Question 1 Response
It has become common today to promote diversity within the workplace, however, the definition of what it means to be diverse is fluid in understanding. Because of this, many companies have resulted in promoting diversity but fall short in representing individuals from all walks of life. In Guntemir, et al’s work he states that “in an increasingly diversified workplace, minority leadership is crucial to optimally utilize the talent of all employees for competitive advantage” he then goes on to highlight the disproportion between African Americans and their European counter parts in almost all positions of leadership throughout global workplace settings. The standard way of thinking about diversity has it that promoting diversity and or increasing the amount of people from a specific background (IE: people with disabilities, African-Americans, members of the LGBTQIA+ community) is effective in diversifying a professional setting. Although this is a crucial aspect of creating a diverse culture, making sure those very same individuals feel safe and accounted for by promoting equity within both the hiring process and throughout every other aspect of their career also has a substantial influence on the success of an organization.
Question 3 Response.
“Neurodiversity as a competitive advantage” by Austin and Pisano as well as “”The impact of organizational diversity policies on minority employees’ leadership self-perceptions and goals” by Gundemir et al, serve the purpose of constructing the definitions of diversity and its impact on organizational leadership. Gundemir et al delves into the broader spectrum of the affects of lack of diversity in a workplace and sheds light on the differentiation between the perceptions of diversity across the glob. SImilarly, Austin and Pisano focus their lenses on a the lives of Neeurodiveese individuals and what exactly should be done in order to make proper use of their talents. Both reading force the reader to question their own beliefs on diversity and the take a step back to view both a systemic and personal perspective of what forms diversity can take. Austin and Pisano and Gundemir et al both elucidate the need for the inclusion in order to utilize the skills of all members of a work place through the promotion of diversity.
Kayla, I completely agree with your ideas about how it is important to focus on diversity in the hiring process but also in every day life and every aspect of ones career. I think that some companies have become so concerned with hiring a diverse group of people because of how it makes them look that they unfortunately disregard what they should be doing to keep those people comfortable and secure throughout their entire time with that company.
Hi Kayla!
I thought you did a great job using the template in your first response. I struggled to understand the reading but I thought you made it very easy to understand!
I also agree with the points in your second response. I had a lot of questions about diversity barriers after completing the readings. I think there is a lot of progress to be done regarding diversity in the workplace and I am interested to see how more companies become more accommodating and inclusive in the future.
Solid work with the template in your first response, Kayla, though I would have liked to hear from you about what you think of this approach–whether and how it helped you to structure your ideas and to better understand what Gundemir had to say in her text.
The Gundemir and Austin & Pisano articles do bear some important similarities in terms of their focus on the benefits of diversity to workplaces, but it’s also important to consider the unique value of each–one that offers a more comprehensive look at how we frame diversity (and why that matters), whereas the other looks at a specific type of diversity and considers the challenges and benefits associated with it. Taking the two together gives us some clarity both on the Big Picture AND on the close-up details.