The Core Inclusion course is designed to improve your understanding of inclusion and the principles enabling every individual to achieve their full potential. It provides tools to apply your knowledge to promote diversity and help make organisations more inclusive of a range of diverse communities – leading to more effective organisations and a fairer, more inclusive society. The course has been created in collaboration with Diversity Council Australia (DCA) and draws on their research and insights.
“We are less when we don't include everyone.” - Stuart Milk
Many of the workplace practices, activities and training which have been developed to increase inclusion for specific types of diversity can also apply to other types of diversity. For example, unconscious bias training can have positive impacts across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, cultural, age, LGBTIQ+, gender and disability diversity. Core inclusion skills include understanding yourself, not making assumptions, curiosity and respect.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of the Core Inclusion course, you should be able to:- Describe ‘diversity’ and ‘inclusion’
- Describe the four key elements, found from DCA’s research, that need to be experienced by individuals in order to achieve inclusion in the workplace
- Explain the concept of ‘intersectionality’ and its impact on inclusion
- Give examples of the benefits of having an inclusive organisational culture
- Recognise the differences between stereotypes and generalisations and relate these to your own behaviour
- Recognise that everyone has unconscious biases, and that workplace practices and decision making can be negatively affected by unconscious bias and assumptions
- Explain the concept of ‘groupthink’ and its impact on decision making
- Apply different strategies to reduce the impact of unconscious bias
- Utilise core inclusion skills or ‘people skills’ - such as curiosity, respect and open-ended questions
- Describe strategies an organisation can take to create a truly inclusive environment
- Recognise the role of workplace flexibility as a key enabler of inclusion
- Describe the concepts of universal and inclusive design.
Learning activities
Module 1 - explains the meanings of diversity and inclusion and explores the benefits of inclusion to individuals and organisations. The concept of intersectionality is also covered (25 mins).
Module 2 - looks at unconscious biases and how they may affect decision-making. In addition, it explores different types of biases and workplace practices that may be affected negatively by unconscious bias. The distinction between stereotypes and generalisations is also examined (20 mins).
Module 3 - looks at some core inclusion skills that can apply across many diverse groups (30 mins).
Module 4 - looks at some of the benefits of flexible workplaces and inclusive recruitment. It also explains the concepts of universal and inclusive design. Finally, a range of individual views are expressed as to what it feels like to be included in the workplace, and also how it feels to be excluded (30 mins).