A day to remember.
Answering the phone to hear comments of discrimination from a landlord to a single mother trying to rent an apartment, placing a pair of Virtual Reality glasses on to experience an instance of racial profiling firsthand, listening to the testimonials of real people with backgrounds different than my own- these are some of the impressionable moments I carry with me from the “Unconscious Bias” bus tour’s stop at Cubic.
The term “Diversity and Inclusion” in the workplace is multi-faceted and complex. As such, no universal definition exists for this initiative, but a recurring theme echoes throughout the conversations of CEO’s across all sectors regarding the topic. These conversations reflect the desire to attract, engage, and support a workforce that is diverse in gender, race, sexuality, thought, disability, and veteran status in order to foster a workplace that is inclusive for all. While transforming a workplace and mitigating all biases doesn’t happen overnight, I am proud to be a part of a company that not only initiates and facilitates these challenging conversations, but also acts to create a wave of change.
As a result of our own Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Brad Feldman, who was one of the first 100 to sign the CEO Action Pledge promising to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace at Cubic, we had the opportunity to host an incredibly eye-opening event at our headquarters in San Diego.
On November 1st, the Unconscious Bias Bus stopped at the Balboa campus and played a pivotal role in the launch of Cubic’s Diversity and Inclusion Initiative. This included the launch of Employee Resource Groups across all Cubic North America sites and the Diversity and Inclusion webpage going live.
The event kicked off with some opening remarks from our leadership team who shared Cubic’s Diversity and Inclusion strategy as well as their personal thoughts on increasing diversity in the work space. Afterward, employees had the opportunity to experience video testimonials, virtual reality simulations, personal surveys, and video scenarios. All these interactive activities intended to bring our “blind spots,” which are the biases ourselves and those around us have that often go unnoticed, to the forefront of our minds. The more conversations around the topic of unconscious bias, the easier it becomes to recognize and dissipate these instances before they escalate into discrimination.
I really appreciated how intimate the experience was. Although I was surrounded by my colleagues as I moved throughout the bus, the content was presented to you as a single audience member and allowed you to have time to process the information in your own time. The combination of the individual processing of the information and the collaborative discussions that were had over lunch after experiencing the interactive bus created a sense of community across all members of Cubic who participated.
While I circulated around the parking lot, talking with fellow Cubes about their initial thoughts after getting off the bus, there was a unanimous agreement that this experience was highly impactful and brought to light issues of both intentional and unintentional racism, inequality, and discrimination which are often challenging to talk about.
The message behind the “Unconscious Bias” bus tour and the celebration of diversity hit very close to home. As the daughter of immigrant parents, I was raised to value, respect, and have an open mind towards those with backgrounds different than my own. Walking through the bus myself, I felt inspired by the testimonials from women from minority backgrounds who spoke about their struggles and triumphs professionally and personally. Stepping off the bus, I took the pledge to strive to diversify my own network, which I came to realize was more homogenous than I thought.
I would consider the “Unconscious Bias” tour as a great initial step towards Cubic’s efforts to create a wave of positive and inclusive change. I feel excited and energized to be a part of this change as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and look forward to continuing the conversation about Diversity and Inclusion within Cubic.
