For my unit 1 assignment, I found an article through the Syracuse Libraries website that discussed neurodiversity with a bit more research/data than the article assigned from Austin and Pisano. I think as a society, right now we should be focused on the Black Lives Matter movement and why the government, police, and other organizations across the nation refuse to understand that black people are not being treated equally. Please do not respond with anything like “blue lives matter” or some other nonsense to excuse your racism. Blue is not a life, it’s an occupation. The point I’m trying to make is that I’d like to do my unit 1 assignment on the topic of neurodiversity because it is interesting to me, but we should all remain focused on diversity in terms of race/the black lives matter movement as well. I found a good article about neurodiversity already, I just need to find some relevant media to include in the class inquiry post.
Responses – Week of 6/1
I hadn’t heard the phrase “neurodiversity” until I read this article, but I liked a quote from John Elder Robinson in the article which described neurodiversity as “the idea that neurological differences like autism and ADHD are the result of normal, natural variation in the human genome” which is accurate and inoffensive. The article explains that many people with neurological conditions have extraordinary skills in areas other people might not such as pattern recognition, memory, and mathematics. Despite these skills, the neurodiverse population remains largely unemployed (roughly 80% unemployment rate, this includes people with neurological conditions that prevent them from working in any capacity) because it takes more time and energy to hire someone with a neurological condition. Another two reasons why the neurodiverse population remains untapped is that traditional recruitment methods like job interviews and the belief that scalable work processes require absolute conformity to standardized approaches end up filtering out neurodiverse people who could be valuable employees. More and more companies in the last 4-5 years have reformed HR practices to capitalize on the talents of neurodiverse people, which has benefitted those companies in terms of productivity, reputational enhancement, innovation, and employee engagement. In the process, these companies are becoming better able to fully leverage the skills of all workers.
Responses- Week of 5/25
When it comes to the topic of diversity, most of us will readily agree that it is an important and healthy part society and culture. Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of organizational culture. Whereas some are convinced that a Value-in-Homogeneity policy is best for an organization and its culture, others maintain that a Multiculturalism or Value-in-Individual Differences policy is better for minority employees, the organization and its culture.
I used a sentence outline designed to open a debate to describe Gundemir et al’s research. It worked for my sentence because, as a minority, I am biased towards multiculturalism-focused organizations, which the sentence demonstrates. It also worked because the results of Gundemir et al’s research did support the hypothesis that “minorities [would] report more positive leadership self-perceptions and leadership-related goals” in a company focused on multiculturalism rather than homogeneity, so it’s likely that many believe Multiculturalism or Value-in-Individual Differences is better for an organization’s minority employees.
I found that the messages behind the Gundemir et al article and the article from last week about organizational diversity were similar in that both articles were ultimately promoting the acceptance of diversity in the workplace. As a minority, reading both of these articles was refreshing since I had never really thought about diversity in a business setting and it felt like the authors of both articles had a mindset similar to mine. In my limited experience working at FedEx and Costco, I hadn’t heard anything about company diversity policies, but there were policies about harassment and respecting other people and their cultures. I hadn’t noticed in the moment, but since reading these articles and thinking about my coworkers, almost everyone I worked with at FedEx was different from me, whether they were a different race, religion, or sexual orientation versus Costco where everyone was relatively similar.
Responses – Week of 5/18
This week’s readings made me think about culture and diversity in the workplace which I’ve never really considered, but it’s interesting. The article about why diversity matters made me question how an organization would even achieve diversity in the workplace, do they stop hiring people of certain genders or ethnicities once they reach a set amount? I’m definitely in favor of diversity in the workplace, and it doesn’t surprise me that more diverse companies are financially more productive, but I question how companies become diverse. The article about organizational culture made me think about just how different every organization’s culture is, and how it’s constantly changing because of new employees, locations, and acquisitions. I was curious about the relationship between organizational success/productivity and organizational culture, but the other article suggests that a more diverse organization and, as a result, a more diverse organizational culture typically means more success/productivity.
There are a handful of definitions and explanations in the article about organizational culture that lead to me think about what organizational culture really is and what it means. The definition “Organizational culture [is shaped by] the main culture of the society we live in, albeit with greater emphasis on particular parts of it,” from Elizabeth Skringar isn’t farfetched, but what is the society “we” live in for a multi-national organization operating in the context of many different cultures? The author, Michael Watkins, mentioned that “a company’s history of acquisition also figures importantly in defining its culture and subcultures,” which would also make it difficult for an organization to identify with a specific society or culture. The last definition of an organizational culture where Abdi Osman Jama calls it “living” is close to what I would’ve said. I hadn’t heard of the phrase “organizational culture” until I read the article this week, but I’m fascinated by its ambiguity. I’d definitely be interested in exploring this topic further.
Intro
I’m Ian Botnick and I’ll be a sophomore this fall. I’ve never taken an online class because I think I’m better when I go to actual classes, but that’s obviously not an option right now so I’m excited to see how this goes. I’m an Econ major so writing and research skills are important for me to work on. I also took writing 109 and liked it a lot so I wanted to take this class. I would normally be working in the summer, but my internship was cancelled so I decided to take a semester’s worth of classes instead. Hope everyone is healthy and staying safe!