„Diversity is my whole life!”

Diversity is the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc. Since this is my blog, I will write my own voice and telling you about something that I find personally disturbing; social class discrimination.

Back in 2014, I was working in an international start-up company in Jakarta where the high management people are white, young Europeans. Upper management people are 80% graduated abroad. Ok those things weren’t really matters, but how about this; an intern from Europe who works in Jakarta got 1000€ monthly salary while I got only 500€ monthly for a junior manager position? I know the world runs like this but I definitely don’t feel okay about it. Since then I aspired to have a master degree from abroad so that I can advance my career and to satisfy my personal urge, to earn as much as the white people in the same qualification of works.

Let’s talk about scholarship programs. Back then when I was studying, there was a partial scholarship to be an exchange student for 6 months in Moscow. The study fee was free and you got 200€ monthly allowance which is not enough to cover the living expense there. I bailed out even before registering myself because I realized, how I am supposed to afford the other costs if my parents aren’t be able to sponsor me?

I felt generally, scholarship programs are discriminating anyway. For example in Indonesia there’s government scholarship named LPDP. It is really popular among young Indonesians to pursue, so that the country could finance their studies abroad. The awardees are often the profiles that if you think, they don’t even need any scholarship to afford their studies abroad and instead, such profiles are been awarded. E.g. celebrities with good-looks, well-off parents, and celebrities? Surely they have talents because they have means to have that, but how about stinking normal people? Parents who can’t afford to send their children in a music school or any extracurricular activities?

Or scholarships who ask the candidates whom active in social/political organizations during their study.. I mean, you can be active doing so because you don’t need to work during your study to pay your cost right? It’s like how could you do another extra-curricular activities or social/political voluntarily works while your main focus was just to be survived?

I was angry on myself asking questions every time I see a glamorized CV in a certain working circumstance that I pursued to have; volunteer year in south America, political engagement in the younger years, sailing or golf as hobby, why certain profile always have it easier in life?

Then there you go. Privilege IS a diversity issue. It was not only my wrong prejudice in the last ten years. It is a THING and it is NOT right and we as society need to do something to minimize it. I found a very good article on Harvard Business Review: The Forgotten Dimension of Diversity. Which is social class.

When I refer to people of lower social-class origins, I mean those who through the conditions of birth and upbringing have had relatively less access to money, to contacts who promote their upward mobility, and to the cultural know-how necessary to get ahead in schools and companies. Those of us who study social class origins often measure them along several dimensions: family income during early years, parents’ level of education, and parents’ occupations.

In the UK, the government has provided some very practical guidance on how to study social class origins in the workplace, using measures similar to the ones listed above: parents’ education level, parents’ occupational status, whether workers attended private or public high school, and whether they qualified for free meals in their school years. These measures are easy to implement and can translate across contexts. That would be great if these Key Performing Indicators are being applicable on recruitment of top companies and scholarships or?

I remember in the training session in my office, the trainer was asking to the participants if anybody encounters with diversity issue in their life. I said, my whole life in Germany is diversity issue. I married a German, my son is half Indonesia, half German, and I am Indonesian who don’t really feel like a truly Indonesian but I am definitely not a German at all, I can’t even classify myself! (jokes aside). She started to mention social hierarchy as one of diversity aspects and asked me on my experience was, whereas my husband had a similar problem. He comes from a farmer family whom no one had further study, his mom forbade him to go to the university because the family can’t afford it; yes, it costs only around 300€ per semester and yes, you need to figure out how you’d pay rent and foods monthly that might cost around at least 600€. He managed it to study by always working in the summer time (instead of having summer holiday spent in the 3^rd world country, seeking life experience), heard somebody commented that he’d never made it in his life and yet, he finished his study, passed the state exams, and became a tax consultant.

While me? My parents have had only finished elementary school. I am the only one in the whole family who got a master degree, abroad, and be able to work professionally. The fact that is overcame everything to get in to my position now (and God knows how extra difficult it was), makes me only stronger. At any challenging moment in my life, I swear I am always telling myself “seriously Olga, you’ve had been through so much more difficult than this, this one is easy-peasy”. I don’t really need to mention it, but it feels pretty cool 😀 honestly, I feel like being 30’sh is the coolest era so far -in comparison to my earlier version of life but anyway, let’s get back to the topic.

Role modeling helps in the workplace, too. When social transitioners offer guidance to new employees from lower social classes, they can effectively make up the know-how deficit. That’s the case at PwC UK, where Laura Hinton, the company’s chief people officer, speaks regularly to employees and potential recruits about her upbringing in public housing and how she avoided the path expected for her by high school counselors.

Talking about empowering each other – I am always welcoming similar mindsets to join conversation with me. Living in Germany as immigrant myself, I’d like to have conversation and discussion on *how you make it* here, especially if you’re climbing out your social class too. Guess what, not everybody is having same mindset though, and it’s fine too.

On any case if you’re reading this, interested to the same topic, and you’re on Instagram, please do say hi! See you there!