Metrics Aren’t the Same as Belonging. Awareness Isn’t the Same as Action.
Why We’ve Been Solving the Wrong Problem in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We’ve all seen it. The perfectly designed diversity strategy. The impressive metrics. The well-intentioned initiatives. And yet, something feels hollow about it all.
Here’s why: Most diversity and inclusion programmes are solving the wrong problem.
The TechDiversity Academy cohort recently hosted a fascinating discussion with Amna Ben Amara, the course creator behind the TechDiversity Academy and diversity thought leader who has spent years building educational frameworks across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. Her perspective is refreshingly candid, and it challenges everything we think we know about inclusion in tech.
The metaphor she used stuck: “It was like a perfect map, except for the fact that my country wasn’t on it.”
Think about that for a moment. A perfect map that excludes entire regions. Isn’t that exactly what we’re doing in our organisations?
The Inclusion Paradox We’re Not Talking About
Amna came from a non-EU background. She’s delivered workshops globally. She has the credentials, the experience, the insights. And yet, she kept finding herself at conferences and corporate initiatives thinking: “What am I doing here?”
Why? Because the conversations, the case studies, the frameworks, they were all one-dimensional. They reflected a narrow slice of the world, presented as universal truth.
This is the paradox of modern diversity work: We claim to value inclusion whilst systematically excluding the very perspectives that would make our initiatives actually effective.
“Most initiatives when it comes to inclusion remain surface level. They don’t really touch upon the real challenges and hurdles that people are experiencing.”
She’s right. We’ve become obsessed with the metrics, the percentage of women in leadership, the diversity checkboxes, the awareness training completion rates. But metrics aren’t the same as belonging. Awareness isn’t the same as action.
What Real Inclusion Requires (And It’s Not What You Think)
If we’re serious about inclusion, Amna’s vision is worth internalising:
People should feel seen, heard, included, and represented.
Not just tolerated. Not just counted. Seen. Heard. Included. Represented.
This requires something fundamentally different from what most organisations are doing. It requires:
1. Bringing Different Voices to the Table, Not Just Having Them There
“Bringing different perspectives, different dimensions, and different voices is not only enriching, it’s also more inclusive so that people in different contexts and different situations can find themselves and can see themselves.”
The tech industry talks about diversity. But do we actually listen? Do we design our products, our strategies, our cultures around voices from different geographies, backgrounds, and experiences? Or do we simply hire people from different backgrounds and expect them to assimilate into an unchanged culture?
2. Recognising That Talent Gets Hidden Behind Bias
One of the most powerful stories from the discussion involved a woman who was initially labelled a “low performer.” Not because of her actual capabilities, but because of communication style, unconscious bias, and limited perspective from her managers.
When a new manager arrived, someone who could see her, everything changed. She wasn’t suddenly more talented. She was finally visible.
This happens in organisations every single day. We’re sitting on untapped talent, misclassified and underestimated, because our systems and our biases prevent us from seeing people clearly.
3. Understanding That Inclusion Takes Active Work
Here’s something uncomfortable: Inclusion doesn’t happen by accident. It requires sustained, intentional effort.
“If you don’t hold the hands of people, ensure that it’s possible, you should do it not for the people around only, but for yourself.”
Real leadership means actively supporting those who may be struggling or underrepresented. It means mentorship. It means creating space for people to show up as their full selves. It takes time. It takes vulnerability. It takes genuine commitment.
The Geography Problem Nobody’s Solving
The tech industry remains stubbornly Western-centric. Our frameworks, our case studies, our “best practices”, they’re predominantly built on American or European models.
What happens to innovation when we exclude perspectives from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East? What problems go unsolved? What markets do we fail to understand?
Amna has delivered this work globally and observed something critical: Acceptance of diversity principles varies dramatically across regions, and yet most initiatives pretend this doesn’t matter.
We need localised, contextually relevant approaches, not a one-size-fits-all inclusion checklist shipped from Silicon Valley.
The Real Work: From Awareness to Action
Here’s the uncomfortable truth that emerged from this discussion:
Most organisations have awareness. Almost none have action.
We know diversity matters. We know inclusion is important. We’ve read the studies. We’ve sat through the trainings. And yet, systemic change remains elusive.
“We need to use this as an incentive to do more, to be more willing to take actions, to change the dynamics and therefore to make a difference.”
This is where the gap lies. Between knowing and doing. Between rhetoric and reality.
Real change looks like:
- Equal pay audits that actually address disparities
- Leadership compositions that reflect the world, not just an isolated market
- Initiatives that care about all underrepresented groups, not just the ones currently in focus
- Mentorship systems that actively help people get “out of the box” and show their true value
- Representation in your content, your case studies, your vision of the future
A Question for Your Organisation
Ask yourself:
On whose map do your people appear?
Are the frameworks, stories, and case studies you’re building your culture around truly inclusive? Or are you creating a “perfect map” that conveniently leaves out entire groups of people?
If your answer is uncomfortable, you’re in good company. Most organisations would fail this test.
But here’s the opportunity: This is fixable.
It requires:
- Humility to acknowledge that your current approach might be missing something
- Curiosity to seek perspectives from people with genuinely different backgrounds
- Commitment to do the deeper work, not just the surface-level initiatives
- Action to translate understanding into systemic change
The Bottom Line
Diversity, equity and inclusion in tech isn’t a problem we solve with the right programme or the right metrics. It’s a problem we solve by genuinely seeing, hearing, including, and representing people from all backgrounds and contexts.
That’s harder work than a well-designed initiative. But it’s the work that actually matters.
The question isn’t whether your organisation supports diversity. The question is: On whose perfect map do all your people actually appear?
What’s your experience? Are you seeing real inclusion in your organisation, or just well-intentioned surface-level initiatives? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
