Category: Research Portfolio

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Research Plan – Toni

The leading question I have is not necessarily about the diversity and inclusion of the religiously different, it is more the practices and principles that are currently being applied, discussed, researched, experimented with, etc., in how to include different religions into organizations.  This initial question does not necessarily relate to my workplace any more specifically than any other diversity and inclusion research would–they all would; but I find the subtly of religious inclusion and diversity more intriguing.

I feel strongly that any learning which could come from this research would benefit every work environment I could be in, and any diversity and inclusion topic, quite specifically, because of subtlety of it.  I feel this could connect to any work that I’m a part of in the world beyond this course, and in any field of study; thus, why I chose this broad, yet subtle topic of research.

I’ve compiled articles and TED talks, which address religious diversity directly, and some address diversity, implicit biases, unlearning biases, and some more “radical” approaches to diversity some have taken, including the idea of “organizational constellations” and “rent-a minority services”, which I’m very intrigued to learn more about through just some basic information on the creator (Arwa Mahdawi) of the “rent-a-minority” concept.

In looking at sources that are not just about the religiously different and religious discrimination, I feel I will be able to understand what the different degrees of subtly may be, and hopefully understand better if what’s working for other discrimination in organizations would also be able to work with religious discrimination.  How possible is to apply these ideas from other discrimination to all; is it possible?  Is that also just another form of pluralism?

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Research Proposal

I believe the guiding question to my own research will stem from the overarching question of “How can society improve the feelings of inclusion to LGBTQ community employees and overall gender diversity within the workplace?”. I myself am not a member of the LGBTQ community, as I am a heterosexual female, but I feel as though this is an area of inclusion that needs to be improved on as soon as possible. Gender identity is not always a visible distinguishing characteristic of an individual, many do not feel as though they are in workplaces that would accept their gender identity so they feel as though they should repress it. Unlike race and ethnicity, gender identity does not have a color or specific physical characteristics, it instead is an identifier that an individual chooses for themselves as they best see fit. Through extensive research with providing inclusive working environments for those who identify with the LGTBQ community, I hope to find a few things. For one, I would definitely want to better understand the discrimination those face when pressed with judgements of gender. I think it is essential as a heterosexual female, who does not face discreet discrimination when it comes to my gender, to understand what hardships those who experience backlash for their identity face and how it intervenes within their daily lives. I am also curious to see what action has started to take place in businesses to help improve this inclusion for those of all gender identifications. As a society, we have taken big leaps to provide such inclusion for the LGBTQ community such as legalizing marriage for those of any gender and being able to enlist any gender into the military, but we are still years away from providing the LGBTQ community with the inclusion and respect they deserve. Out of all subfields, I think it is the most beneficial to focus on the business aspect and how LGBTQ community members are treated as employees. Money makes the world go round, and to earn money you need a job; but if the job entails facing explicit discrimination, who would feel comfortable going into a working environment feeling belittled and threatened constantly? I hope to find some evidence of businesses working on improving their gender diversity within their respected companies/organizations, and I also hope to stumble upon some accounts of experiences from members of LGBTQ community have gone through when it comes to inclusion at work. It is hard to grasp something that you may not experience personally, from this I want to gain a better understanding of the LGBTQ community as an ally.

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Research Plan

Throughout Unit 1 we explored different aspects of diversity in relation to organized culture. From our weekly readings to expanding the canon, there was a plethora of information added to help our understanding of what diversity is, where it can be seen, and how important it is to increase inclusion and maintain it. The sources helped give me a general overview but as the weeks progressed I was still left with questions. One of the questions that stood out to me most was, why it took the world so long to work towards acceptance of everybody? This leads me to focus on empathy and perspective concerning diversity and inclusion because I believe that understanding diverse groups can help increase acceptance. I will use my research to understand the foundational idea of empathy, and why understanding the perspective of diverse individuals is so crucial when working towards a more inclusive world.

In my personal life and career, I see many people, including myself, struggling to think beyond themselves. As a Communications Design major our assignments are focused on creating new ways to communicate through the means of design. One way our teachers push us to come up with better work is to have an audience for our projects that excludes ourselves, that way we have to put ourselves into other’s shoes to think about what they want and how we can target and connect the best. I often find understanding and curating things towards groups I am not apart of difficult, especially when I try to include ones that I know little about. To make this process easier I have to do research on their perspective and figure out how the world affects them and not just me.

For my internship, as a Graphic Design intern at a beauty corporation, I often create content for the brand that must be inclusive and accepting of all. Since I am not apart of many diverse groups that I have to represent on things such as our Instagram feed I often struggle with how to do so properly. The company I work for is relatively small resulting in a lack of diversity so I feel as though if there was an increase in diversity it would allow me to have conversations with those different then me about, how the company can continue to post inclusive and positive content for all. That added perspective would help me do my job better then I could just on my own.

Since perspective is one main focus in my research, the inclusion of one or more primary sources is very important when making sure diverse voices are heard. Along with primary sources, it feels necessary for my source material to consist of a majority of scholarly texts. The effects of something especially empathy can be extremely subjective which is why it is so important to include facts and data to address all sides and provide solid evidence. Scholarly journals that include investigations or reviews on the results of empathy and perspective with diversity are beneficial because they provide solid analysis and include real-life results that will add to our knowledge of how to address diversity in organized culture. Understanding and empathizing with a group is a key strategy I have learned to use in my work and through my research, I hope to show how it can help create more efficient and inclusive organized cultures.

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Research Plan, Bryan

Recalling our first assignment I had come across an article speaking on how native and nonnative speakers’ interact and were perceived in the workplace. After reading this I found myself digging into a field of many more questions trying to understand how language, or linguistic diversity, affects the way we as humans interact (and in different applied environments). The obvious question, well what is linguistic diversity, was what I used to guide my initial research development.

My research interests quickly began to develop further as I’ve continued to read more on the topic and locate different sources. Questions such as how language could be used to explain the roots of many organizational cultures and explain where much of our implicit/ explicit bias comes from were areas that piqued my interest. I also connected this with many of the readings we’ve had in the past explaining why this form of diversity matters and how it could be used as a competitive advantage in the workplace.

Language ultimately pervades any form of communication whether that be through formal words, graphic symbols, or computer code (to name a few). When you think about it the applicability this has affects us daily. I’ve found myself so invested in this topic for that reason alone however I found it insightful for empathizing and better understanding others too. A lot of the work I do being an architecture major involves presenting and communicating ideas across a variety of audiences. Conducting this research, therefore, informs me of ways I can better engage with others at a more meaningful level.

Given the widespread applicability of language, I’ve been fortunate to find an array of sources. The material I’ve gathered thus far comes from linguistics databases (scholarly focus), online web-courses (educational context), and first-hand accounts such as personal interviews or surveyed responses (individual scale). What I’ve found matter most is learning how this information can be greater caught on by others. Much of the research out there today states that this is a relatively new field with a limited amount of investigation and that much of what there already is, is conducted in Western and English-speaking countries (limiting a more complete/global understanding). Therefore a lot of my inquiries over the coming weeks will be focusing on learning to better teach language diversity and the implications it has.

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Research Plan

The main question that is guiding my research is why do not more institutions provide disability services? My argument and research is derived from the notion that making institutions disability friendly is an easy thing to do that benefits all. I believe that this question is of high importance as it is an easy fix that most of us forget about. For those who can walk, walking up a ramp is a quick and easier alternative to taking the stairs. Elevators are seen as the easier way to travel. For those who can see, navigating the way through a crowd can be made in an instant. For those who can hear, notifications can be turned off if they are seen as loud or annoying. However, those who can not do these things do not have the luxury of enjoying the nonchalant gestures people with different abilities have. I became aware of this when I went on a mission trip in Jamaica, and the children who we worked with could not do the basic functions as I could. It put into perspective how much myself and those around me take the functions of life that we forget about for granted. For the work I plan to be apart of in the future, the importance of disability and diversity inclusion is important to me as it reflects the values a company has. To me, if a company can not open up the employment pool to all, what does this say about them? With what we have been learning about organizational culture, this incentive has grown more important to me and has had me reflecting on the world we live in. I will be looking in the professional field mainly as I find more primary sources about those reflecting on the workplace. The secondary sources I have found are those that center about the workplace, and I feel as though the source material is in bulk regarding professional life. 

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Research Plan

For this project, I have chosen to focus on diversity in the education system and how public and private school screening processes may have an affect on this. For our unit 1 assignment, I had seen one of my classmates blog post about diversity in education and it really caught my interest. Diversifying the education system is a really important topic in organizational culture. I wanted to specifically look at screening and while I was doing the research, I noticed that it is a highly debated topic with many viewpoints and discussions surrounding this. After reading several articles about this, I have developed a couple questions to guide more of my research. One of them simply being why is diversity in education important? I have found that integrated classroom environments are essential in helping students learn to collaborate and work with people of different backgrounds and cultures. It then creates a safer and more connected workplace.

After reading several articles about this, another question arose which is why aren’t more schools integrating more diversity and does screening have anything to do with it? I want to use the information I find for these questions to really understand the process of screening and whether it ultimately hinders or helps diversify schools. I chose these questions because I was always interested in the process schools went to in order to accept incoming freshman into their schools. Growing up in NYC, I have had to apply to middle and high school and hope to be accepted. However I never really thought about the factors that go into this and how public and private schools may differ. I want to better understand these questions because education is so important in shaping our future, and the process behind it really interests me. Continuing my research, I will continue to looks at articles with authors in the field of education. So far, I have found exactly that and even some who specialize in the diversity programs at certain schools across the country. I am going to continue to look at SU libraries which so far has been successful for me. Primary sources seem to be a little more difficult but I am going to expand my searches in hopes to find one that will connect to the topic.

Lastly, I believe that the experiences and work I have done at previous programs, will help make a significant connection to my topic. For example, a few years ago I volunteered at the JCC who partnered with a school in upper Manhattan for one on one tutoring in both math and reading. The students were all in elementary school and predominantly African American. After my school ended, on Tuesdays I would take the train uptown to this school and see the student I was assigned to tutor. Immediately he saw me and the first thing he said was “oh you’re white.” He was accustomed to teachers of his race helping him through school and wasn’t used to anything different. The reason I gave this story is because even though we had a lot of similarities such as watching and playing basketball, he still found it hard to connect because he wasn’t used to it. I think it is important to have integrated schools so it helps young people how to collaborate and work with people who they may not be used to working with. I believe that screening can be helped to diversify schools if the right information is presented and therefore will allow students to work well with anyone no matter the circumstances.

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Research Plan, Aaron

The readings and assignments in this class have really opened my eyes and made me think about diversity and inclusion in ways I never have before. One area that has stuck out to me is the area of diversity in education. To break it down even further, I am interested in the bias against different races, ethnicities and genders in school. Are there biases that have a strong correlation on academic performance and outcomes? What really sparked me to ask this question was finding out about implicit theories of knowledge and the idea that administrators and educators can have a predetermination on whether you will be successful or not based on what race or culture you belong to.

This question is important to me on a personal level because once I am done with my schooling I plan to become a teacher either in middle school or high school (in social studies), so this idea of how teachers may look at and treat their students before having an honest chance to evaluate their skills, strengths and weaknesses is something that I plan to look into and learn as much as I can about.

My career outside of this school project has dealt with diversity in the sense that I have been around many cultures in jobs I have had in the past, and while my coworkers would more often than not tend to stick to their own kind of people and shy away from helping (or working with) people who have a different ethnic background than them, I’ve always found it easy and natural to do the opposite of that. Now that I plan to go into a different profession in my later years, getting into teaching, it is going to be interesting to find out how people who are already established in this field feel about their students- are they generally fair or exhibit their implicit bias?

In conducting this research, the bulk of my work comes from finding scholarly articles and book chapters that have been written by educators, sociologists, psychologists and administrators in the education system. Seeing what people who are in this field come up with will be important to seeing where the goal posts are in this argument of how diversity effects academic performance, and I have chose to solely rely on this kind of testimony because of the “inside look” at what these authors are contributing.

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Research Plan Blog Post

Peeling back all the layers of the internal conversation which led me to settle on this topic, I suppose it comes down to this question: Does it really matter if I choose to boycott a business? Sure, it might make me feel better to not do business with a company or support an organization I disagree with, but what impact does my choice really have? There are likely to still be plenty of people who are willing to shop, dine, donate to, or support that company or organization. If that’s really the case then, besides addressing my own principles or sensibilities, have I really made a difference?

I recently shared with you all my personal anecdote about “Crossbar”, the German-style beer hall here in Baltimore. I explained my decision to stop going there after the owner made racist comments on Twitter. It truly is a great spot to get some beers (Served by the liter!) and spend time with friends. However, when you think about it, apart from the liters of beer, I’ve just described any number of places where beer is served, and friends gather.

That’s something I’ve come to better understand as I’ve been doing my research. I’ve been looking at a lot of books and articles written mostly by sociologists. The consistent theme is choice. Choice is what makes my decision possible. The fact that there are other places to grab a drink and hang with friends makes it a less painful decision for me to stop going to Crossbar. In fact, the sheer amount of choice is what makes “consumer activism” possible. The more options a person or a group or a society has, the easier it is to choose to support some organizations and businesses over others.

What I’m hoping to learn as I pull all of this research together is whether the owner of Crossbar even knows that I’ve stopped going? Not literally, obviously. We don’t know each other personally. He won’t notice I’ve stopped coming around. However, do my actions serve as an example to others? It’s not enough to simply stop going myself. I need to share with others the reasons behind my choices, and perhaps inspire them to make that choice too. When many stand in solidarity to express their displeasure, would that somehow influence the Crossbar owners of the world to change their negative behavior?

 

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Research Plan

I chose to focus my research on generational diversity in the workplace. A classmate introduced this topic to the blog and I was immediately intrigued because I feel as though working with others who come from different generations as me will be a challenge I could potentially face in the near future. I have watched several TedTalks now and read several articles about bridging this gap in the workplace and have concluded that the questions guiding my research are: What are the implications of generational diversities in the workplace? How can we manage these conflicts into becoming a successful, multigenerational workforce? How is generational diversity a competitive advantage in a working environment? I want to use this research to understand how others must respect and listen to those who have different perspectives of them while still working efficiently together, especially because growing up in completely times leads to having different outlooks on how to live one’s life. 

I want to understand the questions italicized above because the career I plan on going towards is advertising. With advertising, there is no doubt that I have already heard from my professors how much group work there is over individual work, so I am expecting to be working with people of all ages after post-graduation when I find my first job. Not only would I be working with people of different generations, but depending on my position I could also be presenting my ideas and having clients who come from a different generation as me. I want to know these answers to not only better myself as an employee, but make those around me feel just as professional when working with me regardless of my age. 

I believe that my professional, internship, and organizational coursework inform the inquiry because even in my current summer job, I have noticed the lack of ability to overcome this generational gap. I work at a local smoothie shop, and the staff is all high school and college students. Some days it gets very disorganized and we’ll be short on staff, or not have enough ingredients, etc. because I feel like our manager and owner, who are Millennials, don’t know how to properly communicate. This is a current example in my life of why I want to explore this topic more; the fact that I don’t even have a professional job yet and I already see conflicts between Gen Z and Millennials happening in such a casual work environment honestly blows my mind so I can only imagine what I will experience in the actual working world. Because of this research assignment, I will be expanding my knowledge on an issue that I will soon be confronted with after my time at SU and into the world of advertising. The fields that matter most to my inquiry are scholarly articles from several SU databases and professional websites such as Forbes.com which I have already gained a few sources from. I think having the contrast of scholarly databases and casual yet academic websites really feeds me detailed information that is also not too difficult to search for. 

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Research plan, Isaac Haseltine

In recent years, I have become increasingly more aware of the negative state our country is in, there is deeply rooted privilege that creates a harsh imbalance in the organizational cultures across the world. As I searched for a topic that peaked my interests I found myself intrigued by the steps being taken towards a more inclusive education system. The papers included studies and programs that have been implemented to research the discrimination of young children, and how it dawned on me the recycled racism we have occurring in our country. As a young black child steps into life, they are immediately faced with all the disadvantages that the parents must face, and it creates a cycle of oppression that only seems to create more generations of disadvantaged groups. Where is the education system failing in regards to creating equity for the global population of children? And what changes are individual schools implementing into their curriculum that has an actual effect? I ask these questions because I don’t agree with the morals the schools are governed with and the fact that our grandparents were fighting for the same rights we are now. There is a massive population of kids and young adults who have a significant disadvantage because of the position they are born into. The education system is a significant part of the issue, because of its important role in the formative years of children’s lives I believe it is one of the most important areas to focus on.
I have watched my friends get racially profiled and I have heard racial slurs yelled into their faces. I have been the only white person in a neighborhood, and very briefly, I dealt with the problems minorities must face every day of their lives. As an artist, I feel that part of my purpose in this world is to inspire change and reassessment of a persons life and mindset. The largest connection I have to this topic is that I am a product of it, as well as the people I am surrounded by. I have always considered myself an outsider to our society, and I consciously have to act a certain way to fit in. My differences and unique ideologies are what define me, yet they are what separate me so much from the life most of my classmates have. “If I could change anything I would change everything”, there isn’t a day that goes by without me wanting to change the world. Where we are currently creating mountains of unsold produce while Yemen has over 3 million malnourished children. We have become selfish, in the United States especially, and it begins with how our children are introduced to this world. I strongly believe that the only way we can positively grow as a species is to drastically apply changes to our standardized lives and what we focus our attention on and who we listen to.
My main source of information has been through academic papers on varying topics within the subject of discrimination in the education system. Primary sources include experiences that are crucial to the full severity of how discrimination affects a child and helps me comprehend how a malleable their minds are. Typically, I’ve read papers written by education professors who have years of experience as research professors, as well as a background working in younger classrooms. This is very helpful because their field encompasses not only creating the programs and studies that are made to improve our education system, but they also have a solid understanding of the role of a teacher working with children.