International Coming Out Day 2019

On 10 October, the LGBTI network of the Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) and the FIOD, organised the symposium ‘The power of Inclusivity’. This event celebrated the 5th anniversary of their LGBTI employee network ‘B/Proud’ as well as National Coming Out Day. As one of the speakers, I gave scientific insights on inclusion and how social psychologists conduct their research. I presented on the importance of (and challenges in) implementing evidence-based diversity policy and how relatively ‘invisible diversity’, like sexual orientation, is very important to consider when creating an inclusive organizational culture.

On 11 October, I attended the celebration of the LUMC (Leiden University Medical Center) becoming the first research hospital and the first member from the health care sector in the Netherlands to join Workplace Pride. A very important milestone.

Speaking at the symposium ‘The power of Inclusivity’

LUMC celebration

LUMC celebration

Defeating the seven headed dragon ... over drinks

This week Utrecht University hosted the EASP funded meeting “Defeating the Seven Headed Dragon” on the self-maintaining system that causes gender inequality. As I was finalizing my grant application, I could not attend the meeting itself but I happily snuck out of self-isolation for the closing drinks and to meet up with my wonderful collaborator Jaime Napier who attended from NYU Abu-Dhabi.

Pride Talks Leiden University

On Wednesday, the LGBT+ Network at Leiden University organized the first of hopefully a long series of Pride Talks, featuring the Honorable Judge Michael Kirby who flew in from Australia, and LUMC Professor of Medical Ethics and Health Law Martine de Vries. I had the pleasure of introducing Prof. de Vries. The Great Auditorium of the Academy Building was packed, and the evening a great success.

Hope for the rainbow over Asia? Recognition for the human rights of LGBTQI people in Asian countries

Michael Kirby was Australia's longest serving judge when he retired from the High Court of Australia (the nation's Federal Supreme Court) in 2009. Earlier he had served on the Federal Court of Australia, the Court of Appeal of New South Wales and of Solomon Islands (as president) and as inaugural Chairman of the Australian Law Reform Commission (1975-84). He also took part in many national and international bodies and was President of the International Commission of Jurists (1975-8). In recent years he has undertaken many tasks for the United Nations, including as a member of the WHO global commission on AIDS and the UN Human Rights Council's commission of inquiry on North Korea (2014). He has been an outspoken advocate for decriminalization of homosexuality, about which he recently spoke at the Vatican (2019), and also in a report for the Commonwealth Heads of Government (2011). He lives in Sydney Australia with his partner of 50 years, Johan van Vloten, whom he married in February 2019, on the 50th anniversary of their meeting. See also www.michaelkirby.com.au/lgbtiq

Transgender children and the right to gender-affirming treatment: (un)conditional?

Prof dr Martine C. de Vries is professor in Medical Ethics and Health Law at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), as well as pediatric endocrinologist at the same institution. Her research focuses on pediatric ethics (focus: gender dysphoria), research ethics, and the introduction of the notion of The Learning Healthcare System in daily practice. She is member of the Health Council of the Netherlands. In pediatric practice, she takes care of children with gender dysphoria and eating disorders. See also https://nl.linkedin.com/in/martine-de-vries-b7365b

How can universities build an equal, diverse and inclusive organisation?

The League of European Research Universities just released a position paper I contributed to, entitled “Equality, diversity and inclusion at universities: the power of a systemic approach”.

“[The paper] is the culmination of two years’ intensive work. Many members of LERU universities were consulted, the latest research evidence on equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) was examined and examples of good practice were collected from LERU universities.”

“The paper’s key message is that EDI can be more effectively promoted at universities by making use of a comprehensive approach. Such an approach needs to be holistic and systemic in 1/ addressing inclusion and enhanced representation of all under-represented groups; 2/ aiming at the entire academic community of staff and students together; and 3/ making the content of both the research and the research-led curriculum more inclusive.”

Workplace Pride Conference 2019

Sustainable Inclusion was the theme of this year’s Workplace Pride Conference, a wonderful event which was hosted by KLM in an actual airplane hangar at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. The day was filled with interesting keynotes and discussion sessions. A highlight for me was a session on the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how these are linked to LGBT workplace inclusion. See what I thought about the conference in this interview.

Leiden University was well represented at the conference (From left to right: Jojanneke, Mpanzu, Pauline and Tim)

Funding by Instituut GAK for the research project "Through a Different Lens"

Good news! Our grant proposal “Through a different lens: A new approach to motivating and supporting organizations in developing evidence-based diversity policy” is being funded by Instituut Gak, and will kick off in September 2019.

Together with Naomi Ellemers, Wiebren Jansen, Onur Sahin and our newest post-doc Melissa Vink, we will examine the promises and pitfalls of diversity initiatives, their effects on job seekers, employees and organizations as a whole, and the ways in which problematic patterns can be mitigated.

Building a European LGBT Social Psychology

In June of this year, I was fortunate to participate in a workshop supported by the European Association of Experimental Social Psychology on Building An LGBT European Social Psychology. It was a wonderful experience to spend time with this particular group of people; senior and junior researchers passionate about the study of LGBTQI+ issues. The location, ISCTE University in Lisbon, of course did not hurt, but it was the excellent talks and posters and inspiring conversations that truly made the workshop a success!

The importance of being oneself at Work

Proud of my PhD student Onur Sahin who was interviewed for Nieuw Wij about his research on diversity and inclusion at work. Read the interview here.

ISPP Conference: Barriers to Successful Diversity Management in Organizations

The International Society of Political Psychology’s 42nd International Conference in Lisbon revolved around the topic of Empowering Citizens in Illiberal Times: The Political Psychology of Oppression and Resistance.

Together with my PhD student Onur Sahin, I chaired the symposium “Barriers to Successful Diversity Management in Organizations”.

During this symposium, I presented my work on the role of employee’s support for diversity policies as an essential aspect of effective diversity management. Onur presented our research “Looking Beyond Our Similarities: The Role of (In)Visible Dissimilarity in Inclusion and Work-Related Outcomes.”, which can be found here.

Blindspots* in Diversity Management symposium

The symposium I organized on January 17th was a great success with nearly 100 attendees, insightful talks and engaged discussion. Some (Dutch) coverage of the day can be found here and here

Speakers from left to right: Seval Gündemir, Thekla Morgenroth, Cheryl Kaiser, Jojanneke van der Toorn, Colette van Laar, Wiebren Jansen, Naomi Ellemers

* It was pointed out to me that the use of this word in the metaphorical sense is ableist: it has a negative connotation in implying that people with visual impairments lack knowledge or understanding. I apologize and am currently looking for an alternative that covers the meaning I intended.