“Male, pale and stale” has always bothered me!
Over recent years I have been focussing more on Diversity and Inclusion, particularly from the viewpoint of how the deep tech industries can widen the talent pool available to them by encouraging underrepresented groups into their industries.
Too often I hear the phrase “Male, pale and stale” which has always bothered me as a negative description of the lack of diversity in the industry.
I don’t believe such terminology or language is helpful in representing a call for opening up an industry. It comes across to me as sexist, racist and ageist, which is hardly the tone that should be set for generating positive ideas of how to welcome more people into an industry. How can a man of a certain age and skin colour change what he is? It is not his fault, and also it pays no attention to whether he is an ally to the idea of encouraging good talent regardless of background into an industry that is in significant need of fresh and credible talent.
In fact, this is one of the reasons that I am involved in Opening up Photonics as I see it as a chance to demonstrate that Diversity and Inclusion initiatives can:
- help industry travel the long road to solving some of it’s talent shortage issues by active outreach and engagement with people at a stage in their academic careers that they are making the choices toward or away from the science subjects that the industry requires knowledge of.
- by highlighting, showcasing and evangelising careers in Photonics and deep tech
- by demonstrating that diversity and inclusion initiatives do not have to be overly critical of an industry but rather enthuse it and work alongside the industry for the betterment of all.
The fact is that in the UK most of the people employed in Photonics and in deed the wider deep tech industries, happen to be Male and Pale and, regardless of how stale they may or not be, using offensive language towards them simply makes them unlikely to want anything to do with D&I initiatives.
I for one, and I am sure that my colleagues involved in Opening up Photonics, will continue to focus on highlighting the world of Photonics to Women and Girls and underrepresented groups in a positive manner acting as an evangelist for the industries that we support.
The message should be “welcome all, come on in, and join an amazing growing industry with wonderful career options and enjoy rewarding, challenging, stimulating and impactful work.” Let’s not alienate or offend one group of people in a bid to attract another.
Don’t forget the Photonics industry is growing and facing some big challenges as discussed in this article written earlier this year How will Scotland cement itself as a global leader in quantum technologies? – Enigma People Solutions
Opening up Photonics is already actively engaging female students in aligned courses through the Lights and Lasers events roadshow that informally profiles a day in the life of photonics via short presentations and conversations with existing engineers in the industry.
If you would like to find out more about the work of Opening up Photonics watch this space openingupphotonics.org
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