There have been several memorable moments in my life where I’ve looked around me and thought “wow, I really am different from these people”.
Likewise, I’ve also experienced memorable moments when I’ve felt a remarkable sense of belonging and group identity.
Being a ‘minority’ in a majority environment can span various dimensions including ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender, views and opinions etc.
Personally, being a British ethnic minority from a lower socio-economic background is something I strongly identify with. My chosen career path so far has led me to mostly being a ‘minority’ in a majority environment based on this identity.
If, like me, you spend a lot of your time operating as a minority in a majority environment, then you may have asked yourself the question – how can I truly be myself?
In my opinion there is no such thing as being your true self at all times. In all aspects of life we adapt to our environment in order to be more effective and achieve the best outcomes possible (including to not stand out as much!). This typically works well, but there are occasions when adapting to a majority isn’t a good idea, such as group think.
So a better question might be – how can I navigate my environment as a minority to be more effective and achieve better outcomes?
I would answer this question with the following points:
- Think about your true self in terms of principles and let your actions and behaviours be guided by these principle irrespective of your environment. They could include:
- Integrity
- Doing everything to the best of your ability
- Putting your loved ones first
- Helping others
- Not speaking bad about others
- Being positive
- Not drinking alcohol
- Etc.
2. Know yourself with certainty and embrace your culture proudly. There are several elements to this point. It is partly about knowing your principles and what you identify with. You don’t have to let labels define you, but if you identify with a culture then why not fully embrace it.
It’s also partly about being confident in the value and diversity you bring to your environment. Although you are a minority, you are in fact an integral part of the environment.
Some examples include:
- If you enjoy food, music and cultural celebrations that aren’t necessarily part of the majority environment, then talk about them.
- If you’re from a working-class background and you identify with this, then bring this up in conversations and be proud of it.
- Making sure people pronounce your name properly. If it is a difficult one, then spell it phonetically like I do in my email signature – Mohammed Bentaleb (Ben-Talib).
3. Understand the majority environment and be open to new experiences. It’s a good idea to analyse and understand the environment you operate in. As long as you aren’t compromising your principles, you can learn from new experiences and become better at adapting to the environment when it benefits you the most. Being open to new experiences is a personality trait, so you may need to go outside your comfort zone if this isn’t a natural tendency.
4. Create opportunities to align the environment to your needs where necessary. If the majority environment enjoy regular visits to the pub but you don’t drink, then why don’t you organise the next work social and go to a restaurant or somewhere that you enjoy.
5. The world is larger than your environment. There may not be many Mohammed’s where I work, but Mohammed (and its variants!) is probably the most common name in the world. This type of thinking is an important step towards developing a global mindset, where you recognise that being a minority in a majority environment is just part of the bigger picture. What you should be working towards is becoming proficient in adapting to any environment, including becoming more effective when you are part of the majority group.
This last point is worth emphasising. Throughout any given day I typically find myself in both minority and majority group. So it’s also worth reflecting on how you engage with others when the dynamics are reversed!