Localizing Corporate Dei Practices among Technical Communicators

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to better understand how technical communicators understand and implement DEI initiatives in their workplaces, how corporate approaches to DEI impact technical communication work, how the physical and surrounding locale of the company impacts those DEI practices, and the ways technical communicators find themselves intervening, supporting, or advancing those initiatives. Method: Using a qualitative interview methodology, we conducted one-hour interviews with practicing technical communicators. Four different participants representing different demographics and locations in the United States are profiled here. Results: Based on our interviews, we noticed several general commonalities in our technical communicators' experiences of DEI in their workplaces, including a division in the different kinds of labor in the workplace and a lack of feeling like technical communicators had agency in respect to DEI. We also noticed that some trends were influenced by the location and work modality. Conclusion: Practitioners need to be aware of DEI practices in their workplaces and how those practices can impact their work as technical communicators. Technical communicators should also notice how the local community/region, as well as company structure, might impact their work. Educators need to incorporate more attention to DEI as a rhetorical and audience-centered feature in TPC academic programs.