Diversity Awareness: Bringing the unconscious to life for social change

application/pdfAN10052143-20200817-39With global interactions increasing and transnational movements, individuals and organizations have more opportunities to diversify and innovate. Organizations are being forced to face diversification and adapt different ways of doing things to survive. Many people are encountering people outside their comfort zone, and yet fear diversity. Diversity increases fears people have, causing them to not know what to do. Often real and imagined fears surface about those who are different. People fear losing their privilege and power. Confronting fears one has can empower and is necessary for leaders and for personal development. Self-awareness can empower and enable people to be who they want to be and to have self-confidence in their ability to be contributing members working towards goals. Research on unconscious biases, uncertainty avoidance and privilege all have the common element of increasing knowledge and awareness of factors that can help lead to social transformation. This paper is a summary and discussion of lack of awareness of diversity, unconscious avoidance of issues related to diversity and unconscious biases. It also will discuss how making the unconscious conscious can lead to development and social change. This study includes research funded by a 2018-2019 research support grant from Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts. It also includes portions of a 2014-2016 research project funded by a JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 26590223 (Diversity and Leadership).論文departmental bulletin pape