Author: Kayla Ramos

Kayla Ramos Reflection

When brainstorming ideas for my Unit two research portfolio, I decided I wanted to focus on a marginalized group that I do not consider myself to be a part of. I believed that this would allow me to have a completely unbiased approach to the types of sources I decided to use, and honestly reflect on what I had learned. I also aimed to completely walk my readers through my research and have them experience the breakthroughs that I had while building my portfolio. In the end, this decision benefited me greatly because I ended up with a wide variety of sources that focused on the perceptions of Queer individuals in the workplace. When I started finalizing information I wanted to include in my Unit three final project, I was able to decide which pieces of information had the biggest impact on my own ability to connect to a group of people that I might not have considered had I written about something that I had a prior knowledge about. The readings from “They Say, I Say” helped me to understand the importance of a well-rounded research portfolio and the impact it will have on my audience. The templates for countering arguments aided in my use of sources that did not directly support what I was trying to convey but instead rounded out my argument. 

Throughout all of the units, being able to receive constructive feedback on all of my assignments ahs helped a lot. My favorite part about collaborating with others was being able to see how my writing affects different audiences. Even though I was only publishing my writing for my peers to see, I gained a deeper understanding of the types of rhetorical decisions I should make when trying to persuade, inform, argue, or produce any other type of text. Multimodal media has also had an impact on my growth throughout this course. In my Unit three project I made use of an infographic to express my claims. Some writing classes can place an excessive focus on the more traditional forms of literature but this course opened my eyes to how useful all of the ways we convey information are.

Honestly, prior to this course ,I had not put much consideration into my ideas with regard to members of the LGBTQIA+ community let alone focus specifically on their experiences in corporate America. Unit one opened my eyes to impacts that discrimination have on various groups of people. Unit 2 made me shift that understanding into a specific group of individuals and the distinctive forms of discrimination they faced. Unit three helped me to reflect and share what I had learned and ultimately made me a stronger ally for the LGBTQIA+ community and helped me understand the importance of equity for all people.

I just want to end off by thanking all of the other people in teh class for helping me grow throughout the course. I really appreciate all of you taking the time to read my work and provide useful feedback. I also enjoyed being able read your writing and learn about new things. Lastly, I want to say thank you to professor Oakes for all w the support and guidance. Have a great semester everyone!

Kayla Ramos Final Project

LGBTQIA-In-corporate-america-2Download

For my final project I aimed to provide as much information as I can in a way that engaged the readers enough to seek further knowledge about Queer equity in the workplace. My infographic makes use of QR codes in order for people to ensure that people who access physically or digitally can both have easy access to the outsides sources I incorporated into my work. Although I wanted to use all of the information from the sources I gathered in Unit 2, I made the decision based on the form of my writing, that I would section off the most important topics. Because of this I was able to be concise enough to arise concern and encourage further exploration in my target audience. The sources I linked in both the Bibliography and resources QR code serve as a gateway to learning more about LGBTQIA+ community individual and their lives in corporate America.

Discussion Questions Week of 8/16

“LGBT Workers and the Minimum Wage” is a one-pager that looks into the disparities Queer workers in America face and how raising the minimum wage will help alleviate them. The Leadership Conference Education Fund, National Center for Transgender Equality, and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund all contributed in the creation of this text. Because of this, there is a great variety of relevant statistics throughout. There is also a good connection between these facts and idea of raising the minimum wage on a federal level. The authors also include support in the form of benefits that spread beyond the LGBTQ community which help their text appeal to a wider audience. 

The use of the image and quote from Bayard Rustin in the upper right hand help to break up the writing and shift the readers focus away from the main text. I believe this is a good decision because it keeps the readers attention through the use of a visual aspect. However, I also believe that the size of the image is disproportionate to the page being that they included the sources into the one page format. For my one-pager I will also include an image or two but I will include them in the middle of the page and center the text around it in order to have more space for my own writing.

https://www.thetaskforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/LGBT-Workers-and-the-Minimum-Wage-2014.pdf

Project Proposal

For my unit 3 final Project I plan on constructing an infographic that depicts the historical and current problems members of LGBTQIA+ community in corporate America. I also intend on including some resources that help to stress the importance of equal opportunities for Queer individuals. The most important sources that I hope to find are first hand testimonies and scholarly articles/ journals. Articles and journals are rich in statistics and other information that can be easily represented visually while conveying the magnitude of inequality on part of Queer people in the workplace. Hyperlinks will also be added to the reference of the infographic, however, I also plan on using quotes from blog posts that exemplify what it is like to work in an inclusive environment vis-à-vis one that lacks capital for members of the LGBTQIA+.

I want to keep my writing engaging and easy to read because I want to reach a wide audience. There will be some information for Queer individuals who want to learn about how inequity takes shapes throughout various professions, however my target audience are people who identify as allies to the LGBGTQIA+ community. The purpose of my writing will be to bring awareness to a topic that is well known amongst the people who it directly effects but is no taken into consideration by those it does not. I want to provide reliable information for those who might not be aware of the inequalities and want to take steps in correcting them.

Discussion 8/9

1.“Individual Change Won’t Create Gender Equality in Organizations” By Alison Wynn is a blog post on the University of Minnesota’s Gender Policy Report page. The purpose of this article is to examin the need for equity in the workplace with a focus on gender. The format of the post clearly outlines key topics of Wynn’s claim through the use of headings. Wynn uses a numbered list in order to map out the “Steps Toward Organizational Change and uses hyperlinks throughout her writing  in order to keep the reader engaged and clarify any unknown references. Another interesting strategy that wynn used was the direct quotation of the key pisces from surrounding paragraphs. By making these quotations in a larger font and different color, Wynn uses visuals to stress important aspects rather than rephrasing or adding unnecessary information. I believe that Wynn’s style of writing and meshed well with the form of media she was producing as well as the audience she was trying to reach. Most of the people who would seek out blog posts as a source of information would be more receptive to short engaging writing rather than long winded an impersonal texts. Because of this, Wynn is able to reach her target audience and spread awareness about the need for equity as well as the step needed to achieve it.

2.The topic of LGBTQIA+ equity in the workplace encapsulates a wide variety of both modern day and historical issues, Because of this I am going to create a one-pager that narrates the history and affects of inequity for queer indiviuals within corporate AMerica. I also plan on listing some helpful resources for members of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as articles for anyone who wants to become an ally. At my internship, one-pagers are extremely useful in conveying relevant information through brief bullet points and images. I plan on using some of the skills I have gained to create one about a Queer individuals in the workplace and spread some much needed awareness on the topic. If I feel as if there is more information than can fit on the one-pager, I will likely expand my project into an infographic so that I dont skip over any key details while keeping visual and concise elements of a one-pager.

Research Portfolio- Kayla

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Discussion 7/26

  1. “Racial and Socioeconomic Inequity in the Spatial Distribution of LGBTQ Human Services: an Exploratory Analysis of LGBTQ Services in Chicago” by Rosentel Kris; VandeVusse Alicia; Hill, Brandon J examines the intersectionality between members of the LGBTQIA+ community, people of color, and people from low socioeconomic status. This text focuses on members of these groups that reside in the area of Chicago. This article placed an emphasis on the distribution  of programming tailored specifically towards members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Geocoding was the method used to conduct this research and it revealed that there was a disproportion between the amount and quality of LGBTQIA+ supportive programs in less affluent neighborhoods.  Additionally, the neighboorhoods that lacked these programs were comprised of mostly Black and Latino families.

Rosentel, VandeVusse, and Hill published this work with the intent of impacting the equity built around LGBTQIA+, people of color, and people from low socioeconomic status. By doing so they appropriately address the lack of career based programs in the neighboorhoods theses people live in. This source helps further my research by focusing in on intersectionality and provides direct causation for low employment amongst members of the LGBTQIA+ community. I plan on using this source to support my ideas with regard to the importance of equity and the role of city officials in the distribution of resources.

Rosentel, K., VandeVusse, A., & Hill, B. J. (2019). Racial and Socioeconomic inequity in the spatial distribution of LGBTQ Human SERVICES: An exploratory analysis of LGBTQ services in Chicago. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 17(1), 87–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-019-0374-0 

2. All of the responses to “The subtle sexism of your open office plan” added to the impacts of an open office space, however Emily’s response was not one that I had considered before. Emily has anxiety and felt as if she had nowhere to go during her panic attacks as a result of the office layout. When she finally spoke up about her concern to the other 2 female coworkers they shared similar feelings toward the design of the workplace. Stories like these demonstrate the need for mental health awareness and diversity in the workplace. If there had been more female workers then women like Emily amd her coworker would have been more likely to speak up about their grievances. Additionally, if there would have been more research into the effect office design has on mental health, then issues like these would likely never happen in the first place.

Research Plan: Kayla

What question is guiding your research? (What do you want your research to understand?)

All of my research aims to reflect on what it’s like to be a member of the LGBTQIA+ community in professional settings. This is a broad topic that relates to whether or not members of this community are able to obtain/retention a job as well as overall equity in the workplace. I hope to uncover a variety of topics by answering this one question.

Why this question? (Help us understand how it connects to your career/personal interests)

This question allows for me to explore different forms of gender/ sexuality across a variety of professional settings. By using this question, an extensive scope of both secondary and primary sources become available to me. I have also found that while this question allows for me to choose from a bigger selection of articles/texts, I also have to make sure that my writing flows together. All of the personal experiences, statistics, and other forms of writing that I choose to include, must come together in a way that clearly supports my claim.

How will your professional/internship/organizational/course work inform your inquiry? (What connections can you see with the work that you are a part of in the world beyond the course?)

I am an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community and I am also an African-American female in STEM. I understand what it feels like to be a member of a minority group  because of this I am very passionate about advocacy for underrepresented individuals. At this point in time,  I am building my network through internships, career fairs, and other forms of social engagement and have been able to learn more about the types of discrimination in the STEM field alone. There are 2 articles that I included in my preliminary note-taking exercise that connect directly to LGBTQIA+ representation in STEM and I am excited to relate some of the experiences that I have gained with those from the article.

What fields (academic and professional) matter most in your inquiry? (Where are you going to be looking for source material?)

Most of my sources are primary sources coming from members of the LGBTQIA+ community. The second most used sources in my research are from allies of the community that strive to advocate for equity. The third type of field I am pulling from are purely statistical articles that will support my stance through unbiased data and help the reader visualize the magnitude of my argument.

Discussion Questions Week of 7/19

Question 1 Response

 “Changing Organizational Culture,”  by Cori Wong examines the differences between equity, equality, diversity, and inclusion. Wong makes note of the key how equity and inclusion should be focused on more than diversity and equality. “Creating an inclusive culture for a diverse workforce requires becoming conscious of social identities and seeing how they are experienced in a particular context, such as the workplace.”. This quote encapsulate the cor beliefs of Wong’s argument. It demonstrates the need for a holistic review of each individual who works in a company in order to truly understand te needs of the community as a whole. The idea of diversity is placed as the end goal while equity and inclusion are set as necessary markers of success along the way. The difference between equity and equality comes into play as Wong suggests that “Rather than assume everyone is the same (or should be), it is crucially important to seek to understand how differences in identities and experiences inform how we interact with our surroundings and each other”

Question 2 Response

Wong relates each paragraph to each other in a way that enhances the form and emphasises the function of her writing. Through her text, there is a frequent use of transition words/ phrases. Some examples of these are “Although”, “In contrast”, “ On the individual level”, and “Regardless of the primary motivation”. Each of these phrases help the reader to identify a switch of topic while understanding how it relates to the overall argument. Wong also uses this same format to introduce the direct citations in the 6th paragraph “For example, gaps in pay equity among men and women are the result of gender bias, but patterns of significantly lower pay and larger pay gaps experienced by women of color reveal compounded influences of the sexist and racist bias in U.S. cul- ture more broadly construed (Hegewisch & Williams-Baron, 2018).”. This quote directly lets the reader know that what she is about to say provides supporting evidence to her claim without abruptly shifting from her own choice of words.