Understanding Tokenism in Context
Tokenism is “the practice of doing something (such as hiring a person who belongs to a marginalised group) only to prevent criticism and give the appearance that people are being treated fairly.”
Tokenism can manifest as superficial representation or symbolic gestures that lack real inclusion or influence. It often places undue pressure on individuals to speak for entire communities, rather than treating them as multifaceted individuals with unique skills, identities, and experiences.
Protected Characteristics and the Tokenism Trap
Under the Equality Act 2010, nine protected characteristics are recognised: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
Tokenism can affect each of these groups in different ways:
- Age: Younger employees may be added to panels or promotional materials to ‘look modern’, while older staff may be wheeled out to imply inclusivity without any change to culture or decision-making.
- Disability: Including a disabled employee in a campaign without addressing inaccessible practices, or failing to fund reasonable adjustments, highlights performative inclusion.
- Gender Reassignment: Hiring a trans person and then expecting them to lead all training or answer every question about gender identity is exploitative and burdensome.
- Marriage and Civil Partnership: This characteristic is often overlooked in inclusion work, but assuming heterosexual norms or only celebrating heterosexual couples can marginalise others.
- Pregnancy and Maternity: Celebrating a pregnant employee in PR materials while sidelining them from promotions or leadership opportunities is a classic form of tokenism.
- Race: Including an ethnically diverse person in promotional photos while excluding them from strategic decisions, leadership, or development opportunities reflects superficial diversity.
- Religion or Belief: Recognising a religious holiday with a social media post but not accommodating prayer spaces or flexible work hours shows a lack of real respect.
- Sex: Including one woman on a board or leadership team and expecting her to represent all women’s issues can result in both burnout and exclusion.
- Sexual Orientation: Highlighting an LGBTQ+ employee during Pride month but failing to address homophobia or heteronormativity internally is a red flag.
The Rise of Tokenism in EDI Efforts
Following global movements like Black Lives Matter in 2020, many organisations made public commitments to EDI. However, without infrastructure, budget, or strategy, many changes remained performative. Unconscious bias, internal resistance, and a focus on optics over outcomes meant that some initiatives inadvertently reinforced tokenism.
Strategies to Combat Tokenism in Your Organisation
1. Avoid Type-Casting Stop using individuals solely for visibility in marketing or recruitment. Instead, showcase genuine voices and lived experiences with consent and nuance.
2. Share the Load – Don’t Assign Spokespeople Create safe structures for collective voice, such as staff networks and inclusion councils. Avoid placing the burden of education or advocacy on one person or one group.
3. Provide Meaningful Support Establish Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), offer mentoring programmes, develop anti-oppression training, and provide consistent leadership access to address equity concerns.
4. Evaluate Decision-Making Power Inclusion means participation in shaping policy, strategy, and outcomes. Ensure people from protected groups are involved in governance, planning, and evaluation – not just in implementation.
5. Conduct an Equity Audit Assess the organisation’s policies, procedures, representation data, and lived experiences. Are there gaps between who is seen and who is heard? Between voice and influence?
6. Embed Accountability Hold leaders accountable for inclusion outcomes. Performance objectives, progress reviews, and transparent reporting should include EDI metrics.
7. Educate, Reflect, Act Offer regular learning opportunities, inclusive leadership training, and spaces for reflection and storytelling to move beyond awareness into action.
Moving Toward Real Inclusion
Tokenism reduces people to symbols. Inclusion views and values them as individuals. Embedding inclusion means transforming culture, systems, and leadership. It’s not about numbers, it’s about narrative, need, and nuance.
Protected Characteristics Calendar Dates – April 2025 (UK)
- 1 April – Autism Awareness Month begins
- 2 April – World Autism Awareness Day
- 7 April – World Health Day (relevant for disability and mental health inclusion)
- 13 April – Vaisakhi (Sikh festival)
- 14 April – International Day of Pink (LGBTQ+ anti-bullying)
- 17 April – Passover begins (Jewish observance)
- 21 April – Easter Monday (Christian)
- 22 April – Earth Day (intersectional environmental justice)
- 28 April – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
Conclusion
Tokenism is not just unhelpful – it’s harmful. True inclusion requires commitment, resource, honesty, and humility. It means centring equity, challenging bias, and transforming systems – not just changing optics.
Key Messages:
- Tokenism affects all protected characteristics.
- Real inclusion is about voice, influence, and equity – not visibility alone.
- Cultural change needs structure, leadership, and accountability.
Checklist for Assessing Organisational Practice
STOP:
- Showcasing diversity without backing it up with internal change
- Relying on one individual to represent a whole group
- Ignoring inclusion in strategic decisions
START:
- Auditing and analysing inclusion gaps across all protected groups
- Resourcing ERGs and inclusion initiatives
- Listening to and acting on feedback from marginalised staff
CHANGE:
- From performative actions to meaningful systemic shifts
- From awareness-only training to sustained leadership development
- From focusing on numbers to evaluating power and participation
COMMIT TO:
- Embedding equity into all policies and processes
- Ongoing learning, unlearning, and action
- Inclusive, courageous leadership that reflects your workforce and communities