Prof. dr. Jojanneke van der Toorn will open International Women鈥檚 Day with an All-Inclusive lecture
What problems do LGBTI+ students and employees encounter at their workspace? Prof. dr. Jojanneke van der Toorn, member of the Utrecht Young Academy, will reflect on these issues during her opening lecture on International Women鈥檚 Day. She will also discuss the latest scientific insights that highlight the importance of an inclusive and intersectional approach to gender diversity research and policy.
Prof. dr. Jojanneke van der Toorn is associate professor of social and organizational psychology at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 and professor of LGBT workplace inclusion at Leiden 木瓜福利影视. In her work, which focuses on diversity and inclusion in the workplace, she tries to bridge science and society with the aim of contributing to effective and evidence-based diversity policy.
One of the problems LGBTI+ employees run into is that fellow colleagues question how sexual orientation and gender identity is tied to work, Van der Toorn explains. Why would this be relevant in a professional environment?
Without giving it much thought, however, we share a lot about ourselves at work. Conversations about the weekend, plans for the summer and thoughts or concerns we might have. Sharing our personal lives enhances mutual trust between colleagues and influences goodwill. LGBTI+ colleagues should be able to also openly share their personal life at work, if they wish to do so. Like so, sexual orientation and gender identity is involved in workspace interactions.
鈥淭he key to inclusion lies in the extent to which an organization can actually embrace the diversity that exists and can do it justice鈥