- One particular contribution that I see to Wong adding to the larger conversation are her words under the “Privilege, Marginalization & Differences in Experience subtitle. This can be found on page 28. She writes, “It is important to raise awareness among those with the privilege of not having to think twice about how they function so they can be more responsive to others’ needs and simultaneously alleviate burdens for those who must be extra conscious and aware to simply get by.” I think this quote is significant because it is important to be an ally and a voice for those who struggle with carrying a burden that their skin color places on them. Inclusion is necessary in the workplace, and supporting your co-workers only happens when respect is present.
- Wong really connects her ideas through subheadings because I found this article way easier to read. Under “Starting With Better Questions,” Wong immediately uses the transition word “Approaching.” This sets up the reader in a way where they can clearly follow and ease into the section. Wong’s point in her sentence here that diversity and inclusion efforts can shift the understandings of specific issues leads into the rest of the paragraph smoothly.
Discussion Prompts Week of 6/22
- My first time around, I went straight to google scholars as my first way of attempting to find an article, but this time I started with using library.syr.edu. I’ve already found several articles on ProQuest and Wiley Online Library by using the Summon Search. I’ve noticed that typing in the appropriate keywords is what leads me to find what I’m looking for, but sometimes being too specific is not the right strategy. It’s disappointing, though, when the same articles constantly appear after several attempts at different searches when I know they do not contain the information I am seeking.
- While I will need to have at least 1 primary source and at 1 scholarly source, I hope to find texts that encompass how this generational gap in the working environment is adjusting to each other. Because these sources should have different viewpoints and contributions, I will try to look for authors of different ages who have different experiences in this topic. For example, I want to make sure a voice from each generation (if possible) is represented: Baby Boomer, Gen X, Xennial, and Millennial. I understand this may be difficult but hopefully my research is successful. I will work to find them by trying out different databases, maybe even searching related TEDTalks and then looking up the speakers to see if they have written any articles, etc.
Prompts 6/18
- One particular media element which I found significant from this assignment was Dan’s attached TEDTalk named “How to Make Millennials Want to Work for You.” This really made an impression on me because although I’m not considered a Millennial, I still learned about the upcoming adjustments in the workforce and how businesses and older employers need to adapt for this generation and the upcoming generation, Gen Z. Just as Dan said in his post that there is a disconnect in Gen Y and Gen X, I think it’s important to note that there may also be a disconnect in Gen X and Gen Z. When the speaker of the TEDTalk explained the topic of money vs. meaning, this thought really sat in my brain for the next few minutes after watching. I came to the realization that working unhappily without a purpose really would serve me no motivation in life, so I’m grateful for watching this because I definitely learned something valuable. I am seeing the idea of “diversity and organizational cultural” differently because this video really took me back to week 1 when we read the several different definitions on what organizational culture is, and which one I most identified with my own definition of it, comparing that to what I think it is now. Just a few weeks ago, my knowledge on this subject matter was little to none, however that’s changing with every single reading and prompt I write.
- Bogost uses several transitions throughout his article to develop an argument and lay down the groundwork. One passage that I’d like to focus on is his transition between the paragraphs in the middle of the article beginning with “Even though she’d like…” and “Webb points to China…” Here, Bogost effectively points out an issue that Webb sees with diversity in the computing industry. When Bogost mentions that Webb says “Critical thinking is what the computers won’t be able to do,” he purposely sets up this statement to then lead into a solution in the next paragraph. By explaining that Webb thinks of China as an alternative, this moves forward with Bogost’s groundwork and addresses a strategy of having a possible AI textbook for preschoolers.
5 Rhetorical Moves
- The first rhetorical move I noticed in Bogost’s “The Problem With Diversity in Computing” is that right off the bat, he has a protagonist, Amy Webb, in this article. I didn’t know who she was until I read further on, and as the reader, the feeling I received from the first paragraph was intriguing and curious as to see where the writer will lead with this. He connected these first few sentences to go on and explain how someone like her wasn’t present in the room when these systems were designed, so I found this connection to be brilliant.
- The second is when Bogost introduces the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing, because this is an aspect to the article that the reader may be unfamiliar with. Bogust explains his role there and the center’s mission, so he uses this school to strengthen his point that there needs to be growth for the tech population. He does so by saying “Adding more black engineers from Atlanta schools to that mix will certainly help push the numbers up incrementally.” He also proves this point by including a statistic about Google’s employees, so this backs him up with an actual fact.
- Third, Bogust writes about Charles Isbell, who brings up an interesting point: diversity vs. integration. This is a comparison which I’ve never heard about before and honestly found it so fascinating. How he brings in Charles as a source to quote their conversation gives the reader the opportunity to expand their knowledge on a topic that isn’t talked about enough. Bogoust makes it clear that both integration and diversity need to be met if we, as one, want to accomplish the universal goal of expanding those within the tech field.
- A quote by Bogost which really stayed with me was “Their goal is to get more people in the game, not necessarily to change the rules of that game.” It is evident that rhetoric is used here to convey this idea to the reader. Bogost has a powerful and confident tone in this statement. He says this after introducing Kamau Bobb, so with this statement he reflects on what Bobb’s opinion of this topic.
- Lastly, Bogost ends the article by saying “The problem with computing is computing.” Here, he backs up Webb’s point that everyone outside of the computing field is discriminated against. Going on to compare computing professionals acting tribe-like and only sticking to who’s inside their circle is a great use of rhetoric to make this connection.
Unit 1 Assignment, Expanding the Canon (Samantha Danylchuk)
The author of my article is named Aaron Hicks, and he, with the help of four individuals – Cassie Price King, Elizabeth H. Rickert, Amanda D. Nelson, and Lucretia McCulley –published Religion and the Workplace: Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership. This is an eBook from EBSCO, and I will be working with the Part II segment of the book for this assignment, which includes Chapters 5 and 6 named “Being religious differently” and “Religions of the workplace.” Hicks is a professor with an undergraduate degree and graduate coursework in economics, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Ph.D. in religious studies. The author’s religious tradition is Presbyterian (Protestant, Christian). Before he began writing Chapter 1 of this book, Aaron clarified his opinion to the reader by stating how faithful Christians should have no interest in imposing their beliefs or practices upon others and they should want to receive no advantage in public life or the workplace because of their religion.
The author’s objective in Part II of this section of the text is to offer distinctions, concepts, and comparative examples that demonstrate how religion is present in contemporary workplaces. The audience of this text includes scholars with specialized knowledge in religion, specifically those who have prior background discussing religion and the workplace. This work is intended for both scholars and practitioners, though, because the point that Hicks emphasizes in his introduction before beginning to write is that he intends for his criticisms to be constructive and hopes that “ensuing debates will contribute to workplace policies and cultures that respect, on equal terms, employees of all backgrounds.” (Hicks, 2003, p. 4)
The purpose is to analyze current realities in the workplace in relation to religion and spirituality, and Hicks does so by first pointing out how individual and institutional expressions of religion differ. That is, most approaches to religion and spirituality in the workplace often underemphasize religious diversity. Religion in the workplace is often seen as religion of the workplace, and the author makes an important point that the corporate leader cannot play the role of a spiritual guide or guru to his or her workforce. If a single company sponsors or promotes one specific kind of religion, this is questionable. One quote by the author which supports his reasoning and argument on why companies can’t openly express one religion over any other is “It may be easy for Christians to downplay the significance, for example, of subtle messages in the workplace that convey the privileged status enjoyed by Christian symbols, ideas, or holidays, but for Jewish, Muslim, and atheistic co-workers these messages are overtly present and reinforce their experience of marginalization.” (Hicks, 2003, p. 133) Additionally, public life impacts the workplace as the chapters explain. Religion plays many roles in American society, and many employees who are Christians have admitted that they receive or have received preferential treatment at work and in society. These discussions of spirituality tend to marginalize those who are atheists or adherents of many religious backgrounds, causing those who feel pressured by society to divorce their religious / spiritual commitments from all aspects of their public lives.
Link to eBook:
http://libezproxy.syr.edu.libezproxy2.syr.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=120536&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_C
Citation: Hicks, D. A. (2003). Religion and the Workplace : Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership. Cambridge University Press.
Discussion Prompts on TED Talks
- Raneta Salecl started her TED talk off by introducing 3 quotes. I took interest to the first one by Samuel Johnson which was, “When making your choice in life, do not forget to live.” I believe this was a great tactic to immediately pull the audience in, because right from the start I found myself engaged with the speaker. Raneta then proceeded to link these 3 quotes which she shared to the “sweet anxiety of choice,” so this transition was very well done in my opinion. In terms of rhetoric, Raneta also used real life examples including her friend Manya and the woman she encountered at the wedding reception so by explaining these stories to the audience, we are provided with the knowledge that she actually lived through seeing others making choices and has great knowledge on this topic. In order to explain her ideas, Raneta additionally mentions other sources such as philosophers and professors from several universities to build off of her points. Several statements that Raneta made throughout her talk such as how self critique may often lead to self destruction, how many people have a passion for ignorance rather than knowledge, and that choice leads to individual and social changes are extremely raw and natural subject topics that I’ve never been confronted with. So for this reason, I believe Raneta presented her arguments in such a passionate way that really appealed to me.
- Building off of Raneta’s TED Talk, I believe she used evidence in various ways. Raneta uses outside sources to her advantage as a way of providing the reader with credibility that she’s well educated on what she speaks about. For example, the evidence of her personal encounters (such as Manya) gave Raneta leeway right into discussing how humans rarely make rational choices. Another specific example of this is when she told the story of the young woman at the wedding reception. This story wasn’t told for any specific reason; it was to emphasize her point that choice is linked to risks and unpredictability. An argumentation tactic that I found very effective was Raneta asking the audience questions. Rather than just providing the listeners with facts on top of facts, this way of presenting her subject matter forced the audience to take short moments of silence and actually think deeply about the questions. For example, a time when this happened to me was when Raneta asked, “We’re often choosing by guessing, what would other people think about our choice?” I thought that the strategy behind this question and connecting it to always having our decisions needing to be socially acceptable was very clever.
unit 1 blog DRAFT
The author of my article is named Aaron Hicks, and he, with the help of four individuals who he acknowledged from the University of Richmond, published “Religion and the Workplace : Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership.” Aaron is a professor with an undergraduate degree and graduate coursework in economics, a Master of Divinity degree, and a Ph.D. in religious studies. The author’s religious tradition is Presbyterian (Protestant, Christian). Before he began writing Chapter 1 of this book, Aaron clarified his opinion to the reader by stating how faithful Christians should have no interest in imposing their beliefs or practices upon others and they should want to receive no advantage in public life or the workplace because of their religion. “Religion and the Workplace: Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership” is structured into 3 parts, where I will be writing about Part 2 (Chapters 5-7). The author’s objective in this section of the text is to offer distinctions, concepts, and comparative examples that demonstrate how religion is present in contemporary workplaces. The audience of this text includes scholars in favor of secular workplaces and supporters of spiritual leadership and Christian preferences because they will be actively challenged in their beliefs, but the audience also includes individual employees of any religion, or those who do not identify as religious or spiritual.
Aaron’s purpose is to analyze current realities in the workplace in relation to religion and spirituality, and he does so by first pointing out how individual and institutional expressions of religion differ. That is, most approaches to religion and spirituality in the workplace often underemphasize religious diversity. Religion in the workplace is often seen as religion of the workplace, and the author makes an important point that the corporate leader cannot play the role of a spiritual guide or guru to his or her workforce. If a single company sponsors or promotes one specific kind of religion, this is questionable. One quote by the author which supports his reasoning and argument on why companies can’t openly express one religion over any other is “It may be easy for Christians to downplay the significance, for example, of subtle messages in the workplace that convey the privileged status enjoyed by Christian symbols, ideas, or holidays, but for Jewish, Muslim, and atheistic co-workers these messages are overtly present and reinforce their experience of marginalization.” (Hicks, 2003, p. 133) Additionally, public life impacts the workplace as the article explains. Religion plays many roles in American society, and many employees who are Christians have admitted that they receive or have received preferential treatment at work and in society. These current discussions of spirituality tend to marginalize those who are atheists or adherents of many religious backgrounds, causing those who feel pressured by society to divorce their religious / spiritual commitments from all aspects of their public lives.
Article Summary
An ebook I found on EBSCO, titled “Religion and the Workplace: Pluralism, Spirituality, and Leadership” by Douglas A. Hicks is composed of 3 parts totaling 9 chapters, so I decided to focus my reading on Part II called “Mapping religion and the workplace.” Chapters 5 and 6 explore topics like how advocates of secular workplace views try to block all religious speech or actions from entering the office, but then it goes on to discuss the interpretations of the First Amendment and accepting any religion in the workplace. It is said that in a free market economy, companies do not hold monopolistic power over their employees. In fact, it is difficult for many employees to completely leave their religious and spiritual beliefs behind in the office, and workplaces that accomodate this statement are able to address the needs of their employees more efficiently and and humanely. Additionally, public life impacts the workplace as the article explains. Religion plays many roles in American society, and many employees who are Christians have admitted that they receive or have received preferential treatment at work and in society. These current discussions of spirituality tend to marginalize those who are atheists or adherents of many religious backgrounds, causing those who feel pressured by society to divorce their religious / spiritual commitments from all aspects of their public lives.
Link:
http://libezproxy.syr.edu.libezproxy2.syr.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=e000xna&AN=120536&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_162
Citation:
Hicks, D. A. (2003). Religion and the Workplace : Pluralism, Spirituality, Leadership. Cambridge University Press.
Discussion Prompts 6/4
- In relations to the kind of material I’ll be looking for, I decided to look for data using the Syracuse library as my other classmates have mentioned. I also plan to take a closer look into Google Scholars and JSTOR. The topic within diversity and inclusion I would like to focus on is religious diversity, because we have yet to read about this. I got this idea because I just remember taking a world religions class in high school and automatically was intrigued. I have a strong Catholic faith, so I am looking forward to this challenge. I am eager to step out of my comfort zone and learn more about the different religions around the world. My goal is to gain statistics on what religions are practiced most in each country, what experts think is going to change or remain the same in the future regarding these statistics, how this difference in religion affects the workplace and company’s ethics, etc. A strategy that I found to be helpful to me is writing a summary like we’ve been doing after an article so I know what to focus my attention to what the author is trying to say.
- Austin / Pisano’s argument that companies are not tapping into neurodiverse talent is supported by research showing that the unemployment runs as high as 80% among those with neurological conditions. I have always believed that neurodiverse people should be represented in the workforce, and question why is it has taken companies like SAP this long to just now implement programs. I understand that the conventional hiring processes companies use for their employees has been a challenge when it comes to testing the skills of someone with autism for example, but the author makes an important point about innovation. On the other hand, “Why diversity matters” focuses on racial diversity and includes no mention of the disabled. I found it interesting, though, that the articles states that correlation does not necessarily equal causation. I agree with this statement because I do believe that in order for a diverse company to be successful, the leadership performed by managers must be held to extremely high standards. If a company is diverse (considering both race and ability), but the leadership skills practiced by managers and CEOs isn’t strong or does not set examples, what makes it true that these companies would actually drive in profit and attract future potential employees?
Summary of Austin / Pisano Article
“Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage” by Austin and Pisano explores the relationship between people who have neurological conditions and the workforce. This article dives into the problem that people with neurological conditions are not being seen by companies although this specific population provides itself with many opportunities. Companies have ample room for growth when it comes to expanding their staff, but innovation needs to be made in relation to exactly how these companies are recruiting and hiring employees. SAP, Microsoft, HPE, and Ford are some of the many companies which have efforts to solve this problem under way, and SAP specifically has implemented an “Autism at Work” program while also has found that job interviews are not the only way a company can successfully assess a candidate’s suitability, opening the door for those with neurological conditions to be hired. “Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage” presents itself with challenges that must be overcome in order to include a more diverse atmosphere in the working environment. As the article explains, some steps managers must take to combat this lack of neurodiversity people in the workforce include teaming with social partners, tailoring methods for managing careers, scaling neurodiversity programs, and setting up a support ecosystem.