Tag: week of 6/15

Posted on

Week of 6/15 Discussion

  1. One article I found interesting in the class canon was Mike’s contribution, Exploring the Impact of Cultural Diversity on professional Football, by Keith Ingersoll, Edmond Malesky and Sebastian M. Saiegh. This contribution added to our class understanding of organizational culture and diversity because it adds the element of sport. The graphic he included really pushed the article’s point through, in showing how having players from different countries on a team contributed to the team’s success.

Another interesting contribution was Toni’s article,  Challenging the dialogic promise: how Ben & Jerry’s support for Black Lives Matter fosters dissensus on social media, by Erica Ciszek and Nneka Logan. What this piece adds to our class’s understanding is how social media and company’s influence impacts our culture when it comes to opinions on diversity. Toni included a screenshot of a tweet from Ben and Jerry’s, showing clearly a stance on the racism, specifically with the murder of George Floyd.

3. In The problem With Diversity in Computing, by Ian Bogost, he moves between paragraphs and sections smoothly, using transitions effectively. One example of this is when he moves from an overview of several experiences in the issues of diversity with computing, to a counter point. After finishing a story of Webb and her experience in the airport security, he begins the next paragraph with, “But that’s an aspirational hope.” This immediately has the text do a 180 and gets the readers refocused on a new direction the author takes them. He begins to explain the experience of Webb on a broader scale and takes his point to the real world. This transition is effective because it’s short and to the point. He doesn’t drag on the topic of Webb, but instead uses her experience as a boat to the next, more important point. Her experience leads into what it means for the rest of the world, but Bogost doesn’t waste time in switching to his main topic.

Posted on

Bogost Rhetorical Moves

In Bogust’s, The Problem of Diversity in Computing, he uses many rhetorical moves to make his point. He starts with hug attention grabber for his audience with this quote: “When Amy Webb broke her ankle, she was forced to hobble around on a walking boot.” This is an alarming way to start an article but it grabs the attention of the audience. This introduction leads to a story about the women mentioned and her difficulties with metal scanners.

He uses this story to detail a problem to the audience that is with under-representation in the tech industry. He does this by relating her problem to others, and making it bigger; “Webb’s experience is among the more innocuous consequences of computer systems that don’t anticipate all the types of people who might use them.” By setting up a problem to the audience and making them aware of it, he makes them eager to listen to him for the answer.

After going into the issues of diversity, he brings up a counterpoint to further his own point’s credibility. To this counter-argument he says, “That idea echoes a popular suggestion to remedy computers’ ignorance of different sorts of people: Increase the diversity of representation among the people who make these systems, and they will serve the population better.” He follows this by saying, while this has merit, it is essentially wrong, and explains to his audience why. This again, helps with his credibility, by comparing and taking apart an argument opposite to his.

He does this again in his conclusion, relating all he’s talked about to a counterpoint that suggests all of this doesn’t relate to simply tech diversity, saying, “for years, companies and educators in the tech sector have framed diversity as a “pipeline” problem.” He moves into his conclusion strongly by showing how even his own points are sometimes attributed to some other cause. However he uses this as momentum to explain why that isn’t so, and why the real reason is the tech diversity.

At the very end he dials his point down to end the article in a way that brings up new questions. He says, “if she’s right, then the problem with computing isn’t just that it doesn’t represent a diverse public’s needs. Instead, the problem with computing is computing. By doing this he expands on his own points by suggesting the diversity might be deeper than just surface-level.

Posted on

Discussion post (6-15-20)

3. I can tell that the article “The problem with diversity in computing” has a good flow to it. The reason for this is the excellent transitions that Ian uses from paragraph to paragraph. His ability and the transition sentences he forms prevents his article from sounding choppy. For example, He speaks about Charles Isbell who is the director of the constellations program at Georgia tech. Isbell claims that we should be more interested in integration of individuals as opposed to just diversity. Ian places the following quote at the end of the paragraph.

“Diversity is just membership,” Isbell said. “Integration is influence, power, and partnership.”

This allows Ian to start his next paragraph by responding to Isbell’s assertations by stating that integration is much harder than diversity. He adds in another quote from Isbell stating that in order to reach integration in industry new folks need to be capable and confident and older folks need to be willing. This sets him up for the following paragraph where he speaks about the willingness of tech industry giants such as Google.

 

  1. I was intrigued by Bryans work about language diversity. One of the facts that I found most interesting is that when most people think of diversity they often think of race, religion, and gender. Nonnative accents are generally not the first thing that comes to mind. However, nonnative accent discrimination is a serious problem and should be discussed so that we can strive to find a solution. I really liked the TED talk that Bryan included by Lera Boroditsky in which she discusses how language affects our thinking. Some of the parts that I found most interesting was how some cultures such as a specific tribe in Australia base their entire language off of the directions north, south, east, and west. This helps them to stay very oriented which is opposite to our culture. Another thing I found interesting is how a language such as English places blame on someone who makes an accident ( such as breaking a vase). We say “John broke the vase”. In other cultures such as Spanish speaking cultures it is much more common to say “The vase broke” when speaking of an accident.

This topic that Bryan chose has really opened my eyes to new issues of organizational culture. It has formed the basis of my unit 2 research and my unit 3 research paper.

Posted on

5 Rhetorical moves (Dan)

Upon reading “The problem with diversity in computing” I was able to identify a handful of techniques the other used to communicate his ideas.

First, right off the bat Ian discusses problems that Amy Webb, a professor at NYU, and other females deal with at TSA precheck lines due to the technological systems. Issues such as the X rays not being able to distinguish their underwire bras and large curly hair that results in more extensive checks and pat-downs. By doing this Ian is able to illustrate a problem that is very relatable and understandable. This sets Ian up for further examples to strengthen his argument.

Second, he uses an experience from his own workplace at Georgia tech. There is a certain center at the university that focus on funding and supporting computer-science classes in public schools in Atlanta that are predominantly black. Including this shows that the issue is serious and that there are institutions (like his) that are attempting to fix the issue.

Thirdly, Ian now states “Those efforts have merit, but their impact might be a drop in the bucket given the size of the tech industry.” By saying this he alludes to the fact that there is still a lot of work to be done and that everyone needs to do their part. This is a call to action after expressing the importance of the issue.

Fourth, Ian introduces a new perspective through Charles Isbell, the executive director at Georgia techs “constellations” program. The prospective is that though diversity is important to strive for, the real goal is integration as it would change the entire industry as a result of their presence in the community. This is contrary to Amy’s perspective that we may not need push kids to go into STEM.

The last strategy he uses is by paraphrasing something Amy said. “We’re all discriminated against by computing,” and “Anyone who falls outside of that core group of interests are not being represented”. Ian states that if this is true, then maybe the problem isn’t that its not including the needs of the diverse public but that the problem with computing is intrinsic. I believe by stating this he takes something that someone else has written and flips it in his favor by highlighting what the statement lacks and making it seem not well thought out.

Posted on

Discussion Week of 6/15

  1. When actively analyzing the constructs of organizational culture and workplace values we are always brought back to the central ideas of diversity and inclusion within communities. When attempting to grow from prejudice and discrimination against factors such as race, gender and disability we must find the internalized problem and study inclusion tactics that will help workspaces become more diverse spaces. One article that I believe really added to the central idea of the canon was ““Workforce diversity and organizational performance: a study of IT industry in India”. This article not only highlights the lack of diversity within certain environments but brings light to the companies that lack diversity and the steps that can be taken to resolve each issues. I think it’s important that this article not only targets the injustice faced but provides methods on which positive changes can be made.

3.  In Bogost’s article on Diversity in computing he begins his article focusing on an issue that has been disputed for years and tackled by various consumers, in this case a woman going through airport security. Bogost builds an argument on one problem that correlates to a wide scale issue of lack of diversity within tech culture. He also emphasizes how there should be more representation within an industry that affects the lives of so many individuals. Although he spends the first half of the article addressing the central issue, he makes a very seamless transition when he explains to the audience how he personally plans to fix it with his own team of researchers. Bogost establishes his credibility within the audience when he says “Among them is the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing at Georgia Tech, where I hold faculty positions in the colleges of computing and liberal arts.” With this statement he transitions to telling the readers how he and other workers plan to do their part and  get down to the real issue within the computing world.

Posted on

Blog Post Week of 6/15 – Toni

In Bogost’s article I do not get a firsthand sense of whether he agrees or disagrees, neither in the beginning nor at the end.  In fact, I don’t see much of a point of view of his at all. He even ends with a question that comes across as an incomplete sentence. I suppose he could be quite a rhetorical genius in this regard, as I did not feel he was arguing, persuading or had any agenda whatsoever, other than displaying information effectively.  And by effective, I mean, easily palatable and interesting for most any reader.  He is telling just what is needed from the personal experiences of Webb and how her questions formed and took her research up stream, to technical jargon that is supported by confident quotations. However, he is neither agreeing nor disagreeing nor agreeing and disagreeing at the same time. Or I cannot find places that allude to this in the piece.  He gives us a lot of good information, and I was given what I needed to follow along and continue to gain curiosity by what Webb and other’s like Bobb were arguing, both of whom were very clear on their points-of-view, in helping us to understand (lack of) diversity in tech; Bogost doesn’t even seem undecided.  It seems he does agree with both, he agrees with the problem and he also agrees with how they both disagree. However, even when he’s speaking of his own association with holding faculty positions at Georgia Tech’s Constellations Center for Equity in Computing, he gives the goals of the center and lists activities.  He states they have merit, but also mentions their impact might be a drop in the bucket.  Again, in this passive way there isn’t directly persuasive or argumentative rhetoric. While we read in TSIS this week, that it helps the reader organize around the reading if they know your argument from the start, I am basing this largely on that.  I will say, I did not need his argument to remain fascinated with the information, the examples he chose, and the quality of the writing is simple to follow, but I don’t see HIS argument in this; I hear him supporting other peoples’ arguments at the same time. I am not discounting this, and it reminds me of in Chapter 4 in TSIS, where they are referencing new students not feeling they can be a part of the conversation because they don’t know enough to argue.  While I don’t think Bogost has much of an “argument” and therefore I am not sure where to go with the question of the rhetoric shifts of his argument, but he is part of the conversation.  He’s broadening the conversation by researching, speaking with and illuminating those whom have very strong arguments for what they know, and passing it on in palatable way to the rest of us.

Posted on

Discussion Week of 6/15

  1. 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.
Posted on

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”.

Posted on

Week of 6/15 Discussion

Clearly we all took the Expanding The Canon assignment seriously. It’s always fun when everyone gets to chose subjects which are close to their hearts, intellectually stimulating, or in the best cases, both. I was particularly struck by Samantha’s post about religion in the workplace.  Despite having been raised Roman Catholic, I am not a particularly religious man. I am, however, a huge fan of Christmas. I have a tattoo on my chest of Santa Claus for crying out loud!I

It’s my love of Christmas that got me thinking as I read Samantha’s post. For ten to eleven months of the year, there are no hints or signs of religion at my workplace. Then, come mid to late November, Christmas decorations are hung everywhere around the office. There are some decorations for Chanukah and Kwanzaa, but they are dwarfed by the blinking lights, trees and ornaments throughout the building.

Everyone at work is well aware of my fondness for Christmas and as such, for the past several years, I have been responsible for organizing the office holiday party. This is typically a non-denominational event which usually involves drinks and dinner somewhere. This past year, however, my boss wanted to do something different.

She was enamored with the idea of riding around to see holiday lights displays. I loved the idea, and quickly looked into hiring a bus to drive us around certain neighborhoods known for their displays. A colleague suggested I hire a party-bus that featured karaoke, so that everyone could sing their favorite Christmas carols while we rode around town. While I understood her intention, I wasn’t quite sure that was the best idea. The idea behind the holiday party is to be as inclusive as possible. Asking people who don’t celebrate Christmas, and are perhaps unfamiliar with Christmas carols didn’t seem particularly sensitive and inclusive.

I ultimately decided to get the karaoke bus, and it seems I didn’t have anything to worry about. The people who chose to sang ended up picking rock & pop songs. The only holiday song that ended up being sung was “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer.” Perhaps I got lucky, or perhaps other folks were being more mindful and inclusive than my fears had been giving them credit for.

For me, the “flashpoint” of Bogost’s article is the moment when Amy Webb blames our recent cultural obsession with STEM education for the current lack of diversity in computing. Given that the conventional wisdom du jour has been a focus on getting more kids – and in particular – girls and minorities into computing via STEM education, to have that quote from an NYU professor, which follows Bogost’s own self-identification as a professor of computing and liberal arts at Georgia tech is particularly powerful.

At the end of that passage, the reader is now asking themselves, “Well, if these guys don’t think getting kids into STEM is going to solve things, what will?”. Bogost now has the rest of the article to attempt to answer that question.

Posted on

Prompts 6/18

  1. 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.
  2. 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.