Washington State Glossary for Inclusive & Equitable Workplaces
Welcome to the 4th version of the Glossary for Inclusive & Equitable Workplaces, previously known as the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging glossary!
The intent of this glossary is to provide state employees with a compilation of equity-related terms and their meanings. When we have a shared vocabulary and agree on the meaning of the words we use, we are better able to collaborate across departments, teams, and the communities that we serve.
Words carry meaning, power, and impact. It is important that we understand the meanings, recognize the power, and demonstrate reflection, continual learning, and accountability for the impact of the words we use in Washington State government. It is also important to understand that the human beings who are educating us about these terms are living the identities and experiences described in this glossary.
Because people are continually evolving, the words we use to describe them need to evolve as well. This resource is meant to support the work of improving access, advancing equity, and eliminating systemic racism and other forms of oppression from the work we do. This is not meant to serve as a primary resource in any specialized area such as law, medicine, or academia.
Thank you to the Washington State Business Resource Groups, the Washington State DEI Council Glossary Workgroup, The Department of Health, Department of Enterprise Services, Office of Equity, OFM Communications for your hard work and dedication to this body of work. The work that was poured into this version will directly impact those who experience disparities, exclusion, and systemic oppression in the workplace. Thanks to your vital contribution to this work our state will have a practical resource guiding us to maintain a growth mindset while affirming and embodying diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism, and belonging every step of the way.
You may request a Glossary Edit if you would like a term added to or a definition edited in this glossary. Please note that the review committee meets quarterly to review these submissions and is committed to the shared-power process, so these edits make take several months to research and to respond to.
The sense of your well-being being considered and your ability to design and give meaning to society’s structures and institutions being realized. More than tolerating and respecting differences, belonging requires that all people are welcome with membership and agency in the society. Belonging is vital to have a thriving and engaged populace, which informs distributive and restorative decision-making. Belonging calls for something more than Inclusion and Equity, yet also includes them in meaningful ways. Belonging is both objective and subjective. It can be quantified and measured, but it is also a perception found in the eye of the beholder. In this respect, Belonging, unlike both Equity and Inclusion, contains a psychological component — an affective component, which shapes the way social groups regard whatever it is they are regarding: an institution, a city, or even society writ large. If members of a social group feel as if they belong, then belonging exists. But if they do not, despite being included and having few tangible resource inequities or other disparities between groups, then belonging is lacking. A core element of belonging: the expressive or communicative message that a group belongs. It can be expressed explicitly, through representation, or by signaling that members of a particular group are welcome in a particular space, institution, or community. It can also be expressed implicitly, as when accommodations are made, such as when special food or holidays are provided for. Belonging is perceptual and tangible; it is a feeling and a practice. Belonging requires more than accommodation; it also demands agency. Belonging is realized fully when included groups have more than a voice — they are actually able to reshape the institution together with existing stakeholders. See Othering4.
- 4. Othering encompasses the systematically expressed prejudice on the basis of group identities or membership or perceived group identities or membership. It is a common set of dynamics, processes, and structures that produces marginality and persistent inequality across any of the full range of human differences. It is a strategy of the dominant culture to prevent belonging. Dimensions of othering include, but are not limited to, religion, sex, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status (class), disability, sexual orientation, citizenship/immigration status, and skin tone
Judgment or preference toward or against one group over another.
• Implicit or Unconscious Bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner. These biases, which encompass both favorable and unfavorable assessments, are activated involuntarily and without an individual’s awareness or intentional control. Residing deep in the subconscious, these biases are different from known biases that individuals may choose to conceal for the purposes of social and/or political correctness.
• Explicit or Conscious Bias are biases we know we have and may use on purpose.
Individuals who are unable to see due to visual impairment or complete lack of vision. A person with complete or almost complete loss of sight. • Limited Vision – A person who experiences partial, continual loss of sight who is not legally or completely blind. • Low Vision – A person who experiences loss of sight but is not legally or completely blind.
A term for fear, anger, intolerance, resentment, hatred, discomfort, or mistrust that one may have toward bisexual people. The term can also connote a fear, disgust, or dislike of being perceived as bisexual.
