As an individual, you have no influence on where you are born. Yet, your place of birth and the circumstances of your rise into adulthood carry a great impact on the rest of your life. You might be born with a substantial advantage over people who share your date of birth on numerous socioeconomic, cultural and institutional variables. This contrast holds throughout different countries and continents.
If you are born with considerable privilege, it can be a complicated task to identify instances in which you, as an individual, experience the benefits of these privileges at the expense of those less-privileged. The crux in this difficulty lies in the fact that those privileged may not recognize the advantages they enjoy as such, but rather take them for granted.
Are you aware of your own privileges? Researcher Peggy McIntosh published a list with a stunning 50 examples of white and male privileges as far back as 1988 (https://nationalseedproject.org/Key-SEED-Texts/white-privilege-and-male-privilege). I selected the 15 most relevant topics on both spectrums. I invite you to reflect on both lists and to think about what these privileges mean in your life, career and success.
The consequences of privilege
Over 30 years passed since Peggy McIntosh published her lists. However, the implications of privilege still do not enjoy the exposure and attention that they deserve. Moreover, the disadvantages that go along with not having certain privileges are still likely to be underestimated. Individuals who are born with less privilege experience these effects in all stages of life. A highly talented but underprivileged individual will have more trouble being seen, heard and valued by society. This starts at school, where certain privileges increase your chances of higher education and extrapolate on the labour market.
Examples of privilege are widespread and hard to pick. In the US, the average net worth of a white family is still over 10 times higher than the average net worth of a black family. The number of women in positions of power in public and private institutions is still lacking in many countries. During the Covid-pandemic In the UK, 15% of teachers from deprived schools reported that over a third of pupils would not have electronic access to school work compared to 2% at more affluent state schools. This last statistic does not include the UK’s private schools. It seems evident that privilege is a controversial topic for those who enjoy it. Western countries like to see themselves as level playing fields. However, the opposite seems to be true when accounting for the privilege. A fitting metaphor for being born with or without privilege is starting a football match with a 0-1 disadvantage. The results of this inequality are that people are calling for action and justice and that they are becoming louder in doing so.
The myth of meritocracy
The debate on privilege and equality is not an easy pill to swallow for a lot of people. Especially those that never thought about their privilege and have been very successful according to societal standards are often triggered by the narrative surrounding privilege. These people find themselves in positions of power and believe that they deserved to be there because of their talent and hard work. They attribute patterns of inequality to the mechanics of the meritocracy, which they think rewards those who work hard and are willing to go the extra mile. This storyline gives rise to the notion that the people who are at the top layers of organizations are the most competent, most ambitious and have worked the hardest to get there. In most Western countries, this group was long synonymous with white males.
This assumption is proven false now research is exposing the effects on unconscious privilege in modern societies. The concept of meritocracy is a myth. Those in positions of power are not always the best according to objective standards, they are extremely likely to possess a high degree of personal privileges. Their success can partly be attributed to factors such as their place of birth and their upbringing. It goes without saying that skills, ambition, talent and perseverance are all essential ingredients for success and this article does not argue that privileged persons lack these qualities. However, an underprivileged person with the same qualities is a lot less likely to attain similar levels of success compared to a similar person born with a lot of privilege. The widespread inequality of opportunity in Western societies proves the falsehood of the notion of meritocracy and is a powerful argument for those demanding equality.
The seven key privileges
Journalist and anthropologist Joris Luyendijk analyzed the system of privilege in The Netherlands. He concluded on seven key privileges that give an individual a large advantage in life, namely: being white, being male, being heterosexual, having highly-educated parents, being highly-educated yourself, speaking with a standardized dialect and being secular to a degree where religion does not play a large role in your life. Luyendijk asserts that a mere 3% of all Dutch people have all seven privileges. However, this statistic increased astronomically when zooming into layers of power in politics and the economy. This group of people is very homogenous in the sense that the majority of people have all seven privileges. According to Luyendijk, it takes the average person 2 years of hard work and perseverance in order to level the disadvantage associated with missing one of the seven key privileges. It follows that an individual that ticks two of the seven boxes is 10 years behind a similar person that ticks all seven.
‘It’s always those white men’
A fitting universal example of two of the key privileges is found in a July 2021 statement by gender studies professor Rosemare Buikema: ‘’We have a white male prime minister and a white male public health minister. In hindsight, experts agree that they together made a colossal error in opening up too quickly during the Covid-19 pandemic. However, there is nobody who says ‘It’s always those white men’.’’ The takeaway here is that the mistakes made by these two white men does not reflect on white men in general. They do not experience sexism, racism or any other form of negative backlash for lacking certain privileges. However, if both officials had been women, twitter would have been full of statements such as: ‘’Women can’t lead in times of crisis. They simply can’t handle the responsibility.’’ I would like to add here that the word ‘women’ would have probably been replaced by less flattering phrasing.
Stereotypical preferences
Around the globe, born privilege and unconscious bias are in the way of much-needed diversity. A study by Miller et al. (2014) analyzed the objective and subjective reality surrounding both phenomena on a global scale. This study showcased the severity of the problem. The most striking example concerns the Netherlands. Dutch people are generally convinced that their country is among the best when it comes to gender equality. In reality, the Dutch ranked among the highest out of a pool of 65(!) states in implicit and explicit preferences for male leadership in positions of power. The research conducted by Direction among 13.000 Dutch managers confirms that these conclusions still hold for 2021. This bias towards male leadership is one of the key reasons why women experience difficulty reaching positions at the top of organizations. The Netherlands counts four times as many male scientists compared to women scientists and only one in six top executives of the largest 5.000 companies is a woman. Similar statistics are available for nearly all Western countries.
Research indicates that individuals born with privilege are likely to have an unconscious bias towards persons without these privileges. In the UK, people with a migration background have great trouble finding employment that matches their level of skill. A third of ‘highly skilled’ migrants living in the UK are working in ‘unskilled’ jobs such as supermarket staff or as cleaners. Often heard explanations by privileged non-migrants revolve around work ethic, ambition cultural barriers. The former two are proven false by statistics. Migrant men are more likely to be employed compared to UK-born men (84% vs 79% in 2019) and unemployed migrant men are less likely to claim unemployment benefits compared to their UK-born counterparts (17% vs 29% in 2019). Maybe these ‘cultural barriers’ do not revolve around the willingness to work hard, but in fact, constitute systems of privilege and unconscious bias towards underprivileged groups.
An abundance of talent
People are inclined to assess their societies as more egalitarian than is objectively the case. Data on diversity and gender indicates that this divergence and its repercussions are likely to grow in severity, especially in the long run. In most Western nations, women are currently more likely to complete higher education. Also, migrant populations are growing along with their level of education. As the talent pool that feeds societies is changing, they ought to adopt in order to reap its full benefits. Less-privileged individuals will grow in numbers and so will the talents they have to offer. Yet, their potential is not valued as such.
Quality above all else
Ensuring a more levelled playing field for all individuals may feel like an injustice to some as it will come at the expense of those highly privileged. This is especially true if people are not aware of their own privilege and believe that they deserve their current position because of their own qualities and hard work. Highly privileged individuals are fearful of rapid downward mobility of themselves and especially of their children. Defence mechanisms are triggered resulting in passionate arguments about meritocracy, hard work and if you are lucky, a reference to ‘the American dream. It is exactly this argument –people should be treated in accordance with their personal qualities– that underlines the urgency of the issue at hand. If people are truly selected based on quality, we have to work to reduce the role privilege plays in our societies and allow diversity to manifest in our companies and governments.
Inclusion for now and for later
We live in a time of complex, urgent and global issues. Daily headlines revolve around climate change, the energy transition, the decay of democracies and institutional racism. In order to meet these challenges, time and creativity are essential. Research indicates that teams with high levels of diversity are exceptionally well-equipped for such tasks as they offer a range of perspectives. Leaders that ensure enough seats at the table for more diversity are the leaders of the future. They invite a range of talents, give those talents enough space, are able to listen and are able to connect. These leaders do not defend their position of power, but take action to move forward. If they were lucky and have a lot of individual privileges, they apply these privileges to help those less-privileged. Leaders who apply this notion in their personal lives become role models for their children. Their children are taught not to defend, but to move forward and help others do so as well. Research shows that this behaviour of helping others results in strong gains in personal status for those lending a helping hand*. This is the type of leader that advances organizations and societies. Therefore, the enormous differences in privilege that currently exist can also be interpreted as a chance for those in leadership positions to make a meaningful difference. This comes down to the opportunity to apply one’s privilege in order to benefit future generations and the common good. A modern-day version of noblesse oblige.
A classroom example
Examples of male privilege
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- As a child, I could choose from an abundance of role models in the media with positive, active, non-stereotypical traits. I have never had to look for any.
- Nobody ever taught me not to walk in certain places by myself or to be afraid in public places after dark.
- Every sizeable religion in the world is predominantly led by people of my gender. Even God is conceptualized as a man in most religions.
- If I chose not to have children, nobody questions my manhood.
- If I live together with a female partner, chances are that we split our duties in the household in such a way that she will do most chores, especially the repetitive and boring ones.
- When applying for a job, nobody is interested in whether or not I have a family or if I will start a family anytime soon.
- When I am a clumsy driver, nobody blames my gender for it.
- If I pursue my career whilst having children, nobody will say I am a bad parent because I do not stay at home.
- When I get a new job, none of my colleagues will think that I landed the job because of my gender.
- When I make a mistake at work, it does not reflect badly on people of my gender.
- I can be loud and aggressive without fear of being called a ‘bitch’.
- The odds of me becoming the victim of sexual intimidation at work are close to zero.
- I can speak in front of a large audience without my gender being a topic of conversation.
- On average, I do not get interrupted during meetings very often.
- I have the privilege not to be aware of my male privilege.
Examples of white privilege
- I do not need to teach my children from a young age about racism and how to behave in such a way as not to become a victim of it.
- I can rest assured that my children’s teachers will treat them in the same way as they treat children with other skin colours.
- If I would want to, I could surround myself at work solely with people with white skin colour.
- There is an abundance of children’s books, toys and films that have people in leading roles with my skin colour.
- I can rest assured that when I move to a new home, my neighbours will welcome me either neutrally or openly.
- When I am in need of medical attention, I can be sure that my skin colour does not influence medical professionals whatsoever.
- In the event that I do not pay great attention to my appearance and dress rather informally, people do not draw conclusions on my intelligence or perceive me as a threat.
- I am never asked to speak on behalf of people with the same skin colour as me.
- I can excel in a challenging situation without being called a role model for ‘people like you’.
- I can express criticism on the government or institutions without being called ungrateful or being met with hostility and scepticism.
- I can afford not to follow the developments around the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, slavery and institutional racism.
- I am able to talk about racism without people thinking that I do so in my own interest.
- When I am late to a meeting, people do not connect this to the colour of my skin.
- I feel welcome and ‘normal’ at all places in everyday life.
- I have the privilege not to be aware of my white privilege.
If you could answer a lot of the points raised in the two lists above with a yes, you have been lucky to have been born as a privileged individual. I would like to invite you to a simple exercise. In the coming days, reflect on what your privilege has meant for you in your life so far and what a person without your privileges would have experienced differently. Please dwell on this reflection the next time you take the word during a meeting, when you assess a coworker and when you express your opinions.
This is what inclusive leaders do
- Actively help less-privileged people grow within their organization.
- Ensure that all people that take part in a meeting are able to express their views and are able to contribute equally.
- Directly react to double standards and stereotypes when confronted.
- Actively assist those who are (subtly) being excluded.
- Maintain clear rules during meetings and act on micro-aggressions such as repeated interruptions.
- Correct people that try to take credit for work done by someone else.
- Take immediate corrective action against those that exclude team members or give team members a feeling of inferiority.
- Stimulate humour that does not offend anyone.
- Ensure that you are equally accessible to any person in your organization.
You are in a standard classroom with rows of desks that seem to exist in all corners of the world. The teacher hands out sheets of paper to all students and asks the class to cram it together into a ball of paper. Subsequently, the teacher places the bin right under the blackboard and proclaims the following: ‘’You children represent the people in our society. Everyone has a chance to become rich and successful. To become so, you need to throw your paper ball into the bin while remaining on your seats.’’ The children sitting in the back rows immediately respond by saying that this is completely unfair to them as the children in the front row are much more likely to succeed. The teacher does not respond. All children throw their paper and, as expected, children sitting in the front rows are hitting the bull’s eye in higher numbers than their classmates in the back of the class. Nevertheless, some children that sat in the back also complete the task. The teacher now confirms that the proximity to the bin is the key driver of success in this game. The teacher states: ‘’Sitting close to the bin is a privilege. Did you notice that none of the kids in the front rows were complaining about the unfairness of the game? Those people hardly realized their privilege as they were occupied with the objective of the game. They could not see beyond the two meters between them and the bin. Your task as a young person is to be aware of your privileges and the advantages that come your way. The privilege you may have come with the privilege of helping those behind you. Not just in this classroom but in the rest of your life.’’
Esther Mollema, augustus 2021