Discussion / Homework 7/5

Response #1

After reviewing everyone’s contributions to our shared knowledge of diversity and organizational culture, a couple of things stood out. I found Joanna’s post on Is it safe to bring myself to work? Understanding LGBTQ experiences of workplace dignity to be quite compelling. I was moved by the personal experiences she quoted from members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I particularly identified with a quote from the gay college professor who described his process for applying for jobs and where he applied. I am a Black woman who has gone through the same checklist when looking for a job location, a place to live or a place to vacation. I think it’s imperative that our group do further exploration on the intersection of race, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, disability and socioeconomic status.

I have also determined that one very hot topic that we haven’t touched on is how Critical Race Theory plays a role in understanding how to address diversity in organizational culture. Julia’s post on the lack of diversity among business school faculty shed some light on why learning about the theory is important. In the article, Reproducing Inequity: the Role of Race in the Business School Faculty Search, Professors Grier and Poole deemed it was crucial to understand why there is a lack of diversity in faculty and used Critical Race Theory as a guide to figure it out.

Another post I found to be illuminating was Kathleen’s. She brought to my attention something I had never considered. Healthcare workers and organizations can be biased against people with disabilities. It never crossed my mind that those who are much more frequently around people who are differently abled than the general population, could be biased. I thought the video clip included in the post, Bridging the Gap: Improving Healthcare Access for People with Disabilities wonderfully captured the struggles people with disabilities endure when seeking healthcare. Although this problem is narrowly confined to healthcare organizations and practitioners, there is still an overarching issue of equity and how to instill it in any workplace.

In many ways I am already immersed in the examination of diversity and organizational culture due to my union and DEI committee roles at work. Despite that, I am more clearly seeing a thread that goes through a variety of issues. Namely, you cannot separate diversity from equity or inclusion. You must aim for all three.

Response #3

Ian Bogost, author of the article, The Problem with Diversity in Computing utilizes a number of techniques for transitioning between paragraphs. After telling readers a tale about a woman with a broken ankle at the airport in the first paragraph, he fills us in on why the woman is relevant to the article in the second paragraph. Here Bogost lets us know that Amy Webb is both a professor and author of The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity. Bogost establishes that Ms. Webb is knowledgeable about tech and based on the title of her book, takes issue with the tech industry. Although he doesn’t expressly say so, Bogost then begins to build a case for how tech at the airport discriminates against women by simply quoting Webb about her experience, “I’m looking at the screen,” she says of the image that appeared from her scan, “and my cast, head, and breasts were big blocks of yellow.” Next, the author further solidifies his argument by stating, “While waiting for the ensuing pat-down, she watched a couple of other women go through. Same thing: blocks of yellow across their breasts.”

Bogost then seamlessly goes into the third paragraph where he says, “It was because of underwire bras, she later learned, which the system sometimes can’t distinguish from potential weapons. She’s had other problems with the machines, too, including that her mop of thick, curly hair sometimes confuses them.” Later the author adds his own personal anecdote about the topic, “(My colleague Hannah Giorgis, who also has a lot of curly hair, confirms that she, too, suffers a cranial pat-down every time she goes to the airport.)”. Without saying it directly, Bogost has illustrated to the reader that women are being singled out as potential threats simply due to their physical differences and therefore discriminated against.