Survivor bias in dei

When I speak with DEI #teams in different organizations about the results from their identity and #inclusion or engagement surveys, looking out specifically for perception of underrepresented groups, I’m encouraging a further reflection by asking these questions:

𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯’𝘴 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘋𝘌𝘐 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥? 

𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴, 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵? 

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘦𝘴’ 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴? 

I encourage these reflections because there might be a survivor bias at play. 

“Survivor bias” in DEI means focusing on people from #marginalized groups who are currently present in an organization and in the same time overlooking those who left or never gained admission in the first place.*

This results in the knowledge gap about how many people could have joined or stayed in the organization but didn't, due to practices that weren't inclusive or that limited access.

If organizations take their DEI-related decisions solely based on the experiences of those who have stayed and succeeded, they might miss the chance to address broader, structural issues. 

Take a look at how concretely survivor bias can skew a perception of DEI efforts in your organization, along with my tips on how to mitigate it.

Feel free so share in what other ways survivor bias can influence the perception of the DEI efforts in your organization.


*Sources: 
Farzana Nayani “The Power of Employee Resource Groups”
Peter Mousaferiadis, Missing the Mark: The Hidden Dangers of Survivorship Bias