We can all benefit from listening to underrepresented groups

Marsha Ramroop’s powerful comment ‘I’ve got literal skin in this game’ should resonate throughout the architecture profession.

The RIBA’s first-ever head of diversity and inclusion is compelling and frank in her interview with the AJ’s Ella Jessel (‘I’m a woman, I’m a woman of colour, I’m a menopausal woman – all these different identifiers’).

And the value Ramroop places on the importance of listening is particularly pertinent. Throughout her career she has sought to tell stories from unheard voices, and this approach is one from which the whole sector can benefit.

‘It’s a very big piece of work,’ she says. ‘There are no silver bullets, magic wands or quick fixes; it’s a journey and it’s all about listening, listening to everyone.’

Amplifying voices of underrepresented groups is necessary to shift the structural disparities in the sector – be that around race, gender, age, sexuality, socio-economic issues or disability. This might, sometimes, involve hearing some uncomfortable truths – and that makes it even more essential.

We talk about intelligence all the time – mostly about IQ, and increasingly about EQ (emotional intelligence). But what about increasing our cultural intelligence – our ability to work with people from different backgrounds who might have had, or are having, very different life experiences?

The significance of being seen and heard is one of the many compelling messages and experiences from the architecture professionals who talked to Richard Waite about moving beyond box-ticking on diversity.

‘A major challenge is bias about which voices are most authoritative,’ writes Alpa Depani, while Satwinder Samra asks: ‘Ultimately this is about representation and visibility. If we are not seen or heard, do we exist?’

Ramroop has got some excellent advice for improving inclusion in the workplace, around creating a two-way mentoring relationship with someone different from you.

‘Take some time to share and support someone else professionally who has very different lived experience – listen to them as much as offering your own perspective.’

It would seem that the Chinese proverb about having two ears and one mouth – and that we should use them in those proportions – has seldom been more relevant.