The sense of belonging of an individual coming from an ethnic minority background is usually quite complex in their newly adopted country, and Claire Alexander and Debbie Weekes-Bernard present the obstacles that Britain faces with their introduction of their new curriculum. In 2014, the revised history curriculum became a controversial issue due to what many perceived as a nationalistic and ethnocentric take on the long history of Britain. This was mainly reflected by the receivers of this curriculum, the student population, being increasingly diverse. Statistics have shown that in the UK, students from Indian and Chinese backgrounds consistently outperform native White British students academically, and that demographically speaking, around 20% of England and Wales’s population are of non-White British minority backgrounds. When the British government is trying to create a sense of belonging for the younger population, is it the right choice to solely focus on the past of the native population? Over the course of Britain’s history, it went from a Celtic island conquered by continental Germanic-speaking Anglo-Saxons, went through a Latinization process with the Norman Invasion of 1066, and created the largest empire in history encompassing most of North America, Africa, and the Indian subcontinent. This means that when students learn about the legacy of the British Empire, instead of just the minority the native British became in this commonwealth, the students should learn about the contributions and affects the colonized African and Asian populations created for the empire.
Alexander, C., & Weekes-Bernard, D. (2017). History lessons: Inequality, diversity and the national curriculum. Race Ethnicity and Education, 20(4), 478–494. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2017.1294571
In “Creating culturally responsive environments: ethnic minority teachers’ constructs of cultural diversity in Hong Kong secondary schools”, Ming-tak Hue and Kerry John Kennedy wanted to tackle the challenge of Hong Kong’s increasingly growing ethnic minority students and how the teaching environment can adapt to this changing reality. Part of Hue and Kennedy’s research included interviewing secondary school teachers of varying ethnic minority descent, ranging from Canadian to Pakistani. The researchers then used their responses to create a model to allow educators to re-manage their teaching habits and deepen their understanding cross-cultural education.
Even though it is well known that Hong Kong is an international city, the vast majority of the population belong to the Chinese ethnicity (as high as 95%), while there is a growth in ethnic minority students within the public education sector (School of Education Statistics Section, Education Bureau, 2012). However, while this number only makes up 1.94% of the city’s primary and secondary students, the more important issue faced by the educational system is that there is a quick growth of non-Chinese speaking students, from 0.71% (2008/2009) to 1.43% (2011/2012). However, many of the city’s schools are not prepared to tackle this problem, and the combination of a lack of ethnic minority teachers as well as the tendency for ethnic minority students to underperform educationally remains a major problem.
Studies have shown that there is a gap between ethnic majority and ethnic minority students’ in terms of academic performance and employment opportunities (Darling-Hammond, 2006; Frankenberg, Lee, & Orfield, 2003), and that in order to close the gap, the social connection between ethnic-majority and minority students needs to be achieved by the host society (Stanton-Salazar, 1997; Yosso, 2005). To achieve this, several Hong Kong schools already looked for ways to respond to the cultures of ethnic-minority students, and mainly of those who come from low socio-economic backgrounds. While in many Western countries the increase of ethnic minority teachers to assist ethnic minority students is common, that is not so much the case in a relatively homogenous city like Hong Kong. However, one of the most important aspects of having ethnic minority teachers is the understanding and help they can offer to the students, such as dealing with racism, increasing tolerance, the promotion of multiculturalism, slowly ridding cultural stereotypes, and increasing the perception of Hong Kong as a multi-ethnic society.
The study among the interviewed teachers also looked into the experiences of ethnic minority teachers through a social construction of reality. There were three parts to this experience that Hue and Kennedy looked into, which were the changes in space (the community of ethnic minorities), the place (classrooms), and the time spent in classrooms. This was done to allow the teachers to relive their former teaching experiences and explore a narrative to help their future in assisting minority students.
The findings then showed that teachers from an ethnic minority background became even more aware of their own ethnic identities as well as becoming more aware of the “minor acts of racism” within Hong Kong’s educational system as well as the larger society. The goal was then to transform the educational system according to the idea of “cosmopolitanism”, the idea that in order for Hong Kong to become recognized as a truly international city, it must create a space for non-Chinese speakers to take part and feel accepted. Part of this can be achieved with tackling Hong Kong’s trilingual problem in education, since ethnic minority students will have to become fluent in the official languages of Cantonese/Chinese, English as well as their native tongues. The ethnic minority teachers explained that in order to truly help the non-Chinese speaking students reach academic success and attend tertiary level education, English and more importantly Cantonese (the native language of most of Hong Kong’s population), must take part in their daily lives.
I specifically chose this article because it is directly tied with the readings that we have done in the past week, how diversity is becoming more and more important because our perception of it is also becoming more clear. Being from Hong Kong and having friends of ethnic minority backgrounds, I believe that the research shown in this article is essential to assist Hong Kong’s population in moving forward from the traditional belief that the city is universally Chinese-speaking.
Article:
Hue, M.-tak, & Kennedy, K. J. (2013). Creating culturally responsive Environments: Ethnic minority teachers’ constructs of cultural diversity in Hong Kong secondary schools. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 34(3), 273–287. https://doi.org/10.1080/02188791.2013.823379
Let’s start pulling some things together. Here are a few lessons from our first unit of the course that I hope you will carry forward in our next projects:
We need to understand a text’s rhetorical situation before we can work with it—over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at some sets of texts that talk around some of the same issues but from different angles. Looking closely, we can trace many of these differences to facets of their writing situation: i.e. different audiences, different purposes, different credentials/experiences of the authors, different contexts. In order to figure out how much stock to put in folks’ ideas, what ideas of our own we might build upon them, or how to use these sources to help explain ideas to other people, we MUST first understand the texts themselves and where they’re coming from.
Understanding a text’s rhetorical situation also gives us a window in to whether and how it works, and what we might learn from its example as writers—we can see how writers try to appeal to their readers (using 2nd person, anticipating and responding to their concerns, styling their text to be visually engaging). We can see how writers build their arguments (linking evidence to claims, providing the reader with opportunities to follow their chain of thought back through hyperlinks to sources or citations). We can see writers drawing on their personal experiences to tell us stories about how they came to wonder about something and how they developed their understanding of it. By watching how other people do this work, we prepare ourselves to do it, too.
We need a variety of tools—we’ve examined how-to texts (from Harris and TSIS) and content-focused ones; we’ve watched videos; we’ve discussed. We’re coming to appreciate the complexity of our big topic area and to see how we’re only really going to make progress toward our understanding by engaging with a variety of resources and voices. That’s not just an academic exercise for us in this course; that’s a core guideline for research. As researchers and writers, we will also need that multi-faceted set of perspectives if we’re ever going to make progress toward understanding. AND we need to use a multitude of tools in presenting our ideas to our readers—whether that’s templates, graphic representations of data, varying levels of formality, etc. Furthermore, this sort of diversity of perspectives and approaches is a core value for organizations–an essential component of fair and effective collaboration.
So let’s continue. We’re growing our body of knowledge this week through accretion—each of you is adding something to it with the article you’re going to explain to the rest of us, and reviewing your classmates’ posts will be an important part of this week’s work. As we move forward, we’ll continue to learn from each other even as we head down individual research paths.
One final point, summary isn’t just a hoop for you to jump through. It’s how you test yourself to ensure that you’re conversant enough with the text to work with it in your own writing. If you can’t effectively summarize it, you probably shouldn’t be working with it in a project, because you can’t be sure you’ll fairly characterize its perspective and utilize its full value. A careful definition and description of a source (as part of a summary that also details its main take-away points) is a necessary precondition to be able to work further with that material.
Ready to move on? The unit 2 assignment sheet is available here and on Blackboard. Take a look, and let’s get ready to go.
“The association between unemployment status and physical/mental health among veterans and civilians in the United States” by Than V. Tran, Julie Canfield, & Keith Chan makes a sound argument supporting the increase of veteran employment programs in order to reduce the negative health impacts of being unemployed. Throughout the article, the author’s emphasize the health disparities that can arise from unemployment as well as the the hardships unemployed people have to go through in order to join the workforce. This process becomes increasingly burdensome for veterans due to their need to adjust to civilian life not to mention any other outstanding medical issues they may have gained while serving.
Tran, Cainfelid, and Chan relied on the evidence found in the “Interaction effect of employment status and veteran/civilian status” study. This study analyzed the affect that unemployment has on veterans and civilians. The researchers believed that the negative impact would affect the veterans at a higher rate than non-veterans. Simply, being a veteran should not have an impact on a person’s health but this study aims to expose the underlying affects that health issues (as a result of military service) have on unemployment amongst veterans which intern makes it harder to re-enter the workforce. Depression, existential crises, and suicidal thoughts are just some of the many mental health issues that can arise from being unemployed. The study also shows the connection between unemployment and poor nutrition due to a lack of resources which can ultimately have a negative impact on the physical body as well.
I chose this article not because of the solutions it present in terms of programs that promote diversity and inclusion but because of its F of the effort that it makes to promote awareness around these issues. The authors place a strong emphasis on understanding the disparities that lead to unemployment rather than just trying to promote programs to solve it. The Kaplan & Donovan article explains that intention with regard to diversity and inclusion has a big impact on the result of the actions taken to promote equity. Kaplan & Donovan Work to define the definition of inclusion by starting with the needs of the marginalized group instead of the organization trying to promote inclusion. I feel as if this article does a good job of understanding the reason behind veteran unemployment and presenting it with respect to the impact on veterans rather than the economy or any other organization which reinforces the ideas of the texts we have read thus far.
This article, in conjunction with others that make up the canon of diversity and inclusion, have enlightened me on the privileges that I have and the struggles of those who are different then me. Because of this I have been inspired to further my research in order to engage in meaningful forms of activism that spread awareness of these issues and bring about change. One of the most striking pieces of work that I have uncovered in my search was this Ted Talk that focused on the struggles of the shift from military to civilian life. In the video, Brian O’connor, a United States Marine Corps veteran, makes an analogy between the dissociation of identity that he felt after service in which he says “This bryant outfit doesn’t fit anymore, its like I stole a young kid’s clothes”. This quote allowed me to experience a fraction of what it feels like to be a veteran and understand the importance of shifting perspectives when promoting inclusion. More often than not, simply putting yourself into the shoes of the people you are trying to help can make all the difference in understanding what can actually be effective. By reading works like that of Than V. Tran, Julie Canfield, & Keith Chan and Kaplan & Donovan as well as taking the effort to familiarize yourself with the lives of veterans will lead to quick and effective forms of inclusion throughout all aspects of the workforce.
Tran, T. V., Canfield, J., & Chan, K. (2016). The association between unemployment status and physical health among veterans and civilians in the United States. Social Work in Health Care, 55(9), 720–731. https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2016.1191582
In “Strategic Diversity Leadership: The Role of Senior Leaders in Delivering the Diversity Dividend” (Journal of Management, September 2020), Luis L. Martins shines a spotlight on the role that top executives play in driving organizational performance through diversity and inclusion. In this paper, he discusses his findings from an extensive literature review of contemporary research, work that led him to develop a new framework he calls “strategic diversity leadership.” His purpose is to share this framework with organizational leaders who are seeking competitive advantage as well as his academic peers to inspire further study.
When Martins, a professor and chair of the management department at The University of Texas at Austin, finds a new way of solving a problem, it is worth taking a closer look. Over a 30-year academic career, he has conducted research and written extensively on the factors that drive innovation, change, and performance, including diversity and inclusion. He has also consulted for dozens of private- and public-sector clients to test solutions in the real world.
A missing link
There is a significant body of research that shows diversity leads to better organizational performance, but there is also evidence that shows the implementation of diversity and inclusion programs do not always lead to the desired results. Martins calls these desired results the diversity dividend, defined as “the enhancement in an organization’s performance that is attributable to its diversity” (1192). When he investigates why the diversity dividend is not realized, he discovers a missing link between the traditional role of top executives and the role they must play in their organization’s diversity and inclusion efforts. Martins argues that because senior leaders hold positions of authority, they have both the platform and the responsibility for realizing the benefits of a diverse workforce. If Martins is right, which I believe he is, implementing a strategic diversity leadership framework to close this gap is a key to better performance.
Fig. 1. The strategic diversity leadership framework proposes a set of essential actions senior leaders can take (highlighted in yellow above) to link their traditional leadership roles to organizational diversity initiatives and performance (Martins 1195)
Leaders must lead
Martins defines strategic diversity leadership as “the shaping of the meaning of diversity within an organization by the organization’s senior leaders” (1194). To build his framework, Martins first asserts that senior leaders must frame a vision that not only defines diversity but also describes how inclusion will be used to distribute the power of diversity to benefit teams and the organization. Unfortunately, Martins describes the vision process in theoretical terms, but he does not expand these ideas by giving specific examples of how his ideas can be applied.
In the second part of his framework, however, Martins provides concrete suggestions to show how senior leaders can symbolize the value of diversity and inclusion. For example, he describes ways leaders can use the power of speeches and public statements to articulate that the “current state is unacceptable” (1198). He also suggests that senior leaders visibly participate in public activities that promote diversity and inclusion (1198-1199), including ceremonies, marches, and celebrations. In other words, top executives must “talk the talk” and “walk the walk.” While Martins does offer practical suggestions, he does not offer examples of organizations that are successfully implementing these ideas. His argument would be stronger if he could point to organizations and practices that can be emulated.
I believe that the strategic diversity leadership framework Martins proposes is useful because it shifts the focus for solving organizational culture challenges from the level of supervisors, staff, policies, and tasks to the level of executives, vision, strategy, and organizational design. Martins is telling us that those who hold the most power in an organization must be held accountable. I couldn’t agree more. Ultimately, I believe Martins’ strategic diversity framework will lead to positive results, but I also must point out that he stops short of holding top executives accountable for delivering on diversity and inclusion measurements in and of themselves. In my opinion, accountability for those measurements is a remaining gap in the framework. As a result, I think Martins misses an opportunity to raise diversity and inclusion to the level of other organizational commitments such as carbon neutrality or sustainability, for example.
Although the strategic diversity leadership framework holds great potential for bringing about change, Martins understands that he is breaking new ground and proposes further study to finetune his theories and reveal additional insights. I look forward with optimism to seeing his ideas confirmed and taken even further by way of more research and evidence from real-world situations.
In Is it safe to bring myself to work? Understanding LGBTQ experiences of workplace dignity from the Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, authors Sarah J. Baker and Kristen Lucas claim that people who identify as non-heterosexual and non-cis gender will likely face bullying, discrimination, harassment, hurtful jokes and taunts, and ostracism throughout their careers. To understand the extent and effects of homophobic, transphobic, and queerphobic attitudes of employers and coworkers, the authors conducted semi structured interviews with 36 LGBTQIA+ working adults from various organizational affiliations in the United States.
Once the responses were collected and analyzed, the authors coded them into four categories of identity sensitive dignity threats experienced by LGBTQIA+ individuals in the workplace: social harm, autonomy violations, career harm, and physical harm. The responses in the interviews showed that the way LGBTQIA+ individuals were (and are) being treated in the workplace drastically influences their own self perceptions.
Because of these disturbing findings, the authors also identified protection strategies throughout the responses that other LGBTQIA+ members in the workforce can implement to “(re)claim” their dignity and protect themselves from threats and harm. The strategies are avoiding harm by seeking safe spaces, deflecting harm with sexual identity management, offsetting identity devaluations by emphasizing instrumental value, and creating safe spaces for authenticity and dignity.
The authors of this article encourage LGBTQIA+ groups to discuss this idea of dignity in the workplace with organizations to address injustices. They hope that these conversations can start small and develop into a greater understanding that every human being deserves respect and has worth. They advocate for bringing people together on the basis of not only the differences discussed in their article, but others form of difference such as race, ethnicity, class, religion, and (dis)ability.
Figure 1:
(Baker and Lucas, p.7) describing identity sensitive dignity threats
This text was a piece of transcript of one of the interviews with a bisexual woman named Phoenix who works as a college speech coach. She had attacks to her autonomy by her boss who had a problem with her sexual identity and repeatedly made intrusive and offensive comments like the one above.
(In this study, autonomy was defined as: “to have control over one’s life and for others to refrain from colonizing that life and to keep a respectful distance” (Baker and Lucas p.7)
Figure 2:
(Baker and Lucas, p.10) describing protection strategy
This text was a piece of transcript of one of the interviews with a gay college professor who struggled to find a place to work. This excerpt depicts a summary of his process of how he narrowed it down from the lenses of a member of the LGBTQIA+.
This updated version of the rainbow pride flag for 2021 has now included intersex people. The 2018 version included five-striped chevron that represented LGBTQ+ people of color and the trans community.
This article gives readers insight about how prevalent discrimination towards LGBTQIA+ members is and provides examples on the types of brutal attacks they endure. The excerpts of the interview transcript throughout the article is important because we are able to hear about oppression from the people who are actually experiencing. However, the “experiences” are still limited because the makeup of participants in the study was mostly white gay males. I think it is extremely important to hear more about an intersectional approach from women and BIPOC. I also would like more updated statistics since many of the other studies mentioned were from more than 10 years ago from 2021. Additionally, while I appreciated the protection strategies for LGBTQIA+ individuals, I also would like to hear more about being an ally. To further my own understanding, I found a video that explains 8 steps towards being an LGBTQIA+ ally below.
How to be a good LGBTQIA+ Ally
Educate yourself on the community (this includes terminology)
Do not make assumptions
Do not ever out someone
Be conscious of your language
Do not let slurs slide in others
Do not let others to make queerphobic jokes
Stand up for others
Make space for LGBTQIA+ community
A screenshot from… A Workplace Divided: Understanding the climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide, published by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
These statistics look at the different reasons why LGBTQ+ are not “open” in the workplace. It is interesting to see how gender and sexual identity influence how people approach work in the morning.
References
Baker, S. J., & Lucas, K. (2017, June 1). Is it safe to bring myself to work? Understanding LGBTQ experiences of workplace dignity. Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cjas.1439.
Human Rights Campaign Foundation. (2021). A Workplace Divided: Understanding the Climate for LGBTQ Workers Nationwide. HRC. https://hrc-prod-requests.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/files/assets/resources/AWorkplaceDivided-2018.pdf?mtime=20200713131850&focal=none.
Jossell, S. (2021, June 8). The Progress Pride Flag Is Getting an Intersex-Inclusive Makeover. them. https://www.them.us/story/progress-pride-flag-intersex-inclusive-makeover.
MyWorkplaceHealth. (2020, May 15). How to be a good LGBTQ+ Ally. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ddlNFqWyOU.
In many workplaces across the globe, diversity seems to be a problem, evident in the large disproportion of minorities in positions of power or even in minor company roles. Specifically, the police force is an organization that struggles with diversity. These two charts show that, while there has been a slight increase over the decades, much can be done to improve.
Three women Debra Langan and Carrie Sanders (Criminology Professors), and Tricia Agocs (a citizen in police services for 10 years) wanted to delve into the treatment of women in the Canadian police force to bring awareness towards the issues female police officers often face. The police force is already a predominantly male profession, so women are an outsider group within the larger organization. To determine real life examples, Langan et al created a study that featured 16 Caucasian females from across Ontario, Canada. However small the sample size, most of the women reported a poor work environment, in addition to stating that the culture and management is inadequate and in much need of improvement. This is evident in the study conducted where “one in five [officers] … think about leaving their current police force from once a week to several times a week”. Women often push themselves extremely hard, believing that they need to prove themselves more to show that they deserve to be there. Langan et al want the police departments across Canada to address these issues and more as well as expectations for women due to their unfair treatment.
Many of the articles we have previously explored mentioned the various issues regarding diversity in the workplace. The examples these 16 women gave to show how they are treated were very eye opening and it became clear how brave they are for staying, especially since many considered quitting. Langan et al made the internal sexism these policewomen faced very evident in the stories from the article. This study was conducted in Canada about five years ago. It is unfortunate that, despite all this evidence showing the problems and where the department can be improved, nothing significant changed. Problems with diversity within the police force still prevail everywhere. Three years after the study, this particular TEDtalk, linked below, gives additional evidence on how females face discrimination in the police, only this time, it is focused on the United States.
A TEDtalk from a woman that has been a US officer for the past 25 years and has worked her way from officer to chief. She talks about the benefits to having women on the force based off statistics and how females are still being discriminated against.
In this TEDtalk, a policewoman who has been in the force for 25 years reveals that out of all American police officers, only about 13% are women, which has statistically been very steady for around the past two decades. This number is incredibly low especially given the amount of data the TEDtalk gives that shows how valuable they are. She states that “policewomen are less likely to use force or be accused of excessive force; they are less likely to be named in a lawsuit or citizen complaint and the presence of a policewoman reduces the use of force among other officers” while still receiving the same amount of force from criminals that male officers do. Despite all these advantages to women in police departments, they still face all those aforementioned examples of discrimination in the article and TEDtalk.
The reason I chose these pieces of media was to give evidence to our much-researched topic of the lack of diversity in workplaces. It is important to see these real-world examples, how discrimination impacts daily life, and how little has been done to stop it. More awareness is necessary to fix this issue, which is why we need to keep spreading the media being researched in class.
Article:
Debra Langan, Carrie B. Sanders & Tricia Agocs (2017) Canadian Police Mothers and the Boys’ Club: Pregnancy, Maternity Leave, and Returning to Work, Women & Criminal Justice, 27:4, 235-249, DOI: 10.1080/08974454.2016.1256254
Algorithm-Driven Hiring Tools: Innovative Recruitment or Expedited Disability Discrimination? by Lydia X. Z. Brown, Ridhi Shetty and Michelle Richardson, presents us with a compelling report on the consequences AI based assessments have on employment of the disabled. Many of us revel in all the latest advancements in technology. We think the more tech, the better. Brown, et al., however, immediately set about clearing up any misperceptions we may have had about the neutrality and fairness of artificial intelligence-based hiring tests. We are treated to an informative and eye-opening breakdown of all the different types of tools and tests currently being used for hiring. Although it is not expressly noted by Brown, who is autistic and an expert on disability rights and algorithmic fairness, it is clear neurodivergent employment candidates have a high potential for being discriminated against via these tests. The authors also make certain to share with us that many employers do not realize how biased these tests can be. Hence, Brown, et al., spend a great deal of time pointing out the numerous ways an employer could be held liable for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)1. As such, this report proves to be a valuable resource for self-advocates and employers alike. It is important to note that it was prepared by the Center for Democracy, an advocacy group who focuses on equity in civic technology and digital privacy/data among other things.
More than anything else, this paper is an exercise in both empowerment and how to be an anti-ableist in the hiring process. It educates us on the use of personality tests, face and voice recognition and resume screening for patterns. The authors remind us that algorithms are created by people and people have bias. Hence there are biased algorithms. We are provided with shocking statistics such as,
“76% of companies with more than 100 employees use personality tests.”
“An estimated 33% of businesses use some form of artificial intelligence in hiring and other HR practices.”
“The employment rate for people with disabilities is about 37%, compared to 79% for people without disabilities.”
The authors inform us that many software developers market hiring assessment software to employers that not only measure a potential employee’s proficiency at the job, but other skills like cognitive ability (abstract thinking), motivation and personality. It seems that developers don’t factor in ADA regulations, such as using criteria that have the effect of discrimination, into their software and employers don’t ask them to. As Brown, et al educate us, this is problematic because some skills might not even be relevant to the job being applied for and knock a person with autism or even depression out of the running. We learn that candidates are ultimately chosen, not by a human, but by a machine. Machines ignore nuances and context and lack empathy. Just as the articles we read in class helped enlighten us on what unconscious bias and inclusion are, Brown, et al., are resolute in persuading us that the abilities many of us take for granted, like good eye contact, could make us blind to how people with disabilities (folks with autism in this case) are forced to maneuver the employment landscape.
Skills Artificial Intelligence evaluates on hiring assessment tests. Figure 1 Screen capture from info.recruitics.com
The authors offer us insight into how the intersection of people’s disability, race and socioeconomic status leads to hiring discrimination. This is something our class might want to further explore. What if a job seeker is applying for a low-wage warehouse job or looking to flip burgers? Why should a personality test matter? What if you are not white or male? Will the test indicate that you won’t thrive socially in a work environment dissimilar to your own social network because the software was developed by white men?
As mentioned earlier, Brown, an autistic person who also possesses intersecting identities, is a champion for equity in hiring. They appeared in HBO Max’s documentary2“Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests” where they elaborated on the devastating effects of digital hiring assessments on neurodivergent people and other marginalized groups. Not only will disabled readers see that Brown, is like them and advocating for them, but the authors hope to appeal to our ability to empathize with people unlike ourselves. Brown, et al., also “walk the walk” by providing a plain english version of their report and offering solutions (like using disabled software developers) based on Civil Rights Principles for Hiring Assessment Technologies3
Some may say the report itself is biased. But is it bias if you’re telling the truth?
42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(6) (2018); 29C.F.R. § 1630.10(a) (2019). Three other ADA provisions similarly prohibit disparate impact of people with disabilities. These prohibit (1) limiting, segregating, and classifying an applicant or employee in a way that adversely affects their opportunities or status because of their disability; (2) contractual or other relationships that have the effect of disability discrimination (a simple agency theory of liability); and (3) utilizing standards, criteria, or methods of administration that have the effect of disability discrimination. 42 U.S.C. § 12112(b)(1)-(3) (2018), 29 C.F.R. § 1630.5-.7(2019).
In the Journal of Business Ethics Eddy Ng, incoming Smith Professor of Diversity & Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University and Dr. Greg Sears, Associate Professor of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior at the Sprott School of Business examine how CEOs convey the importance of diversity management and get their essential employees to execute it. While CEO dedication is seen as being vital to organizational diversity efforts, little is known about how CEOs communicate their priorities and mobilize their key organizational individuals to implement diversity management. It is acknowledged that an CEOs outward appearance of devotion to diversity endeavors in organizations is an essential key to success however when the CEO’s true unspoken priorities are signaled to key individuals in the organization what effect does this have on organizational diversity efforts? I hypothesized that if a CEO didn’t truly have a commitment to a diverse workplace, this unspoken opinion would negatively affect diversity management practices.
In this study, an integrative model with surveys was utilized which theorized that CEOs’ actual beliefs about diversity would be a predictor of the performance of diversity practices within the organization. The findings suggest that a CEO’s public words and actions alone are not adequate for the execution of diversity management practices. Key managers within the company must perceive the CEO as being authentically dedicated to workplace diversity for diversity management systems to be faithfully executed.
8 Things Any CEO Can Do To Advance Diversity And Inclusion Right Now
By Carmen Morris
This article can be read or listened to. It points out that many diversity and inclusion initiatives have been unsuccessful due to the absence of leadership commitment. It is the task of leadership to support the progress of diversity and inclusion. This is very much in keeping with this research of CEO’s support or lack of it leading to the success or failure of diversity efforts.
Analysis
This study was conducted to investigate CEOs’ true feelings regarding diversity management practices versus the politically correct, publicly stated ones of the company. A CEO’s genuine pro-diversity behaviors can indicate to the workforce if their view on diversity in the workplace is truly positive. The overall goal of this study was to reach an understanding of the influence of both CEO instrumental beliefs and moral values in predicting a CEO’s commitment to diversity and the enactment of workplace diversity practices. The stated objective and the result of this study have uncovered some interesting facts. This study included only Canadian firms.
In addition to the CEO the focus was on senior human resource managers because they are the ones usually assigned with implementation of organizational diversity efforts. If you think about the duties of each individual it makes sense since CEOs focus on an organization’s overall performance while HR managers are often tasked with implementing organizational directives such as complying with EEO/AA laws. “While CEOs play a lead role in initiating and supporting change, HR managers play a critical role in effecting and implementing change.” (Ng & Sears, 2020).
Ng and Sears appear to be developing theory for researchers to continue to expound upon. Their results highlight that both CEOs and HR managers play a crucial role in contributing to the success of organizational diversity efforts. One cannot be ignored or focused upon without the other. I think this research has brought to light that HR managers in particular must interpret the CEO’s words and actions as supporting and prioritizing diversity management. This interpretation comes not just from public pronouncements but rather from private actions supporting and prioritizing diversity management. CEO support is insufficient for organizations to move forward in diversity. HR managers, acting as change agents, must buy into the CEO’s values and thus play a vital role in the implementation of diversity management policies.
So, where do we go from here and what does this all mean? Future studies should include diverse companies in countries other than Canada to get a clearer picture of how generalized these study implications are. Also, it would CEO and HR manager demographic similarities and differences result in different outcomes? The CEO respondents were predominantly male (92%), Caucasian (98%), and possessed an undergraduate or graduate degree (90%). The CEO’s average age was 53 years old. Fifty-four percent (54%) of the HR managers were female, 95% were Caucasian (95%), and their average age was 46 years old. One thing that is apparent, we need more diversity amongst CEOs and HR managers. Moreover, as future studies are contemplated, attempting to find organizations that have diversity in CEOs and HR managers…if that is possible.
Basically, how can we expect fresh innovative ideas when everyone looks, sounds and has the exact same backgrounds? In the study I evaluated…The CEO respondents were predominantly male (92%) and Caucasian (98%). The CEO’s average age was 53 years old. Fifty-four percent (54%) of the HR managers were female, 95% were Caucasian (95%), and their average age was 46 years old. Everyone is the same…no diversity! Fresh ideas anyone?
Research Methodology and Journal Impact Score
The way this research was conducted was via surveys. While surveys can be useful tools such as allowing large populations to be assessed with relative ease, I think it should be noted that to yield meaningful results, surveys require careful planning, time, and effort. The response rate for the study (22.3%) was low with a total of 286 organizations (matched pairs) completing both surveys. Therefore, the findings from this study should be interpreted with this response rate in mind.
The article is published in the Journal of Business Ethics which is a peer-reviewed academic journal. This is a highly respected publication with an impact score in 2020 of 5.77 and is a measure of the yearly average number of citations to recent articles published in that journal.
Media Thoughts
I found this media and clearly reflected that the surveys in my research study as well as many CEOs are …predominantly male (92%), Caucasian (98%), and possess an undergraduate or graduate degree (90%). So, we’re expecting leaders of diversity efforts to lead diversity efforts with no diversity in their ranks…hmmm.
To summarize as the title of this article states…it’s time to walk the talk on diversity. Organizations and employees from the CEO to the HR manager must understand how their actions as well as unspoken beliefs directly affect the implementation of diversity efforts.
Reference
Ng, E. S., & Sears, G. J. (2020). Walking the talk on diversity: CEO beliefs, moral values, and the implementation of workplace diversity practices: JBE. Journal of Business Ethics, 164(3), 437-450. http://dx.doi.org.libezproxy2.syr.edu/10.1007/s10551-018-4051-7
In “Reproducing inequity: the role of race in the business school faculty search”, after discovering that an astonishing 67% of full-time faculty at business schools are white, Professors Grier (a professor of marketing at American University) and Poole (a professor at the University of San Francisco) decided to dive deeper into why diverse groups are underrepresented. To do this, they conducted a qualitative study through interviewing professors in business schools.
Through interviews, Grier and Poole were able to study five components of the Critical Race Theory which offered some explanation into why there is not a proportionate number of diverse faculty members to students. The elements include: unchanged race and lasting racism, the interconnected nature of race with forms of subordination, the idea of one dominant ideology, experiential knowledge, and commitment to social justice. The interviews also revealed in detail how many schools care about the ‘best athlete’ construct, where only outputs matter. Schools do not take into account inputs, or extra duties performed by many underrepresented staff, including mentoring diverse students and serving as members in hiring committees.
Grier and Poole’s research found that to be successful in creating an inclusive environment, everyone must be enthusiastic and open to change. By documenting the issues surrounding diverse faculty in business schools, the professors hope other professors will reflect on their environments, and advocate for change.
The research done by Grier and Poole is essential in understanding the reasons why there are not more diverse faculty members in college business departments. It also helps illustrate that by understanding the reasons behind not having a more diverse faculty, people will understand which components need to shift within their business department. In particular, the article helps identify that the Critical Race Theory applies to higher education organizations. By establishing that the CRT applies to higher education, a relationship is established between diversity and education. Many colleges do not take advantage of this relationship. Universities do not reward professors when they take on different tasks to promote diversity. This includes acknowledging differences and mentoring students who may come from similar backgrounds or share similar experiences.
One of the critical points in the article states that inputs are just as necessary as outputs and that underrepresented minority faculty perspectives must be valued throughout business departments. Different perspectives’ value can only be appreciated when the relationship between international and domestic diversity is studied further.
Due to the dominant ideology component of the CRT, many may find it difficult to change, or understand others, as they are a part of the dominant group. It is difficult for a person to comprehend another person’s experiences if they have not experienced it themselves.
The picture below illustrates that white faculty members consider their department to be more committed to inclusion. This will make them feel more accepted in their respective departments. Black faculty, in contrast, may believe that department efforts to promote inclusion are unsatisfactory. As a result, many feel as though the department does not take inclusion seriously.
This supports the idea that white faculty may not understand some of the difficulties other members go through to feel included. To make diverse faculty feel included within the business school, it is imperative that actions, not just words, are taken to promote diversity. This consists of holding conversations or meetings to discuss staff backgrounds and their experiences, encouraging questions, and acknowledging each faculty member’s unique upbringing or culture. Funding diversity studies may also be beneficial in helping promote inclusion.
We already know why having diverse faculty is crucial, as illustrated by Austin and Pisano, and Gundemir. The following video provides student testimonials about how faculty diversity has had a positive impact on their education.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=owogyWB_lqE
The video illustrates that acknowledging differences between individuals is beneficial, as it encourages students from diverse backgrounds to feel comfortable in their environment.
Grier and Poole’s article is crucial in helping reflect on our surroundings and understanding that we all need to be supportive of change. One of the main objectives was to understand that knowing what to change is essential in feeling the positive effects of a more diverse faculty. By understanding the different aspects that explain why many organizations are not more diverse, institutions will reflect and alter these components, eventually leading to a more diversified group that accurately represents everyone’s backgrounds and experiences.
Flaherty, Colleen. Faculty Members of Color See ‘Illusion of Inclusion’, 6 Jan. 2021, www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/01/06/faculty-members-color-see-illusion-inclusion.
Sonya A. Grier & Sonja Martin Poole (2020) Reproducing inequity: the role of race in the business school faculty search, Journal of Marketing Management, 36:13-14, 1190-1222, DOI: 10.1080/0267257X.2020.1800796
UniversityRochester, AS&E Faculty Diversity Office, director. The Importance of Faculty Diversity. YouTube, YouTube, 1 Dec. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=owogyWB_lqE.
