The first time I can remember actively thinking about my privilege was during my student exchange program. I was 16 and living for a year in a small town in Argentina. I guess my green eyes and fair skin catapulted me into a position I had never experienced before: I was invited to every party, recognized on the street, and treated differently somehow.
Looking back, I realize my exchange year was a vivid encounter with my white privilege. It often worked to my advantage, though at times, it made me uncomfortable. At the time, I didn’t fully understand what was happening.
But that year became a turning point in my life, shaping my perspective and career choices. Meeting new people, hearing different viewpoints, and witnessing life in a country marked by deep inequalities profoundly changed how I saw myself and my place in the world.
When someone asks me today what we can do to change something for the better, my answer is simple: Start with yourself. And by that, I don’t mean “optimize yourself” but rather, “get to know yourself.”
Reflecting on our privileges is a great place to begin. But awareness is just the first step—understanding how privilege influences workplace dynamics, leadership opportunities, and corporate decision-making is the next. It is also crucial for building responsible businesses.
In the field of business and human rights, privilege often determines whose voices are heard and whose careers advance, both in an organization and throughout its value chain.
If you’d like to learn more about the drastic differences in people’s opportunities, watch the Privilege Walk. It might help you reflect on how these dynamics play out in corporate structures and business decisions.
What is privilege and how does it arise?
The word “privilege” refers to an advantage or special right granted to certain individuals or groups.
Privilege is not random—it is shaped by historical and societal power structures. Standards of privilege, such as race, gender, and class, are defined by those groups in power and reinforced through institutions, media, and economic systems. Let’s take the famous example of white male privilege: In Europe, for example, white men have historically held positions of authority, shaping laws, social norms, and professional opportunities in ways that continue to benefit them today. These privileges persist through institutional bias, inherited wealth, and cultural associations with leadership and competence.
There are many factors that lead to privilege including access to benefits, resources, opportunities, wealth, education, and political power. Privilege can arise from physical or psychological traits (e.g., gender, skin color, health, conformity to conventional beauty standards), social factors (e.g., education, wealth, social class), and other characteristics (e.g., political views, nationality, language proficiency or religious affiliation). These attributes often intersect and reinforce one another.
Some privileges are inherent, such as being born into wealth; others are granted, such as those associated with being perceived as a white male. Certain privileges can also be earned, such as obtaining a university degree through hard work. These privileges lead to additional benefits, including easier access to resources, opportunities, wealth, education, and political power.
What’s tricky is that people with privilege, especially if they are born with it, are often unaware of it in certain situations.
I realized this when a friend sent me a privilege test. I answered a long list of statements, such as:
- The band-aids in mainstream stores match or closely resemble my skin tone.
- I have never lied about my sexuality.
- I still identify with the gender I was assigned at birth.
- I graduated from college.
- I do not have any physical disabilities.
- I am not nervous in airport security lines.
- I don’t have to worry about affording necessities.
- No one tells me to lose weight when they see me eat.
Going through this exercise made me realize just how varied people’s experiences can be—and how privileged I am. I may not be a white male, which would likely place me in an even more privileged position, but aside from that, the circumstances I grew up in—and still live under—have given me the freedom to thrive.
If you’d like to take a similar test to identify your privilege, here is one: How Privileged Are You?.
Why is it important to be aware of our privilege?
Because privileges reflect the inequalities in our societies, and the underlying mechanisms often operate without us being aware of them.
In the business world, we refer to “unconscious biases” or “implicit associations.” Our brains rely on familiar patterns and stereotypes to make quick decisions and evaluations—without our conscious awareness.
Here are some recent examples from my professional life:
- I’ve often been mistaken for the executive assistant on phone calls, simply because I answered the phone first—even though I was part of the management team at the company.
- Years ago, a client referred to a team I was part of as “Mr. X and his girls,” probably without realizing that this implied the male colleague was the leader or authority, while the women were seen as secondary or subordinate to him, rather than equal professionals.
- Recently, on a business trip, I had to explain four times to the receptionist that I wouldn’t be submitting the hotel bill for a refund because the company we were representing—run by five women—was owned by us.
Our brains default to what is familiar— and for centuries, men have dominated the business world. Even by the end of 2024, only 4 out of the 40 German DAX companies had a woman CEO.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie describes the impact of implicit associations in her TED Talk, The Danger of a Single Story. Growing up with American and British literature, she initially wrote only about white people eating apples, playing in the snow, and talking about the weather—even though she lived in Nigeria. For a long time, she didn’t realize that people like her could also appear in books. Her implicit association was that only white people existed in literature.
Our unconscious assumptions about, for example, gender, skin color, age, sexuality, ethnicity, and health shape how we see the world, and consequently, how we view and treat others.
This is why increasing awareness of privileges and unconscious biases is crucial for changing our behavior and, ultimately, achieving greater equality.
How can you recognize your privilege and use it for a fairer society?
The concept of privilege is often criticized for its moral undertones, sometimes fueling heated debates, such as those around white male privilege. However, privilege should not be a source of guilt. While we don’t choose our privileges, how we use them is entirely up to us.
Being conscious of the different starting points people have gives those with more privileges both the opportunity and the responsibility to contribute to a fairer society. Here are a few ways to do that:
- Challenge automatic judgments and assumptions by questioning stereotypes or checking for biases before you act.
- Make people feel welcome by actively including them in groups and valuing their contributions.
- Encourage environments (and safe spaces) where people feel comfortable sharing their perspectives without fear of dismissal or discrimination.
- Amplify the voices of marginalized individuals and communities by sharing their work, creating space for their perspectives in discussions, and stepping back when necessary to let them lead.
- Question systems and structures that disproportionately benefit certain groups while disadvantaging others.
- Share resources, create opportunities, and use your platforms to elevate underrepresented voices.
Reflecting on privileges and the unconscious biases that come with them is, for me, the foundation of mutual understanding and respectful global coexistence.
At CORE, we are committed to acting mindfully, continuously learning, and reflecting on how our privileges can be leveraged to build bridges between people and amplify the voices of those who often go unheard.
Lisa Szeponik for the CORE team
