tokenism
- noun
- /ˈtoʊkənɪzəm/
- But three-fourths of black lawyers surveyed say law firms engage in tokenism rather than genuine diversity in partnerships; among white lawyers, less than half believe there is genuine diversity in law firm partnerships, and almost one-third say they don't know.
- a mere tokenism
This isn't just about tokenism, but like actual creation.
- This isn't just about tokenism, but like actual creation.
Examples
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Many companies engage in tokenism by hiring a few diverse employees while failing to change their workplace culture.
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Words backed only by tokenism.
Blog text (27) -
To date, their efforts are really only manifestations of religious tokenism.
Academic text (2014) -
We applaud that it's almost gotten past tokenism.
Blog text (4) -
This approach to diversity is usually attacked as tokenism, at least when applied to ethnic minorities.
Academic text (2016) -
Within the male-dominated structures of the WCC, the participation of "minority" groups such as women was often a matter of tokenism rather than cooperation.
Academic text (2018) -
The criticism of the new law centers on its tokenism; it seems to include marginalized voices without any real power.
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Her appointment to the board was seen as an act of tokenism, lacking any genuine effort for diversity in leadership.
Antonyms
How Meaningful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Tokenism comes from token, a word for a small 'sign' or 'symbol' like a coin or ticket, and -ism, meaning 'practice'. A helpful way to remember it is to imagine one 'token' put forward to show you care — it is only a symbol, so tokenism means a shallow, symbolic effort instead of a real commitment.