Article 3
The Role of Fashion in Processes of Inclusion
The main goal of inclusive fashion is to create types of clothing for people with disabilities. Although Italian fashion is considered an example and a driver of international fashion, there are currently no emerging or prominent brands that deal with inclusive fashion. In addition to the lack of a true commitment to ethics and social responsibility by the various enterprises in the sector, the data suggests that people with disabilities would be willing to spend more than 8 trillion dollars in clothing if only they had the possibility to purchase comfortable, attractive and fashionable items. ...
Unique or Diverse?
During the third night of the Sanremo Music Festival, Drusilla Foer proposed replacing the word “diversity” with “uniqueness,” a term that many think would be more beneficial to the cause of Diversity Management, that is, the management of diversity of workers in organizations. However, before replacing one term with another, it is important to reflect on the role that diversity and uniqueness have in the construction of personal identity. Drusilla Foer’s speech on uniqueness, given on the stage of the Ariston theater during the third night of the Sanremo Music Festival, moved the public:[1] ...
Not “A Woman,” But “Which Woman” as President of the Republic
Electing a woman to a public or private office is not a signal of progress per se. What counts are ideas, political experience, and career path. Yet the failure to elect a woman to the Presidency of the Republic puts the question of women’s access to top positions in politics and economics at the center of the debate. It’s an issue that cannot be addressed just with the introduction of quotas or generic appeals. Saturday, January 29, 2022: President Sergio Mattarella was re-elected, for his second term as President of the Italian Republic. The election was characterized by the issue of gender ...
Neurodiversity Rhymes with Flexibility: The Case of IBM
Persons with disabilities are still victims of certain stereotypes that hinder their full integration into the labor market. In evaluating a person with a disability, attention is often focused on what they cannot do, rather than what they know how to do, or could do. The case of IBM in regard to neurodiversity shows how it is possible to construct projects that can include all workers. We discussed the issue with Consuelo Battistelli, Diversity Engagement Partner for IBM Italy. December 3 is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. For the occasion we have decided to deal with ...
Violence Against Women Is Not Only Physical
Economic violence against women occurs through a series of behaviors that deprive the victim of her independence: financial isolation, control and absence of income sharing, loss of autonomy and access to family resources, dispossession and economic abuse. It is carried out with greater force when women don't work or have an extremely fragile position in the labor market. With a circular letter of November 8, 2021, the Italian social security institute INPS illustrated the rules on the "Freedom Income," launching the possibility for women residing in our country to immediately request the ...
The Silence of Business on LGBTQ+ Issues
The main business associations said and did absolutely nothing before, during, and after the discussion on the Zan bill. For these associations, LGBTQ+ rights do not exist. At the level of single companies, we have to distinguish between a small group of "enlightened" companies and a large majority of others that resist addressing diversity and LGBTQ+ issues. The low level of interest on the part of Italian businesses and their management on the themes of diversity and LGBTQ+ inclusion stands out even more when compared to what is happening in the United States, where the activism of CEOs, even ...
The "New Law" on Pay Parity? A March More Than 40 Years Long
The extension of the obligation to draw up a report on employment and pay of male and female personnel to companies with 50 or more employees – already approved by the Chamber of Deputies and now before the Senate – revives principles already enacted by the Italian legal system in 1977 and reaffirmed 20 years later by the Equal Opportunity Code. This additional specification seems to allude to the fact that, until now, this obligation has been fulfilled only formally and episodically. "Hi Mom, do you know that the law on pay parity has been approved? You must be happy…". "No, my dear. ...
When Discrimination Comes from an Algorithm
Companies are increasingly trusting algorithms to accelerate their personnel selection processes. However, the scarce attention paid to the issue of inclusion in the use of these tools can lead to true cases of discriminatory practices in regard to male and female workers with different ethnic origins, abilities/disabilities, gender identities, and so on; a risk companies need to be aware of. A short time ago, the website of the magazine Internazionale published an interesting video entitled "When Artificial Intelligence Decides Whom To Hire."[1] The video shows that the absence of diversity ...
The Post-Emergency Return to Work: Can We Speak of Smart Working?
The Covid-19 emergency has accelerated the transition towards an organization of work based on digital technologies, that in turn, has allowed millions of people to work remotely. This mass experience is often generically classified as smart working,[1] generating confusion and distortions on this conception of work and how methods of return to work can be constructed once the emergency phase is over (that was recently extended until December 31, 2021). On this issue, the debate is focusing on the percentage of workers who can physically return to work in order to identify, in relation to the ...
Polo Circolabile: Beyond Protected Job Placement
A project launched by Loro Piana has made available a space for artisanal work, integrated into the company, in which workers with disabilities perform activities with fabrics and finished products that were previously done outside of the company. The project greatly enhances professional skills, and in the near future could be transformed from a Social Hub in which reverse-mentoring activities take place, into a true organizational division with its own financial accounts and a dedicated budget. The employment rate for persons with disabilities in the OECD is 44% (versus 75% of people without ...