Beyond Methods and Diversity: The Roots of Inclusion
Summary
Most efforts at advancing research to be more inclusive focus on methods or methodologies or participation. Though helpful, those efforts have unfortunately not been sufficient for inclusion and we continue to be constrained by stronger forces which go to the root of what research means and the definition of inclusion. To be fully unconstrained and reach true inclusion we must learn to let go. Do we have the ability to do that? Let's talk about that. Join us for a half-hour of becoming undone, joyfully.
Key Insights
-
•
Diversity in research teams does not inherently guarantee inclusivity or counter systemic oppression.
-
•
Awareness of power and identity positionality often leads to feeling stuck without clear action steps.
-
•
Our ways of being deeply shape our epistemologies and methodologies in research.
-
•
Colonial Western ways of being emphasize objectification and individualism, limiting emancipatory knowledge production.
-
•
Indigenous knowledge systems, like those of the iBio people, view knowledge as relational and emergent from relationships.
-
•
Songs and oral traditions can serve as valid research methodologies tied to indigenous ways of knowing.
-
•
Systems of value influence which knowledge is considered legitimate or beneficial, often marginalizing community knowledge.
-
•
Immigrant communities bring preserved ways of being that produce measurable health and social benefits.
-
•
Positive deviance in communities reveals untapped local wisdom that can guide effective interventions.
-
•
Radical participatory research requires researchers to relinquish control and let communities define methods based on their own ways of being.
Notable Quotes
"If diversity alone made research inclusive, then police could never be anti-black because they include black officers."
"Whiteness isn’t about color; people of all colors can reinforce white supremacy."
"Awareness leads to feeling stuck because we don’t know what to do or don’t feel empowered to act."
"Our ways of being are roots that grow into ways of knowing, doing, and methods, all nourished by systems of value."
"In Western modernity, if something is not an object, it is not real research or real knowledge."
"For the iBio people, knowledge is relational, not objectified, emerging from relationships like songs."
"Songs become methodologies—the way you identify who is at the door is through the song they sing."
"Colonial ways of being, knowing, and valuing will never produce emancipatory methodologies."
"Community-rooted wisdom like the Mexican 'guana' practice reduces postpartum depression without traditional research."
"Will you learn to let go? Better yet, will you let go?"
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"Most design ops professionals work fewer than 40 hours per week, with Europeans more likely to keep this balance than their US counterparts."
Angelos ArnisState of DesignOps: Learnings from the 2021 Global Report
October 1, 2021
"We can’t afford new graduates to work 10 or 15 years before having their climate epiphany. We need climate-focused design education now."
Aiyana Bodi James Christie Marc O'Brien Louis RosenfeldThree Key Climate Initiatives and How You Can Help
September 11, 2024
"You need to be the connector between people trying to drive decisions and others influencing them."
Nathan CurtisBeyond the Toolkit: Spreading a System Across People & Products
June 9, 2016
"Linear perspective created the myth that one single perspective can represent objective truth, which led to many misunderstandings."
Tricia WangSpatial Collapse: Designing for Emergent Culture
January 8, 2024
"The best partnerships depend on a mere common goal but a shared path of equality, desire, and no small amount of passion."
Dr. Nikki SmithResearch Strategy: Connecting Insights to Outcomes
March 12, 2025
"We’re starting to see the role of the central researcher shift more towards coaching than just doing research themselves."
Erin May Roberta Dombrowski Laura Oxenfeld Brooke HintonDistributed, Democratized, Decentralized: Finding a Research Model to Support Your Org
March 10, 2022
"Safety needs to start with your team first, then slowly scale out to other parts of the organization."
Alla WeinbergWorkers Are Sick of Change: The Cure is Psychological Safety
June 6, 2023
"I didn’t understand the people who would be using it, so it was not received well and shut down quickly."
Matt StoneScaling Empathy, A Case Study in Change Management
June 11, 2021
"Disruptive innovation is about changing customer behavior, not shipping features."
Jeff GothelfInnovation Studios: the Engines of Enterprise Experimentation
May 14, 2015