break as compared to what he/she was drawing pre-break.
Work Life Balance
A concept that allows proper prioritizing between “work”-- career and ambition -- and “lifestyle” -- health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation.
Work time Diversity
Diversity in the workforce of an organization in terms of representation of individuals who follow different work time patterns (including flexible work arrangements).
Workforce Diversity
Differences amongst individuals in an organization’s workforce in terms of age, gender, cultural background, physical abilities, race, religion, sexual orientation, education, and experience etc.
Workforce Profile
An organizational “snap shot” illustrating the dispersion of race, ethnicity, gender, and/or disability groups for the total workforce or within specified employment, pay, award, and other categories.
Workforce
People engaged in or available for work, either in a country or area or in a particular organization or industry.
Work Life Executive Information
Information for highest-ranking executives or managers with responsibility for work life policies and programs.
Work-Life Integration
Seamless integration of an employee’s work and life outside of work that can be achieved through smart prioritizations of demands at work and those at home.
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