- I think one of the most helpful search tools I used was the category feature on most search engines and in the Syracuse Library database system. It was much easier to search for “inclusion organizational culture” and then narrow down the search further by specifying that I waned articles about inclusion from a business perspective, since our area of focus is diversity in the workplace. There were a few roadblocks I hit, one of the first being how broad the term “inclusive” is. It is used to refer to any situation that can include and encompass a wider variety, whether it be in terms of people in a group or items in a bag. I think finding ways around this roadblock were of use, but even so, the term inclusive is used so often to describe so many situations in our world today that remain “exclusive”. Another roadblock I ran into was when choosing the articles, finding ones that were substantial and related to our research on inclusion and in organizational culture. There were plenty of articles that just spit out statistics of companies being successful with a more diverse workforce, which is great and statistics are a way to analyze the success and failure of some approaches leading towards more inclusion. What was troublesome was articles having both the statistical research and the connections back to those being discriminated or excluded. It is one thing to hear the numbers and see the results and data, it is another to humanize these numbers and put more emphasis on the toll this takes on being a human ostracized for something they feel is the most representative of their identity.
- I hope to find texts coming from those who have felt “excluded”, especially in the work place. As stated before, numbers can only show and help us to learn how to be more inclusive, but it is from the retelling and words of those who have been discriminated that will help those who feel as though this is an unnecessary action to sympathize and possibly change their own opinion. I would love to find a written account of someone perspective on inclusion within the workplace from a before, during, and after perspective. I want to use voices of those who are part of the discriminated sum of employers, the people that face their fears every day to do something so normal and just so organic. To work, to socialize, to do anything within society should be reconsidered just because of the way someone identifies. I think that it was most definitely be easier to find the primary source article, I think that scholarly articles are a bit heavy on the data and research side of the issue which is the side I hope to not highlight as much.
Discussion Week of 6/15
- I think the most fascinating commonality that was beaming through everyone’s canons was the focus on improving the diversity within the workplace. Although, I found it fascinating how many combatting demographics there are when promoting this said diversity. Even the smallest of differentiators like religion, age, maybe even hair color/texture can certainly be looked at when addressing the success and diversity of a company. One of the most captivating media pieces I found, which had me think about organizational culture in a different way, was classmate Bryan’s TED Talk link focusing on how language changes the way we speak. I find that this was something that I simply overlooked, how the transmission of conversation within a workplace should be diverse and reach to many demographics not just focusing on one.
3. The paragraph I decided to focus on was a huge traditional paragraph, in my opinion, that changed the course of the article. The paragraph starting with “Webb says her airport experiences can be…” all the way to “…and they will serve the population better” was a seamless transition. Introducing the article with Webb’s personal experience was a great way to captivate the attention of the reader, hoping that it may be a somewhat relatable experience or one that the reader could place themselves into Webb’s shoes. This paragraph brought together Webb’s personal story and how demographically skewed computer systems are programmed to be in a manner that was almost undetected. Bringing the key points of Webb’s story to mind as they aligned perfectly with the purpose of the article is certainly not easy, but the way Bogost blended these two together is astounding.
Blog Post week 6/15
I think immediately at the start of the blog post, one of the first uses of rhetoric that helped me was in the first paragraph. When introducing Amy Webb, Peterson grabs the attention of the reader with a common issue that many have experienced, in this case it is getting injured and having a boot. This helped to place myself in the shoes of Amy Webb and understand where the foundation of the article is coming from. The next piece of rhetoric was something I found I could connect to was when Amy described how she noticed the other women walking through the scan at the airport and seeing that all of them had the breast area glowing yellow. This was an observation that allowed me to picture the incriminating evidence Amy found, being that all these women passing through airport security were found to have glowing areas of yellow in the breast region. I found it fascinating that it was small inconsistencies with the system’s scanning that marked whether an area should be considered searched or not. This was further understood when mentioned how “curly hair” may also show up as a yellow area of concern on a security scanner, although many people like myself have curly hair, allowing myself to understand that these small inconsistencies most likely affect a large population of people who do not have straight hair and even more with those who do have breasts. Later leading into the topic of the article, being that computer analysis systems should be more diverse, I found it quite interesting when Webb decides that an example to look up to is China as it draws the reader in as to why this is the case that there is a better way to educate. They way China is educating their future generation is a bit different than the USA, as these young children are being taught the “new basics of knowledge” pushing for studies of reading and writing over coding. I think it is also evident that when in the concluding paragraph, the reader is drawn in again by the claim that this underrepresentation of minorities and women is an issue, but “not a fundamental one”. This claim in interesting as it pushes not that the public is not represented, but that the real problem is “computing with computing”.
Unit 1 Assignment, Expanding the Canon
Exploring the long-term understanding of stereotype threats to women and people of color, the article “Contending with Stereotype Threat at Work: A Model of Long-Term Responses” strongly correlates to our further discussion of organizational culture and diversity within the workplace. Theorizing based off of psychological thought and previously acquired studies, five notable professors and doctoral candidates create a theorized “model” to potentially lessen this perceived stereotype threat. Focusing on three core coping mechanisms used when faced with a threat – fending off, discouragement, resilient – the authors provide their own analysis of the said response and provide a variety of ways to manage the response. Providing a more concrete understanding of what a perceived stereotype threat could be allows the intended audience to reflect and comprehend these said threats whether the individual reading experiences them or not. From the model constructed, the authors were able to conclude that employees who fit the demographic minority experienced both positive and negative consequences of stereotype threats. The model provides analysis of the coping mechanisms most commonly used by the demographic minority, and from the findings, companies can better support those who feel threatened and can foster a more inclusive and diverse working environment. The video I have attached to this elaborates more on stereotype threats providing another perspective on how these threats can affect groups of people. While also connecting to self-fulfilling prophecy, the video elaborated on how these threats can be useful to those who threaten others with the goal of wanting to feel better about themselves, hence explaining where the source of the stereotyping may come from.
Discussion Post
1. Focusing on Renata Salecl’s TED Talk, I thought her initial introduction into her presentation about “Our Unhealthy Obsession with Choice” was captivating. By engaging the audience into her struggle with choosing a quote to introduce her presentation, already introduced her topic of conversation in such a relatable and understanding way. Elaborating on her own struggle with making a choice, she was then able to flow straight into her perspective on how choices bring about feelings of anxiety, guilt, and inadequacy if the “wrong choice” is made. I think it was interesting for Renata to lead with her own struggle with choice, as she exemplifies the negatives of human’s ideology of choice throughout her TED Talk. Providing scenarios, such as Manya and her car business, provide a real life scenario that any business owner or customer could place themselves into. The way she spoke about choice is linked to risk, and how taking a chance can be anxiety-provoking, had me, an audience member, consider some of the risks and choices or chances I have taken and I further asked myself why I took them. But I eventually went even further to then ask myself how I really felt when making those decisions and hr descriptions of fear and anxiety resonated with me, because I could clearly remember bearing those feelings.
2. Focusing on Margaret Heffernan’s TED Talk about “The Human Skills We Need in an Unpredictable World”, I found that the evidence she used to be rather interesting. Her argument, about the world dealing with the unpredictable, was a conversation that I was initially drawn to, as this was something I had never really thought about when considering the efficiency of businesses and what they aim to predict. In her argument, I think that the evidence she used was rather compelling. Using CEPI, she exclaims how there is a prediction for future epidemics, but how does one prepare for the right one? Looking at reality as seeing the pandemic we are currently still trying to manage, I don’t think any human could have accurately predicted how detrimental this would be, as coronavirus has effected the entire globe. Turning her topic towards climate change, she then examines how certainly there are countries who are trying to combat this change within their territories but how can one predict that their change will in turn be enough to aid in the halting of climate change. Using other examples of country’s initiatives such as the Netherlands and England show that there is some means to actually experiment and test a hypothesis instead of computer analyzing what could possibly occur. This growing use of technology may have his benefits, but Margaret questions the ability for technology to always have the answer.
Summary week 6/1
Delving deeper into the lasting effects of stereotype threat, authors of the article “Contending with Stereotype Threat at Work: A Model of Long-Term Responses” focus on demographics such as women and people of color being misrepresented in the general workplace. With little research conducted on the long-term effects of stereotype threats, specifically to women and minorities, using intellectual theories the authors collaborate to discuss what some of the long-term effects of this threat could potentially be. This “model” they develop takes into account theories stemming from social, organizational, and counseling psychology. With additional evidence from short-term studies aimed to provide results on stereotype threat, the authors are able to predict the outcome if the data were to continue onward, marking evidence of long-term effects. Examining the positive and negative outcomes further allow this model to be rather subjective towards the idea that there are certainly some consequences to this threat being perceived the general workplace.
6/3 Summary
Authors Robert D. Austin and Gary P. Pisano advocate for a more diverse representation amongst organization’s employees, specifically focusing on expanding their workforce to be inclusive to those with neurological conditions. Throughout the article, the authors aim to provide reasons for neurodiversity as these individuals are extraordinary in their own way, with talents and traits that could bring prosperity to a company. While strengthening their article with the wise words and input of credible doctors and scholars, the authors present reasons as to why some companies may feel hesitant to jump onto the inclusivity bandwagon for those who suffer from neurological conditions. In addition, they also advocate for more inclusion by providing those who may be hesitant with ways on how to incorporate more neurological diversity, while also changing the current stigma against those who suffer.
Discussion week 6/1
- I find that the stereotypes and schemas individuals use to guide their understanding of the world have a very strong, unconscious impact on our judgements and decisions. Specifically, I am curious to follow up more with the different studies that involve focusing on individual’s opinions or perspectives on group diversity within the workplace. I will most likely hope to find a study performed by someone who is an expert with group interaction and the effects of how different demographics can change the group mentality. From these experts, I would hope that they would open up discussion as to why some people are more inclusive than others, why some pride themselves on their uniqueness while others try to blend in. I think it would also be worth the time to find research done by I/O psychologist, who have worked within companies to help improve organizational diversity, maybe shedding some light onto which means of action taken by a company create longer lasting impacts. I am primarily going to be looking into studies done within companies and groups of people, as case studies would insufficient, and potentially researching some survey results taken from groups pertaining to topics like “inclusivity” and “diversity”.
3. In thinking in terms of Harris’s approach focused on in Rewriting, it was simple to use when focusing on Kaplan and Donovan’s article. After reading the text, I think it was easiest to define the intended project; in this case, I would define the project to be “Kaplan and Donovan delve deeper into the unsaid conversations about the key concepts pertaining to workplace diversity and inclusivity. Utilizing these key concepts, although there are plenty of other concepts that are also involved, they set up an example of an employee work day, further analyzing the day through each of the key concepts to create a “visual map” for the audience.” I think that this article is mainly to show how in everyday situations, these concepts can be found. Through their deeper analysis, the pair seem to have found ways to jog the mind of the audience, to have them also consider the concepts they have intended for identifying means of diversity and inclusion.
Week 5/25
1. When it comes to the topic of organizational diversity policies, most of us will readily agree that these policies have some relation to the success of an organization. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how these policies affect minorities. Whereas some are convinced that these mission statements pursue means of promoting multiculturalism, others maintain that they may pursue means of value-in-individual differences or value-in-homogeneity within an organization.
For this approach, I first focused on choosing one statement, one that still aligned with the article but was challenging. I found it difficult to represent the article while still following the statement’s foundation with the blanks. This proved to of course be challenging, but manageable, and with this challenge I was able too further dive into my interpretation of Gundemir’s means of experimentation when it came to organizational diversity policies. I found this framework to be useful, and one that I can see myself using more often. I would use these statements in the particular case that I am having trouble understanding an article. I feel that the frameworks given are ones that are not too complicated to fill in but are also just difficult enough to jog some though into and encourage myself as a reader to analyze the text even deeper.
2. I believe my understanding of organizational diversity has expanded since reading these two articles. The first, Gundemir’s article focusing on minority representation and diversity, was fascinating to myself in ways I had not expected. The results of the two experiments were intriguing, seeing how different policies can produce an outcome from the participants. Seeing that when mutliculturalism and value-in-individual differences are endorsed, the participants perceived this as a more diverse approach in comparison to the value-in-homogeneity. Little did I think, until reading Austin and Pisano’s article, that those who suffer from neurological disorders fall into the diverse category and indeed they do. These individuals see the world from a different perspective, one that should most certainly be represented but I would assume is most certainly not the case when observing organizational diversity. From my perspective before being so definitional, I did not think to question what diverse would mean in this instance, how it would pertain to anyone who is not considered the majority or privileged. Through both articles, they present the positives to this diversity, and why it should be incorporated in the business world more often than it is. The stigmas and issues surrounding being a more inclusive company are presented, but after reading both articles there is a clear understanding that the positive outcomes outweigh the worries some may have.
Discussion Responses
1) What are some of the researchable questions that this week’s readings raise for you? In other words, what issues do these readings make you wonder about? What questions would you be interested in exploring further?
Both the readings definitely brought up some interesting questions from both. The first, focusing on organizational culture, had be wanting to look more into “Who were the people responding to this question?” Although a broad question to research, I was initially curious how these individuals were creating their rendition of the definition for ‘organizational culture’; that maybe influences of their education, work place, and status may have a reflection on the answer they provided. For the other reading, focusing on why diversity in the workplace matters, I was curious to then further research what some of the companies I support have to say about their workforce diversity. Thinking about different brands and labels I buy into; how many of those companies advertise the diversity they have within their business, and is it features like these that make the company more appealing? I would be fairly curious to look further into both of these questions, as I believe that by doing so it would reveal more about each of the conversations both aim to start.
3) Select one of the definitions from “What is organizational culture and why should we care” OR one statistic from “Why diversity matters,” and discuss what questions this sparks for you? What do you think is interesting or significant about this idea? In other words, how does your look at this article open up questions about what organizational culture is and why it matters?
Focusing on the ‘Why diversity matters?’ article, I found that the most eyeopening statistic was that, “while certain industries perform better on gender diversity and other industries on ethnic and racial diversity, no industry or company is in the top quartile on both dimensions”. This was a statistic that really started to jog my thinking about both demographics. I immediately questioned: Which of these two demographics – racial or gender diversity – matter more to a company and why? Clearly there was no company that was able to secure top rating for both, so I wondered why exactly. Could some companies value the gender diversity of their company with little regard as to what is to be said about the racial diversity – and vice versa? Connecting back to organizational culture, this statistic in a way shows that there is no equal representations for all demographics within a given company. Furthermore, I think that this, at least for myself, confuses the definition and idea of organizational culture because there is no company that is able to identify and support all cultural backgrounds their employees may stem from.