Financial institution PTSB – which emerged from the merger of Irish Permanent and TSB Bank -has introduced a mandatory ‘diversity, equality, and inclusion’ (DEI) training module for staff which instructs them to “know your privilege” and says that those who have white skin have inherent advantages over those who do not, Gript Media can reveal.
The training document seen by Gript is based on the work of American author and activist Ijeoma Oulo and features references to BeLongto board member Aisling Gannon, and trans-identified male psychotherapist Rhea Askins.
The document instructs readers to, “Recall that privilege refers to the benefits you have simply because you belong to a certain social group where those same benefits are denied to others because they belong to another, often marginalised, group.”
“You cannot get rid of your own privilege, but you can acknowledge it and use it to advocate for others.” it says.
It instructs PTSB staff to work out their own level of ‘privilege’ by referring to a ‘privilege wheel’ “adapted” from the work of James R. Vanderwoerd’s Web of Oppression and Sylvia Duckworth’s Wheel of Power/Privilege.
The chart sets out that those with “white” skin have the most “power” while those with “dark” skin have the least.
“Cisgender men” are also in a position of “power” where “cisgender women” come in second place and “trans, intersex, nonbinary” people are ranked as the least powerful.
“Heterrosexual” people are also the closest to “power” where “gay men” are in the middle and “lesbians, bisexual, pansexual, asexual” people are last.
The document says that while “74% of PTSB respondents say they know what unconscious bias is,” that “only half believe they have unconscious biases.”
“We hope that this DEI Awareness course will help you develop your understanding of unconscious bias – if you truly understand it, then you know that you have it!” it says
The bank says it ‘appreciates diversity in language and communication style’ saying that the use of “inclusive language” means “avoiding offensive and negative expressions that imply ideas that may be sexist, racist, or otherwise biased or prejudiced to or excludes a group of people.”
[Y]ou need to be aware of your own biases and stereotypes as these may influence your actions and language choice.” it says
The document warns against the use of ‘gendered language’ telling staff to avoid using sex based pronouns when referring to eg. “The lady in the blue shirt” instructing that “gender neutral and inclusive” language like “the person in the blue shirt” should be used.
Staff are also told to avoid using collective greetings like “ladies and gentlemen” and are instead told to use terms such as “Hi everyone”.
The document also instructs staff “make sure” to “use they/them” in reference to ‘non-binary’ people, and to ask for preferred pronouns when unsure.
It says “all colleges are encouraged to add their pronouns to their email signature.”
A chapter entitled “Navigating gender identity in the LQBTG+ community: parents’ perspective”, recalls an ‘in person panel discussion’ where Aisling Gannon of BeLongto and a PTSB employee discuss their experience of being the parents of “transgender children”.
This event was held during ‘pride month’ and hosted by PRISM: PTSB’s employee resource group for LGBTQ+ “colleagues and allies”.
The document features excerpts from the discussion where a PTSB employee discusses bringing his 15-year-old “son” to get glasses where he asked her if she would consider “getting eye surgery once he stopped growing,”
The staff member related the teenager replying, “Dad, have you considered that I have more pressing surgeries ahead of me than just fixing my eyes,” in what appears to be a reference to female-to-male gender reassignment surgery.