Men shouldn’t talk about sport and “opera” in the workplace to avoid excluding women and minorities, according to an English judge.
Master of the Rolls, Sir Geoffrey Vos, said conversations at work dominated by such discussions could prevent women and people from ethnic minorities from engaging in “casual conversations”.
He said that old white male lawyers “enjoy the sound of their own voice” and “don’t see themselves as others see them.”
“If white male lawyers regularly speak about issues that don’t interest women or lawyers from ethnic minorities and lawyers from less privileged backgrounds, they will inevitably feel left out,” he said at the Legal Services Board conference. “It’s difficult to generalize about which issues certain groups might feel excluded from. But women are often less interested in sports than men.
“The talk of elite schools and colleges is likely to make those who haven’t had the opportunity to attend them uncomfortable.”
Sir Geoffrey also pointed out that similar problems plague the judiciary.
“Judges at regional courts and elsewhere often have lunch together and take other breaks,” he said.
“When the conversation turns exclusively to Oxford, cricket and the latest production of opera at Covent Garden, judges with a background to which none of these things are of interest are excluded.”
He added: “Minority ethnic communities may encounter other barriers to socializing among peers. It is all the more important that those who are otherwise excluded feel included in the social life of their working groups and in side conversations at work.
“The effort to include everyone should be an active choice for all of us.”
Sir Geoffrey also said that bullying and discrimination are bigger problems than people realised, but that “microaggressions” in particular needed to be investigated.
“The issue I’m describing is obviously not the only diversity issue we face – bullying, harassment and discrimination are less common than many in the industry might have thought,” he said.
His comments follow a report last week that branded the judiciary in England and Wales “institutionally racist”.
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