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Who can participate in this anonymous, asynchronous focus group?​

 

Participants of this study must self-identify that they meet all of the eligibility criteria:

 

  • ​Must identify as having South Asian ancestry (including Southern parts of Asia, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Fiji and Bangladesh, and identities such as Gujrati, Punjabi, Kashmiri, Nepali, Sikh, Hindu and Goan amongst others).

  • Must identify as a woman.

  • Must be born in Canada, or immigrated to Canada before starting Kindergarten.

  • Must have experience working in the Canadian workplace.

 

​Please review the informed consent form for this anonymous, asynchronous focus group HERE prior to proceeding.​​

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How can organizations learn from this study?

  • Feb 12
  • 1 min read

Updated: Feb 12

After reading the emerging themes, I ask you to think about two questions:


  1. What is one BIG, BOLD change within your organization that would immediately improve your psychological safety in the workplace?


  2. How can organizations rely on the emerging themes to improve your psychological safety in the workplace?


Please provide your responses as a comment to this blog post.


Your response is anonymous. In the 'user name' field you may elect to use the pseudonym you selected when you completed the questionnaire, or choose any user name you wish.


As responses come in from other participants, I encourage you to respond to those posts as well. Thank you for being part of this discussion!

 
 
 

3 Comments

Jsaran
Feb 13

  1. As a South Asian woman, one BIG, BOLD change that would immediately improve my psychological safety at work would be for my organization to formally normalize and expect dissent as part of leadership—not just tolerate it when it shows up. I was raised in a culture that deeply values respect for authority, harmony, and relational awareness, which means that speaking up—especially in disagreement—often comes with an internal calculation of social and professional risk. Too often, I find myself weighing whether offering a different perspective will be perceived as thoughtful or disrespectful, collaborative or difficult. If my organization intentionally built in practices where diverse viewpoints and constructive challenge were expected—where leaders were evaluated on how well they invite and respond to…

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User9
Feb 13

I think the boldest thing my organization can do is to accept that there is a lot of inequity and harm that happens to minority employees. It would be bold of them to accept it. Right now it feels like every DEI or anti-racism program they create makes them feel like it would be impossible for anyone to experience racism because, look, we have all these policies. I also think that too much emphasis is placed on ERGs, and putting groups of people together by gender, or ethnicity in hopes they'll figure out something. I just feel like I would like my organization to simply address racism when it comes up. I want to know that I won't be treated…

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jsaran
Feb 13
Replying to

I agree—sometimes the racism is so subtle that you don’t even recognize it in the moment, and by the time you do, it can feel too small or too ambiguous to raise without worrying that you’ll be seen as overreacting. That kind of quiet, cumulative harm makes it even harder to talk about because there’s rarely a single incident to point to—just a pattern that leaves you second-guessing your own experience. Over time, that self-doubt can make speaking up feel more risky than staying silent, which is exactly why organizations need leaders who understand how subtle bias operates and who are willing to take concerns seriously, even when they’re difficult to name or prove

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