Discussion Questions

  1. The readings for this week’s class presented me with different ideas for researchable questions. The issues I am thinking about include diversity in our schools. How do we disaggregate data and the relationship to standardized tests? The pandemic has produced a lot of changes in our society and no other area has seen greater changes than our educational system.

Per our article, “An organization [is] a living culture… that can adapt to the reality as fast as possible.” — Abdi Osman Jama. My question is: did school systems (organizations) adapt to the COVID reality fast? I was finishing my associates degree and professors struggled. I self- taught statistics. It was not pretty.

I watched the news in Syracuse and our largest district struggled. Was there a rapid adaption to this new normal?  How did students perform?

There is one point I would like to make on diversity. I believe all of us need to expand our definition of diversity. Sometimes when I read articles or watch news programs on diversity the term is utilized in a very narrow context. There are many forms of diversity. We all may consider the definition from our personal experiences and that’s to be expected but I think it’s important to consider it in a larger context. Thinking of the many kinds of diversity:

Cultural diversity

Racial diversity

Religious diversity

Disability

Age diversity

Sex / Gender diversity

Sexual orientation

3. There were many statistics from “Why diversity matters,” that sparked my interest. One of my personal favorites is that “Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 30 percent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.” The article goes on to point out that as a society we are closely linked and a global world. Thus, the more diverse the company the better the results. Even Syracuse’s University College understands that their mission is global. Central to expanding and strengthening the University’s global offerings is the rebranding of University College to Syracuse University Global. I’m a prime example of this global diversity. Last semester I’m in Syracuse, my Russian professor is in South Africa, my classmates were in Washington state and overseas.

So, with all these statistics and all this knowledge…it begs the question “Why aren’t all organizations more diverse since it clearly results in greater profits?” If you won’t be diverse for the reasoning it’s those diverse backgrounds and perspectives lead to an array of ideas, knowledge, as well as approaches to doing things… then do it for financial reasons. The bottom line is that diverse organizational culture gives the organization a competitive advantage.

Introduction Dylan

Hi! My name is Dylan Lopez, and I live in Los Angeles, California, but I was born in Rochester, New York and spent the first half of my life there. I am going to be a junior in the Whitman School of Management next semester. I am planning to major in management and recently added a sports management minor. I am taking this course because I need to make room in my schedule for the minor classes and also because I have always enjoyed doing research to learn new subjects. A management course I took last semester briefly covered organizational cultures, and I look forward to going deeper into the material this summer.

In addition to taking this course, I am taking a religion course online and I am applying to summer jobs around my town. Being in California has unfortunately made it so I can only study remotely this summer, but I am happy that I will be able to organize the work to my own schedule.

My advice for all my remote student friends out there is to try and work on your assignments at the same time each day so you can stay on track. Also, I often print out the readings and find that I absorb more information that way without all the distractions that come with reading on the computer. That is something that has worked for me in the past.

Discussion Questions

1.

These readings cause me to think more about what organizational culture is, how it affects people and the way they live their lives, and how diversity plays a role in the success of companies. Based off the reading “What is organizational culture and why should we care?” it seems like the definition of organizational culture is a spectrum and is more of an opinion. Most of the people who voiced their opinions regarding what organizational culture is have very different ideas that one who said one thing might not have even thought of what someone else had said. The definition and the way it affects people is dependent on who the person is and what they have experienced in their life. While it would be easier for most people, if not everyone, to have one main definition for organizational culture, it seems like it will always be more of an opinion of what it is and that it affects people differently depending on what they see it as.

Diversity has been a topic of conversation for decades while people have struggled with discrimination and being treated a specific way because of their gender or skin color. It is extremely interesting that the companies that have more diversity in both gender and ethnic ways have more financial returns because as stated in “Why diversity matters”, this is definitely more of a correlation than a causation. Although, this could potentially be caused by the fact that by having a diversity among the people working could cause people who think differently to be working together and coming up with new and different ideas.

3.

The statistic that “racial and ethnic diversity has a stronger impact on financial performance in the United States than gender diversity, perhaps because earlier efforts to increase women’s representation in the top levels of business have already yielded positive results” is not only an interesting fact but proves that gender diversity has already been effective for businesses in the United States. The statistics in the article makes me think that the reason diversity is so positive for businesses is because there are different people with different backgrounds thinking differently about the same things. This allows me to create my own definition of what organizational culture is just like all the people from linkedin did in 2013. Organizational culture is within a company or even group of people when there is a diversity of people working on the same thing together. This matters because it is a way for people to be working together and is a way to get different perspectives and ideas on the same topic.

Introduction

Hello! My name is Sherri Holmes. I am an older returning student who is married with three daughters. One is a recent college grad and a Mechanical Engineer, one is a college student and the youngest is in high school. I work in New York City and am a co-chair for both my workplace union and our committee for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. None of us are experts on DEI but are passionate about changing the culture at our company.  I enjoy reading most genres, watching movies, political debate, exploring nature and love going to the beach on steamy days!

I don’t have an exciting summer planned, so if I can squeeze it in, perhaps we’ll go to Cape May (Jersey Shore). Other than that, I’ll be working remotely full time and taking summer courses that I wouldn’t ordinarily be able to take online in non-pandemic times. 

I chose this inquiry because as a union rep, I deal with workplace issues on a regular basis and thought it would be interesting.

I haven’t been in school for a very, very long time, so I appreciate all of your tips on taking an online class.

It’s nice to meet you all!

Introduction

Hi! My name is Caitlin Spillane and I am a rising sophomore. I’m majoring in civil engineering and the reason I decided to take this course is because I am hoping to study abroad spring semester when I would normally be taking this class at campus. However WRT 205 is not offered in my preferred country so I chose to take it this summer. This summer I am planning on working at a pizza place and hanging out with friends when not doing class work. One of my classes last semester was completely asynchronous so I am used to being online and it is very nice being able to work ahead of schedule whenever possible. My only piece of advice is make sure to make a note of all the assignment due dates because it can be very easy to forget to hand something in, especially during the summer. I look forward to getting started!!

Introduction

Hello, my name is Julia Fein-Ashley and I am a rising junior majoring in Finance and Accounting, along with a minor in Geography. I am taking this course in an attempt to lessen my workload for next year, as well as to stay busy.

One of the things I am extremely passionate about is travelling, and I plan on doing a lot of that this summer. I am currently in Costa Rica, heading to Florida after this, and hope to go to Alaska by the end of the summer. Besides that, I currently live in Colorado and look forward to hiking some more 14ers this summer.

Last semester, I studied remotely so I am used to working online. The greatest piece of advice I could offer is to create a calendar (I use excel) to plan out your weeks assignments in advance. Being an asynchronous class, it is really helpful to set aside a chunk of time to work. I am really excited to take this course and working with everyone this semester, it should be fun.

Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is Kate Mehne and I am a rising junior. I am majoring in Fashion Design within VPA, and am minoring in Public Communications in Newhouse. I am also in the fashion and beauty milestone program. I am taking this class because I was not able to this past semester with my workload. This summer I am living in Block Island, RI with my family, not Boston which is my hometown. I will be waitressing, taking this class, along with women and gender studies, as well as interning as a content creator for an online fashion brand. I think the fact that this course is online, as well as asynchronous, will be very beneficial for me because I can plan ahead and get my work done on my own time. I was taking two online classes last semester, and my advice to students who have not or who have struggled in doing so, is to be patient with technology and always ask questions. There is also a silver lining as I mentioned above- that you can get your work done on your schedule, which is ultimately pretty nice. Especially in the summer! I’m very excited to take this course and can’t wait to get started.

Introduction

Hi! My name is Zoe Miller and I am going to be a sophomore this upcoming fall. I am majoring in fashion design in VPA and am taking this course to lessen my work load next semester.

Along with this course, I am taking a Stat class and have an internship a couple days a week. I choose to take this class online and asynchronously because I like the idea of being able to log on when I can and do the work at my own pace.

My best advice for taking an online class is to check black board frequently and to look at the schedule ahead of time and see what the week or weeks will look like!

Introduction Ed

Hello, my name is Ed and I’m a junior majoring in Knowledge Management. I’m from the Central New York area graduating from Liverpool High School and Onondaga Community College. I’ve taken online courses before but usually they have a synchronous component to them. I enjoy “meeting” and working with my classmates online so just blogging or online chats will be a new experience. I think the most challenging part of any online course is keeping up with the work and making sure not to miss a deadline. Writing…is definitely a demanding task for me…so hopefully this course will sharpen my skill set.

I have worked in a college science laboratory and have been known to appear in some of the films by American High in Liverpool. This summer I addition to classes, I plan to spend some time up at my family’s camp in the Thousand Islands. While there I enjoy kayaking, fishing, swimming and watching the many tankers go by.

I’m looking forward to working with everyone this summer.

Introduction

Hi! I’m Oumou and I will be a sophomore in the upcoming fall semester. I am in the College of Engineering and Computer Science and I’m majoring in Bioengineering. This summer I am taking this writing course to lessen my workload next semester since I’ll be taking a lot of rigorous courses. I’m also taking a Calculus course as well. I’m from NYC so aside from taking these courses, this summer I plan on exploring the city with my friends and going to all the new places that have opened up. My reason for taking this course online is that I wanted to be home with my family after being on campus for so long. I also like that this course is asynchronous so I can do work ahead of time and enjoy my summer without worrying about logging onto class. My first semester 3 out of 5 of my classes were asynchronous.The main pieces of advice I would give is to try and stay on top of all the assignments, start a majority of the work ahead of time and not wait until the last minute because that will cause a lot of stress which could have been avoided. I’d also recommend using a planner/calendar or even setting reminders on your phone so that you don’t miss any assignments.