Questionnaire Findings

1
Questionnaire Findings

• Results of the pre-conference questionnaire
• Jennifer Georgeson

2
Age

• 41 people completed the questionnaire
• 60 of people felt they had been treated
  differently because of their age
• 40 of people felt they would treat people
  differently because of their age
• I am 33 but look quite young and in the past I
  have found that people
• believe that I am younger and therefore talk down
  to me. I find middle
• age people quite patronising at times

3
Ethnicity

• Over 50 of our respondents were of South Asian
  origin
• 20 where White British
• Being Asian in England has affected me in
  that for a very long time I felt insecure, scared
  and sad. It is very difficult to be different

4
Religion

• The three largest religious groups where Hindu,
  Muslim and Christian, respectively
• 50 of people felt they had been treated
  differently because of their religious beliefs
  50 felt they treated people differently because
  of their religious beliefs
• 36 of people felt they had been treated
  differently because of their religious attire
  64 of people felt they treated people
  differently because of their religious attire

5
Gender

• Approximately 60 of the respondents where female
  and 40 male
• One comes across patronising behaviour while
  being a young female professional

• Female perspective
• Have you been treated differently
• because you are female?
• Have you treated people differently
• because of their sex?
• Male perspective
• Have you been treated differently
• because of you are male?
• Have you treated people differently
• because of their sex?

6
Skin Colour

• I have learnt to appreciate that being
  different is not necessarily a negative thing and
  that those different features can tell you a
  lot about a person and their circumstances. Most
  importantly, difference does not mean inequality,
  but diversity.

• Have you been treated differently
• because of your skin colour?
• Have you treated people differently
• because of your skin colour?

7
Mental Health

• Have you been treated differently
• because of your mental health?
• Have you treated people differently
• because of your mental health?
• At times I feel very depressed and abandoned

8
Immigrant

• Long term immigrant (20 years)
• Have you been treated differently
• for being an immigrant?
• Have you treated people differently
• for being an immigrant?
• Medium Term (3-19 years)
• Have you been treated differently
• for being an immigrant?
• Have you treated people differently
• for being an immigrant?
• Short term (up to 2 years)
• Have you been treated differently
• for being an immigrant?
• Have you treated people differently
• for being an immigrant?

9
Sexuality

• Have you been treated differently
• for being homosexual?
• Have you treated people differently
• for being homosexual?
• I've realised that I am who I am, and I should
  accept it

10
Accent and Class

• Have you been treated differently
• for because of your accent?
• Have you treated people differently
• for because of their accent?
• Have you been treated differently
• for because of your class?
• Have you treated people differently
• for because of their class?

11
How has your experience of difference affected
you?

• It has affected me in that for a very long time
  I felt insecure, scared and sad. It is very
  difficult to be different
• hurt, shame
• In the beginning it knocked my confidence,
  made me question who I am, am I good enough, why
  aren't I accepted?
• It has lost me my footing earlier in life,
  which has resulted in the failure I am today,
  with nothing much to show for it
• It has had a two fold effect On one hand, it
  was negative, this led to depletion of confidence
  or feelings of inadequacy or inferiority. When I
  have treated others differently this has
  sometimes been due to both a fear or nervousness
  driven defence mechanism, whereas at other times
  it has also been for the feeling of
  self-justification and power that can be, perhaps
  wrongfully, drawn from treating others as
  different.

12
How did you cope with the experience?

• Evaluated why I was giving power to the
  judgements of others
• Change my way of dressing
• I became quite individual and looked to myself
  for support - didn't rely on anyone else
• With sexism, I tried not to take this
  personally and moved on from others ignorance
• When I overcome barriers it gives me a great
  sense of achievement - sometimes just trying a
  different route works - sometimes to realise that
  to change the person or situation would require
  giving too much of yourself up so knowing when to
  stop battling

13
How has your experience affected the way you
treat others?

• To be more aware of my attitudes towards
  difference, and not make judgements
• Some differences automatically affect how I
  treat people. Due to my cultural background I
  would always treat older people with respect. I
  find I act more protectively around people with
  significant disabilities
• Well,with people who are religious or have
  disabilities, I am a bit cautious around them.
  With religious people, I hold back a lot of my
  views, since I tend to be a bit more liberal than
  most religious people I have met.
• Yes, sometimes I discriminate against those
  with South Asian background in an effort to
  distance myself from aspects of that culture.
• I feel that everyone has preconceived ideas and
  concepts - the growth/change is when you
  acknowledge that sometimes you need to treat
  people differently in order to get a more level
  playing field (e.g. positive discrimination)

14
How can difference be a positive rather than a
negative?

• Without difference (diversity) there is no
  evolution - so if you value difference negatively
  you are opposed to evolution
• Difference makes life interesting and fun
• By recognising the difference, one needs to
  work towards equality and accepting others as
  equal
• We are all different! People from same
  religious groups do not necessarily share
  ethnicity people from same ethnic groups do not
  share religion, or family background, life
  experience or values. Being different to others
  allow us to learn from others experiences and
  approaches.