What is Social Justice Education and Why Does It Matter?

For many — especially those in minority or underrepresented communities — a workplace may not feel like a place they can do their best work. Failures of leadership, microaggressions, and structural and policy shortcomings impact engagement, productivity and employee well-being.

Leaders need to focus on creating a socially just workplace where everyone has both the opportunity and feels welcome to contribute. A key component of learning how to take action is through social justice education and engaging in courses like Inclusive Leadership for a Diverse Workplace, offered by Harvard Division of Continuing Education Professional & Executive Development..

What is Social Justice and DEI Education?

Social justice is the mission of creating a just society where everyone receives equal rights, opportunities, and access, regardless of race, religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, political views, country of birth, class, or any other identity factors. 

Social justice in the workplace efforts work to ensure equal rights, opportunities, and treatment for all employees. It’s a continuous process of listening, learning, and improving.

Nancy L. Forsyth and Andy Bandyopadhyay, faculty from Harvard DCE’s Professional & Executive Development course LGBTQ+ Leadership Program: Leading with Pride, share their insights and guidance.

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Bandyopadhyay says inclusive leadership is about kindness, care for others, and cohesive team building. 

“We’re more likely now than any other time before to work with people from all different backgrounds,” he adds. “If we want to build cohesive teams in ways where people feel respected, people feel empowered to do their jobs, people are able to build friendships with their teammates, then we need to understand each other and where we’re coming from.”

One way to build that culture is through education or training about social justice issues. This drives awareness around equity and fairness in the workplace, with the goal of continuing to improve society overall, says Forsyth. 

She emphasizes that to drive change, inclusive leadership models must also be a cornerstone of any organization.  

“Training is only a piece of the pie,” Forsyth says. “If you don’t have leaders who are modeling the behaviors and if you don’t have it built into the processes that you use, it’s a challenge for people to think about it.”

How Injustices Show Up in the Workplace

There are many ways that social injustices can show up in a workplace and impact individuals on a daily basis.  Some are overt, but many are subtle, including the following:

Microaggressions

One of the subtler and more insidious ways injustice shows up at work is through microaggressions, or small comments or actions that make an assumption or contain a bias against a particular person or people group. 

“I do think that in many of the slights that we experience — whether we’re going to call them slights, or microaggressions, or uninformed moments — are not necessarily people trying to cause harm, but just being unaware of the impact of their actions,” says Bandyopadhyay.

For example, asking a coworker about their spouse and assuming that spouse’s gender. Microaggressions and other elements of a negative work environment can impact employees’ psychological safety, leading to new hires losing that sense of safety even after year one in the position.

Hiring practices

Injustices can play out during the hiring process as well. According to Forsyth, bias in hiring practices, promotions, and professional development opportunities can stymie employees’ growth.

“It shows up the most as you develop talent. You think first of these people because they are like you or represent something that you value,” she says.

Ultimately, Forsyth adds, social justice must be built into “your hiring, your promotions, your retention strategies, your way of building talent.”

Benefits

Injustices can show up in benefits packages as well. It is crucial to implement inclusive and comprehensive healthcare that accounts for the needs of diverse populations. 

“As a Chief Human Rewards Officer or rewards person, for example, if you are unaware of the trans community, you are unaware of the health care issues of the trans community. If you are unaware of the statistics around pregnant Black women in this country, and the mortality rate compared with white women, it shows up in the way you implement policy.” Forsyth also highlights the value of diversity of experience and background in leadership to ensure best practices.

Access and structural issues

Injustices can show up in other ways, from work policies to physical access to spaces. Structural barriers can make it difficult for people to show up and complete their work, as well as to build positive workplace relationships. 

Accessibility encompasses a wide array of accommodations and can include: ramps, spacious elevators, readily available assistive technology, and flexible work arrangements.

Benefits of Social Justice and DEI Education

Working to promote social justice in the workplace can result in a number of positive outcomes, from higher engagement and increased productivity.

Increased engagement

Creating an environment where every employee can do their best work and have access to job opportunities and advancement can increase their engagement and morale. Highly-engaged employees help a company earn more profits, are less likely to leave, and even record less product shrinkage and absenteeism.

Enhanced collaboration and productivity

Creating a more just and fair workplace can improve productivity.  Teams  are better able to understand and respect each other and are encouraged to bring their diversity of experiences to the table. Employees who work in a high fairness environment perform at a level that is 26 percent higher than those who don’t.

Improved talent acquisition

The effort of  creating a more just workplace not only benefits workers today, but can draw in new talent tomorrow. Equal opportunity is top of mind for many employees and job seekers. 

According to Glassdoor, 76 percent of job seekers say a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating a new workplace.

Higher employee retention

All these efforts can help lower turnover and increase retention. Nearly half of Black (47 percent) and Hispanic (49 percent) employees have quit a job after witnessing or experiencing discrimination at work, according to Glassdoor. However, employees who work in a high fairness environment are 27 percent less likely to quit than those who don’t.

For Bandyopadhyay and Forsyth, creating a more inclusive environment and increasing well-being is simply the right thing to do.

“There’s the ethical, moral, personal values-driven reason for all of this, so that people actually feel comfortable in their environment,” Forsyth says.

”Isn’t there just value in being a human being and living a life as a human being?” Adds Bandyopadhyay. “Well-being is well-being — it’s a good in and of itself.”

How to Take Action as a Leader

Social justice issues in the workplace are everyone’s responsibility, from leadership setting the tone at the top, to middle managers practicing social justice with their teams, to entry-level workers practicing allyship and being secure in their authentic selves. 

Here are some of the actions you can take to start building awareness and creating a more just workplace environment.

Engage in leadership training and implementation

Creating a more inclusive, fair, and aware workplace begins with leadership and  leaders should consider including social justice education as part of their regular professional development. 

“From a strategy point of view, [social justice] needs to be driven from the top, but it needs to live at the managerial level,” Forsyth says. “You insist and ensure, for example, that as your leaders are running meetings, they are using and incorporating the things that they have learned and that they’re applying the techniques. That’s why it takes a big commitment from the top of the organization, because if they don’t model it, it doesn’t happen.”

Involve everyone

It’s not just up to leadership alone; each person at every level has a responsibility to help make their workplace more just. 

”Every person has a role to play within their own networks, within their own scope of influence,” says Bandyopadhyay. “It doesn’t matter what your role is. Ultimately, we’re all humans working together for a shared purpose.”

Encourage self-reflection

Self-reflection of and awareness around personal biases can help people be better allies to those around them by practicing empathy. 

Forsyth says this is particularly important for those in hiring positions and in leadership roles.

“When you are recruiting people, when you are developing people, but when you’re just managing people in general, there are a million biases that play out, and most of them unintentional,” she says.

Build a diverse network

According to Bandyopadhyay, diverse environments and communities help to build deep, meaningful connections with people from a range of backgrounds and prevent bias. 

This also helps to “build up our ally muscles in terms of engaging in allyship and advocating for folks even when they’re not in the room,” he says.

Create employee resource groups

Employee resource groups can build a sense of community and contribute to social justice education and initiatives. 

“If they are effective, they can be wonderful for the individual employees. They can be wonderful places where people can feel comfort and feel supported,” Forsyth explains. These groups also have “opportunities to serve as a sounding board for leadership, and to educate broadly about issues that are relevant to that particular group, but also to provide ongoing feedback to leadership.”

Promote Workplace Social Justice and DEI Today

Everyone wants to feel valued at their workplace, but it’s the responsibility of everyone in that workplace to make sure that happens. It starts with self-awareness, practicing allyship, building diverse networks, and embarking upon social justice education opportunities. But ultimately, it comes down to simply recognizing those around us as individuals. 

“People are, for the most part, trying to be kind to their colleagues or to be  helpful teammates. It’s just a matter of how we adjust to be kind in the way that someone wants to be treated,” Bandyopadhyay says.