seat at the table
Voice in decisions
A seat at the table is a position that allows participation in important discussions or decisions.
The phrase evokes a meeting where those present have influence and those absent do not: Women fought for a seat at the table in corporate boardrooms.
Having no seat at the table means being excluded from power.
- chairSingle-person sitting furniture
- place settingArranged utensils for dining
- dinner partyHosted meal with guests
- have a sayOffer one's viewpoint
- voiceSound from throat
decision making · inclusion · participation · belonging · presence · inner circle · plate · agency · involvement · welcome · marginalized · equity · influence · power dynamics · equal footing · stakeholders · access · engagement
seat at the tableexclusion
Being barred from participation
shut out · locked out · disenfranchisement · left out · sidelined
seat at the tablepowerlessness
Inability to affect outcomes
marginalization · disenfranchisement · subjugation · subordination · irrelevance
seat at the tableinvisibility
State of being unseen
erasure · obscurity · overlooked · ignored · dismissed
seat, table, seats, seated, seating, seater, unseated, tables, tabled