Glossary

AAPI: Abbreviation for Asian American Pacific Islander.

Ableism: Beliefs or practices that rest on the assumption that being able-bodied is “normal” while other states of being need to be “fixed” or altered. This can result in devaluing or discriminating against people with physical, intellectual or psychiatric disabilities. Institutionalized ableism may include or take the form of un/intentional organizational barriers that result in disparate treatment of people with disabilities (PwDs).

Accessibility: The "ability to access" the functionality of a system or entity, and gain the related benefits. The degree to which a product, service, or environment is accessible by as many people as possible. Accessible design ensures both direct (unassisted) access and indirect access through assistive technology (e.g., computer screen readers). Universal design ensures that an environment can be accessed, understood, and used to the greatest extent possible by all people.

Accommodation: A change in the environment or in the way things are customarily done that enables an individual with a disability to have equal opportunity, access and participation.

Ally: A person who is not a member of a marginalized or disadvantaged group but who expresses or gives support to that group.

Bias: Prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in an unfair or negative way. Unconscious bias, also known as implicit bias, is defined as “attitudes and stereotypes that influence judgment, decision-making, and behavior in ways that are outside of conscious awareness and/or control.”

BIPOC: A person or group who identifies as Black, Indigenous, or Person of Color.

Cisgender: From the Latin cis-, meaning “on this side.” A person whose gender identity corresponds with the sex the person had or was identified as having at birth. For example, a person identified as female at birth who identifies as a woman can be said to be a cisgender woman.

Classism: Any attitude or institutional practice which discriminates against people of a certain socioeconomic class due to income, occupation, education, and/or their economic status; and systemically or individually prevents social and economic mobility.

Code-switching: The conscious or unconscious act of altering one's communication style and/or appearance depending on the specific situation of who one is speaking to, what is being discussed, and the relationship and power and/or community dynamics between those involved. Often members of minoritized groups code-switch to minimize the impact of bias from the dominant group.

Cultural appropriation: Originally coined to describe the effects of colonialism, cultural appropriation generally entails adopting aspects of a minoritized culture by someone outside the culture, without sufficient understanding of its context or respect for the meaning and value of the original. Cultural appropriation done in a way that promotes disrespectful cultural or racial stereotypes is considered particularly harmful.

DEI: Abbreviation for Diversity Equity and Inclusion. Diversity typically means proportionate representation across all dimensions of human difference. Inclusion means that everyone is included, visible, heard and considered and feels like a full member of the large community. Equity means that everyone is given the resources and support they need to thrive.

Disability: A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment (from the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).

Diversity: The condition of being different or having differences. Differences among people with respect to age, class, ethnicity, gender, health, physical and mental ability, race, sexual orientation, religion, physical size, education level, job and function, personality traits, and other humandifferences. Some describe organizational diversity as social heterogeneity.

Ethnocentrism: The emotional attitude that one's own race, nation, or culture is superior to all others.

Equity: Fair treatment for all while striving to identify and eliminate inequities and barriers. Providing resources and understanding of unique circumstances in order to support the success of all people and groups.

ERG: Abbreviation for Employee Resource Group. An employer-sponsored or –recognized affinity group of those who share similar interests or concerns of a particular race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. ERGs are intended to build community, strengthen networks and supportive relationships, and improve feelings of detachment during remote work.

Feminism: The valuing of women and femme identified persons. The belief in and advocacy for social, political, and economic equality and liberation for all genders and sexes. Feminism questions and challenges patriarchal social values and structures that serve to enforce and maintain men's dominance.

Gaslighting: Deliberate attempt to undermine a victim’s sense of reality or sanity. In a work context, it usually means behaviors that undermine the success, self-confidence, self-esteem or wellbeing of the target. For people in underrepresented or less powerful groups, it is more likely to occur, with more severe and harmful cumulative effects. Tactics can include withholding (critical information, meeting invitations, silent treatment), isolation (exclusion, causing conflict with coworkers), and discrediting (consistently shooting down the target’s ideas, ignoring or taking credit for them).

Gender Nonconforming or Gender Non-binary: A way of identifying and/or expressing oneself outside the binary gender categories of male/masculine and female/feminine.

Heteronormativity: Assumption that heterosexuality is the norm, default, and natural way to exist. This assumption is fundamentally embedded in, and legitimizes, social and legal institutions that devalue, marginalize, and discriminate against people who deviate from its normative principle, such as the LGBTQIA community.

Homophobia: An irrational fear, aversion, or dislike of homosexualities and people who identify as homosexual; on a social level, homophobia is the ingrained structural discrimination against homosexuality and those who identify as homosexual that prevents access to certain resources or opportunities and inhibits individuals from feeling safe or able to be socially recognized as homosexual.

Intersectionality: Coined by legal scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. The complex, cumulative way in which the effects of multiple forms of discrimination (such as racism, sexism, and classism) combine, overlap, or intersect, and their multiple effects on the same individuals or groups. Also refers to the view that overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination and inequality can more effectively be addressed together.

Intersex: An umbrella term that describes bodies that fall outside the strict male/female binary. Intersex characteristics can present themselves through variations in anatomy, hormones, and/or chromosomes. Being intersex is a naturally occurring variation in humans, and it isn’t a medical problem — therefore, medical interventions (like surgeries or hormone therapy) on children usually aren’t medically necessary.

Latinx/Latine: Used as a gender-neutral or non-binary alternative to Latino or Latina to describe a person of Latin American origin or descent.

LGBTQIA+: An abbreviation for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual.

Microaggression: A comment or action that unconsciously or unintentionally expresses or reveals a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group, such as a racial minority. These small, common occurrences include insults, slights, stereotyping, undermining, devaluing, delegitimizing, overlooking or excluding someone. Over time, microaggressions can isolate and alienate those on the receiving end, and affect their health and wellbeing.

Microaffirmation: A small gesture of inclusion, caring or kindness. They include listening, providing comfort and support, being an ally and explicitly valuing the contributions and presence of all. It is particularly helpful for those with greater power or seniority to “model” affirming behavior.

Misogyny: Hatred of, aversion to, or prejudice against women. Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination, denigration of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women.

Neurodiversity: When neurological differences are recognized and respected as are any other kind of human differences or variations. These differences can include Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Dyscalculia, Autistic Spectrum, and Tourette Syndrome. Differences are also commonly referred to as Nuerodivergent.

Othering: A set of dynamics, processes, and structures that create discrimination and inequality across any human difference. This becomes the foundation of creating an “in-group” and “out-group” and justification for differential treatment.

Privilege: An unearned, sustained systemic advantage that comes from race, gender, sexuality, ability, socioeconomic status, age, and other differences. Privilege often stems from having one or several aspects of identity that are the same as those in power.

Pronouns: Words to refer to a person after initially using their name. Gendered pronouns include she and he, her and him, hers and his, and herself and himself. Gender neutral pronouns such as they, them, their(s) can also be used by individuals. Properly honoring pronouns is an important act of respect and civility.

Protected status: A characteristic that, in accordance with federal and state law, is protected from discrimination and harassment. This includes: age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status.

Queer: An umbrella term used by some people who wish to describe themselves as neither heterosexual nor cisgender. While this is a preferred term by some, others still consider it a slur and find it offensive. Best practice is to ask, or follow the lead of the community or individual you are addressing.

Racism: A belief that racial differences produce or are associated with inherent superiority or inferiority. Racially-based prejudice, discrimination, hostility or hatred. Institutionalized racism, also known as systemic racism, refers to forms of racism that are engrained in society or organizations. It is when entire racial groups are discriminated against, or consistently disadvantaged, by larger social systems, practices, choices or policies.

Sexism: prejudice, stereotyping, or discrimination, typically against women, on the basis of sex.

Transgender: An umbrella term used to describe a person whose gender identity is something other than their Sex Assigned at Birth (SAAB). The SAAB is a person’s first association with gender, typically based on physical sex characteristics.

Transphobia: Transphobia is the fear, hatred, disbelief, or mistrust of people who are transgender or whose gender expression is outside the binary. Transphobia, whether explicit or subtle, and can prevent transgender and gender nonconforming people from living full lives free from harm.

URM: Abbreviation for Under-Represented Minorities. Some institutions have defined sub-groups within larger racial/ethnic minority groups that are particularly under-represented relative to their size. For example, in a given field, Mexican-Americans may be an under-represented minority, even if Hispanic people are otherwise proportionately represented.

White Fragility: Coined by Robin D’Angelo, it is used to describe the privilege that accrues to white people living in a society that protects and insulates them from race-based stress. D’Angelo argues that this builds an expectation of always feeling comfortable and safe, which in turn lowers the ability to tolerate racial stress and triggers a range of defensive reactions.

White Privilege: Unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white; an exemption of social, political, and/or economic burdens placed on non-white people. Benefit from societal structuring that prioritizes white people and whiteness. Generally, white people who experience such privilege do so without being conscious of it. People can simultaneously have white privilege while also experiencing oppression based on other identity factors such as class, sexuality, or gender.

Xenophobia: Fear, distrust, or discrimination of other cultures, foreigners, or people perceived as outside one’s own racial, ethnic, or national identity.