FEATURE
THE DIVERSITY STATUS QUO
Founder of the Cycling Culture Club, Miles Baker-Clarke, explores diversity in the cycling industry and invites others to share their experiences.
D
iversity is a concept that’s difficult to bottle. By its very nature, it doesn’t stand still, a bit like clouds, it can be difficult to grasp, and just like the clouds,
it can look different to different people. I have a pretty clear understanding of what diversity means to me, but if there is one thing I’ve discovered on my journey so far, it is that my definition is not necessarily your definition, and my priorities for improving diversity are not necessarily your priorities; they are defined by perspective and lived experience. Does that make either of us right? No, I don’t think so, but it does make it ever more important that we all remain open-minded to what diversity means to one another, only then can we start to quantify it, only then can we look to change it and only then may we start to understand the way forward. The Oxford Language Dictionary defines diversity as: “The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.” I would say this rings pretty close to my definition of diversity, but my observation of our industry is that at worst, diversity is an afterthought and at best, ‘diversity’ is oh so very narrow, focusing on one group or another instead of addressing the wider issue, the very opposite of that definition that you’ve just absorbed. I don’t mean in any way to disparage any efforts to diversify our industry, but I do think it’s important to recognise that when we talk about diversity, we need to talk about all aspects. My first experience of this, and the catalyst to start my own diversity and advocacy journey, came when I had a conversation with one of the organisations that represent our industry. I found their ‘diversity board’ to again, be oh
www.bikebiz.com Miles Baker-Clarke
Miles Baker-Clarke
PHOTO BY TOM SCHLEGEL
April 2025 | 7
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