Modest Workwear: the organisational impact of dress & appearance

该项目将刘易斯教授(UAL)和奥恩教授(考文垂大学)领导的AHRC项目《英国女性职业生活中的适度时尚》的见解扩展到新的用户社区和非学术受众。该项目探索了女性在宗教背景下谈判着装的经历：在英国为信仰组织(如礼拜场所、慈善机构)工作时，以及在沙特阿拉伯旅行时，她们必须穿长袍。这个为期12个月的项目有3个主要活动：1)在英国开发、提供和评估6-8次会议，为海湾地区的国际劳动力提供1-2次会议。目标参与者包括：-英国各组织的人力资源(HR)专业人员和多样性和包容性专家(包括员工网络主席)-在海湾地区开展业务的经理和人力资源专业人员，包括当地、区域和全球组织雇用的人员-经理、人力资源专业人员、多元化从业者，为英国宗教组织和宗教间组织工作的宗教和社区领袖-英国和国际宗教间和文化间对话的政策制定者和专家2)与合作伙伴合作开发适合行业的持续专业发展(CPD)3)与平面设计师合作开发35个信息图并为视觉工具包选择媒体图像该项目开发和测试培训材料，目的是：1)帮助经理、人力资源专业人员和多元化从业者了解组织对适度着装和行为的要求如何影响员工体验和组织绩效，接触到英国和全球组织的参与者；2)帮助基于信仰、跨宗教和政策部门的经理、政策制定者和跨文化合作伙伴评估谦逊着装文化和行为对其工作的利弊；3)通过提高对遇到谦逊要求的各种情况的认识，帮助组织更好地回应与宗教有关的谦逊着装和行为准则；4)展示如何通过认识到组织文化、职能和声誉受到个人经历工作场所谦逊要求的影响(积极或/和消极，无论个人的宗教或世俗信仰或做法)，来提高组织绩效。5)支持关于不同信仰、信仰--世俗和文化间对话的政策和社区工作，探讨如何提高对谦逊时尚的认识如何能够a)帮助避免过程中的陷阱和b)为对话活动产生丰富的内容。在对宗教的态度和以宗教名义提出的主张助长分裂和社会动荡的时候，这些项目活动的新方向至关重要。随着雇主和组织寻求展示对反种族主义的承诺(也是对黑人生活也是命的运动的回应)，我们的培训计划使经理、人力资源和多元化从业者敏感地认识到由着装和外表引发的不平等的交叉方面。我们帮助参与者培养视觉技能，以了解着装在工作场所的作用，例如将非西方时尚视为商务服装，或在在线会议上管理性别不平等。对于宗教领袖来说，提高视觉素养将有助于纠正职位持有人和员工因外表而受到歧视的问题。对于宗教间和文化间对话、社区团体和政策制定者来说，对宗教谦虚方法的多样性的洞察将增加他们的信心，避免简单地听从最保守或最正统的声音。由于宗教团体对新冠肺炎举措的反应差异很大(从担心疫苗到礼拜或出席婚礼)，政策制定者和政界人士迫切需要指导，如何超越刻板印象(通常通过穿衣/头发来表示)，纳入不同的声音和社区。

This project extends to new user communities and non-academic audiences the impact of insights from AHRC project Modest Fashion in UK Women's Working Life led by Prof. Lewis (UAL) and Prof. Aune (Coventry University). The project explored women's experience of negotiating dress in religious contexts: when working for faith-based organisations in the UK (e.g. places of worship, charities) and when travelling to work in Saudi Arabia where they had to wear an abaya. The 12 month project has 3 main activities: 1) Develop, deliver, and evaluate 6-8 sessions in the UK and 1-2 for international workforces in the Gulf region. Target participants include: - Human Resources (HR) professionals and diversity and inclusion specialists (including employee network chairs) in organisations in the UK - Managers and HR professionals operating in the Gulf, including those employed by local, regional and global organisations - Managers, HR professionals, diversity practitioners, and religious and community leaders working for UK faith-based and interfaith organisations - Policy makers and specialists in interfaith and intercultural dialogue in the UK and internationally 2) Work with partners to develop sector-appropriate Continuing Professional Development (CPD) 3) Work with graphic designer to develop 35 infographics and select media images for visual toolkit The project develops and tests training materials in order to: 1) help managers, HR professionals and diversity practitioners understand how organisational requirements for modest dress and behaviour affect staff experience and organisational performance, reaching participants in UK and global organisations; 2) help managers, policy makers and intercultural partners in faith-based, interfaith and policy sectors evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of modest dress cultures and behaviours for their work; 3) help organisations better respond to religiously related codes of modest dress and behaviour by improving awareness of the variety of circumstances in which modesty requirements are encountered; 4) show how organisational performance can be enhanced by recognising that organisational culture, functionality and reputation are affected by how individuals experience workplace modesty requirements (positively or/and negatively, and regardless of personal religious or secular beliefs or practices); 5) support policy and community work on interfaith, faith-secular and intercultural dialogue by exploring how improved knowledge about modest fashion can a) help avoid pitfalls in process and b) generate rich content for dialogue activities. These new directions for project activities are vital at a time when attitudes to religion and claims made in the name of religion fuel division and social unrest. As employers and organisations seek to demonstrate commitment to anti-racism (also in response to the Black Lives Matter movement), our training programme sensitises managers, HR and diversity practitioners to the intersectional aspects of inequalities triggered by dress and appearance. We help participants develop visual skills to understand the role of dress in the workplace, for instance regarding non-western fashion as businesswear or managing gender inequalities in online meetings. For religious leaders, enhanced visual literacy will help remedy problems of appearance-based discrimination for post-holders and employees. For interfaith and intercultural dialogue, community groups and policy makers, insights on the diversity of religious approaches to modesty will increase their confidence to avoid simply deferring to the most conservative or orthodox voices. As religious communities' responses to COVID-19 measures have varied widely (from vaccine fears to worship or wedding attendance), policy makers and politicians urgently require guidance on looking beyond stereotypes (often signalled by dress/hair) to include diverse voices and communities.