Chilling effect of diversity guidance reaches the South Pole

Telegraph

22-03-2025

Believing in meritocracy can be a 'racist' microaggression, polar scientists have been told.
The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), which oversees Britain's research stations in Antarctica, claimed that believing 'the most qualified person should get the job' can be a form of 'racial harassment'.
In an inclusivity guide issued to employees, the organisation says the 'myth of meritocracy' asserts 'that race does not play a role in life successes'.
It defines meritocracy as the 'belief that performance alone will be enough to earn recognition [and] promotion' and says it can be a 'microaggression'.
Scientists working for the national polar research institute were also warned that saying 'I believe the most qualified person should get the job' can count as 'racial harassment'.
The guide advises against saying 'everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough'.
It claims that anyone who uses the phrases sends the 'message' that 'people of colour are lazy and/or incompetent and need to work harder' or that 'people of colour are given extra unfair benefits due to their race'.
Management 'imposing fake value'
Alka Sehgal-Cuthbert, the director of campaign group Don't Divide Us, said much of the guide was 'rooted in the ideological lens of EDI' and focused on imposing 'intrusive and arbitrary speech codes'.
She told The Telegraph: 'Diversity is not a self-evident good to be respected at all costs, and management shouldn't be in the business of trying to impose this fake value because, ultimately, it stifles a more genuine diversity of thinking.
'As such, EDI speech and conduct codes are likely to foster hypersensitivity, grievance and stultifying conformity. None of these are good for 'good relations' at work.'
The guide also claims that both of the phrases 'all lives matter' and 'there is only one race, the human race' are microaggressions that 'indicate that a white person does not want to acknowledge race'.
These phrases deny 'a person of colour's racial/ethnic experience' and send the message that minorities must 'assimilate… to the dominant culture'.
The guide also lists a number of sexualities under a section entitled 'understanding differences in sexual and gender identities'.
These include 'demisexual' – meaning that you only experience sexual attraction to someone with whom you have a deep emotional bond – and 'allosexual', which is defined as 'the ability to experience sexual attraction'.
The guide also uses the controversial term 'sex assigned at birth', which claims that biological sex is not innate and is instead 'assigned' based on how a person's anatomy is perceived when they are born.
Employees told to recognise their 'cultural biases'
It also says all BAS employees should be 'aware' of their 'privilege and power', which involves 'recognising the colonial histories and cultural biases that may have led to people's different positions within the team'.
The BAS, which is part of the UK Research and Innovation quango, operates Britain's polar research stations, aircraft and the Sir David Attenborough research ship.
It was established in 1962 in succession to the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, which sought to establish permanent bases in the Antarctic during the Second World War.
A spokesman for BAS said: 'We aim to make BAS a welcoming and inclusive place for all.
'We achieve this by investing in comprehensive training and offering valuable information on safety and wellbeing for all BAS staff and those who deploy with us.
'BAS wants to create a responsible culture where we support inclusive leadership that puts everyone's safety first. Our guide provides learning and information on how to be part of an inclusive community.'