Diversity or equality – that is the question, says Meredith Belbin

Is diversity now beginning to overtake equality as a prime social issue in society? Certainly the emphasis has changed. The spur to equality came as a reaction to outrageous discrimination against minorities. The notice ‘no blacks’ in relation to jobs and lodgings now seems a far distant memory. If race discrimination has faded, gender discrimination too is less in evidence. In fact, women are experiencing a notable reversal from an earlier position, by outnumbering men in securing new jobs, while more female than male students are entering university.

The drive for equality was also prompted by blatant class discrimination. Social background counts for a great deal less than in earlier times. I don’t feel it is the British who are so class-conscious, as I was reminded during a recent visit to Russia for a management workshop. Arriving at the airport in Moscow, I was met by a stern-faced uniformed official holding up a notice that read ‘Professor Doctor Belbin’. Beckoning me authoritatively, he ushered me past ‘foreign passports’ to ‘Russian passports only’. The next violation of any semblance of protocol occurred at customs, which in true Russian style resembled a mass scrum. Following the beckoning finger of my guide, we barged through the throng. None of those by-passed looked at all surprised. Our agent, Tanya awaited me, all smiles, at the exit. Of course, she had fixed it up. Arguably, discrimination can sometimes be used to advantage, but blatant discrimination is another matter.

A compelling question is: where does one start and the other end? Unashamed ageism and racism was evidently flourishing at the hotel. There I learned the bedroom-cleaners are selected on the basis of applicants being ‘under 40 and of European appearance’. Discrimination also serves to establish boundaries. At the management workshop itself, held for a large Russian company (which commendably ran its own university), a youngish woman who spoke good English stood in the doorway of the large room in which the workshop took place. There she stood throughout my presentation, straining to hear, as best she could. In response to the question as to why she had not come in, she explained that as a liaison officer she was not allowed to enter the room itself, the point being that it was ‘reserved for the top management’.

Russia may be a very unequal society, but equality is not top of the agenda. The overriding problem for the less privileged is to secure a niche in society. Any niche, especially for older people, is grabbed with little complaint. Any discontent I encountered on an earlier visit came from the highly educated younger generation, much out of sympathy with oligarchs and corruption. Now that distinctive stratum is rising to the surface, and is beginning to make its mark. If the culture of Russia still bears the stamp of autocrats and serfs, I feel it is safe to predict that change is on the way. Almost certainly the patterns will become more diverse and complex, given time.

Equality often blurs the issue of how distinctive differences and aptitudes can best be handled. Different people and groups need appropriate opportunities, as we already recognise in the case of individuals with different team-role profiles. Standard treatment to a standard person is all very well, but the demerit is that those who fail are apt to slide into the underclass. A large intractable population exists outside the employed labour force and comprises especially young male offenders. The recurring pattern is for delinquents incarcerated in the University of Crime to exemplify their learning by becoming recidivists. Yet other treatments exist. I cannot forget, for example, meeting a member of the Education Department of the Northern Territories in Australia with a remarkable record of professional success in dealing with pupils expelled from school. A significant point perhaps is that in her day she had been fairly badly behaved herself!

In many ways, dealing with members of our society who are less equal than others has become more problematic than in the past. Now the growing genetic and cultural mix has increased the range of diversities and inflated expectations. Training and educating the talented may be an attractive career choice, but the more demanding challenge is to bring about positive results for those who have lost their way, and to secure for them a link with the wider community. Skilled facilitators can, with some justification, claim they offer a better return on investment than those engaged in locking the doors on a growing prison population.

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