- From the templates in They Say/I Say I will be using this approach: In recent discussions of organizational diversity, a controversial issue has been whether structured organizational diversity policies affect minorities’ leadership-relevant self-perceptions and goals. From the perspective of Gundermir et al’s argument, his data shows that companies that use programs specifically for multicultural diversity increase diversity within their organizations. On the other hand, some companies choose to have a Value-in-Homogeneity policy.
I just used that template to structure a practice statement about Gundemir et al’s argument. I began with the They Say to set my writing up for my own opinion on this topic and give the reader context about what I am writing about and why they should care. This template helped me focus on the information in my writing more than just the filler words that structure it. A lot of the time when I first begin writing I find myself not knowing how to begin. Having the words from the template there for me to use made it much easier to start and I felt like I could use my time writing more efficiently.
2. This weeks readings from Gundemir et al and Austin and Pisano add to my understanding of diversity in organizations greatly. On one hand, Gundemir’s article answered a lot of the questions that last week’s readings brought up for me, such as what the strategies used to increase and maintain diversity in a company are. Gundemir’s research showed me that diversity in companies can be maintained by programs that these companies create to make people feel comfortable and included. From the data, I could see that companies with multiculturalist ideologies made diverse workers feel valued, and equal resulting in those employees feeling more comfortable to strive for leadership roles and advancements within that same company. Austin and Pisano’s article expanded my knowledge of diversity but in a very different way. They discussed neurodiverse people which I didn’t think to include in the discussion of diversity till after I read this. Learning about neurodiversity supported why diversity is so positive in companies. Austin and Pisano highlight how neurodiverse people can add so much benefit to a company. They also educate on how including them and creating programs for them to get through job interviews, and thrive at a company is so important. In conclusion both readings this week expanded what I thought I knew about diversity and made me think about what is considered diverse in a company.
Michaela, I think your template could be strengthened a bit further if you tied more of the paraphrased claims back with the controversial issue. For instance the last sentence could expand and say that some companies favor Value-in-Homegeneity *because* they focus on equality rather than celebrating individual qualities. That’d give a better understanding to why or how it affects minorities leadership-relevant and self-perception goals. The idea is to include more of the ‘so what’ argument Birkenstein and Graff talk about in TSIS.
I also did not think to include neurodiverse people when talking about diversity in workplaces and how opportunities strengthen the company. It also expanded my definition as well. I have always been promoting neurodiversity but for some reason I did not think about the workplace, only in society. I think the article is important in raising that awareness as diversity is anything but the norm. I think the article complimented the study as we can draw a major conclusion that those who are given the opportunity that normally aren’t can thrive.
This has been a common refrain in this week’s posts/comments–that many of us didn’t really think to include neurodiversity in our mental Big Picture of diversity. Austin & Pisano are injecting something new into the discussion. That’s what good research writing does–it adds something new to the conversation.
We’ll be talking a lot in the weeks to come about this idea of research as a conversation, and we’ll think back to this set of readings as an example of that.