Recently, we had the privilege of welcoming Ruchika Tulshyan back to Dover Court, marking a significant moment of reflection and inspiration for our community. Ruchika, an alumna of Dover Court from Year 1 to Year 6, has since become a distinguished author, thought leader, and globally recognised advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
During her visit, Ruchika shared how her early exposure to diverse cultures, backgrounds, and abilities at Dover Court laid the foundational stones for her eventual career in advocating for inclusion. We caught up with her to talk about the influence of a diverse educational background on her journey, the role of education in promoting DEI, advice for aspiring advocates of inclusion and fostering a culture of belonging in educational settings.
Ruchika’s visit was not just a homecoming but a powerful reminder of the values we cherish and strive to embody within Dover Court.
Q. How has your background as a Doverian influenced your approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion?
Being exposed to so many peers and educators from different cultures, backgrounds and across abilities and neurodiversity so early in my life was extremely influential to my work in advocating for inclusion. Even before I had heard of ‘DEI’ (diversity, equity and inclusion) as a career, I knew as a Doverian that it was important for me to stand up for justice and equity, both for myself and others around me. It was a very meaningful grounding in what is right and what matters.
Q. What role do you think education plays in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion from an early age?
It's more important than ever; in fact, moving to the West from Singapore, I was surprised by how many adults I met who hadn't been educated with these principles or actual interactions with people from different backgrounds. I hope more educators recognise this isn't tangential to education but foundational. We live in a globally connected world, and learning how to approach others with empathy, equity, and inclusion are so important to success and to being a good human.
Q. Returning to your old school, Dover Court, to speak, how does it feel to come full circle from former student to influential speaker on such critical topics?
It was a magical experience. My mum saw my eyes light up on stage as a six year old, in the same very Cooper Hall I returned over 30 years later to speak. It was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. What made me smile is to see how many students and teachers that are completely on board with DEI. We didn't call it that when I was growing up, but the values imbibed in me started at Dover Court.
Q. What advice would you give to students looking to become more actively involved in promoting inclusion within their communities and future workplaces?
I always approach this work with a learning mindset and never think I'm done and now have all the answers. So, self-education and awareness-building to understand how injustice shows up and personal actions to practice allyship are very important. For me, writing was how I expressed myself, and I remember writing letters and short stories to share my perspective. I know there are many different ways to do this, and I encourage students to find their own based on their interests. Most of all, community matters and being able to build friendships across many areas of difference, find others who were just as committed to inclusion and learn from them was important in my journey.
Q. Your recent book ‘Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work’ has significantly contributed to the conversation around diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. From an educational standpoint, how can schools adopt your intersectional approach to create more inclusive environments for students and staff?
I was really inspired by the scholarship of Kimberle Crenshaw, an African American scholar who coined ‘intersectionality’, which found that when you have multiple marginalised identities, your experiences compound as a result of that. I think educators in a school environment must understand this, especially where students come from so many backgrounds. An intersectional approach challenges us to take someone's experience at face value: ‘This person is female, therefore their experience is ___’. Instead, we must look at how their experiences are shaped by all their identities, racial, religious, cultural, etc., and then ensure we're finding ways to include and advocate for them in consideration of that. Sometimes, people look at me and immediately make assumptions that I'm Indian–but as is common for many Doverians, I also identify differently than I look. My Singaporean identity, for example, is also formative in who I am. The fact that I'm a mother also matters. That I'm an immigrant to the U.S. also shapes my experience.
Q. Could you share any examples of strategies or practices that have been effective in fostering a culture of belonging within educational settings?
I am proud of the BRIDGE framework, which has been adopted into various educational settings. More about the framework here: Inclusion takes regular practice — it doesn't happen without intentionality. We have to be intentional in how we practice it, and how we approach it. It requires us to understand that inclusion is a work in progress and requires an inclusion mindset throughout.
The BRIDGE Framework helps cultivate an inclusion mindset:
Be uncomfortable
Reflect on what you don’t know
Invite feedback
Defensiveness doesn’t help
Grow from your mistakes
Expect that change takes time
