Tag: portfolio
Research Portfolio- Kayla
Research Portfolio-Edward
The question guiding my research is disclosing invisible disabilities. Invisible disabilities are disabilities not immediately apparent to others. Although not apparent to others, due to their unrecognizable traits, invisible disabilities are ever present for the impacted individuals. Examples of invisible disabilities include ADHD, epilepsy, chronic pain, hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, and diabetes. This is just a small list of diagnoses that impact many individual’s lives. These examples have a variety of symptoms that are worthwhile to study because having an invisible disability compels an individual to weigh the risks of sharing or concealing their diagnosis. Why my interest? I have an invisible disability, so it is a personal interest of mine.
I have personal connections in the world of disabilities. People often make assumptions about people living with disabilities, which can be isolating at times and negatively impact relationships. Having a disability and needing an IEP in school was somewhat stigmatizing. Therefore, to avoid this stigma, avoiding disclosing is self-protection. So, the professional question will always be…do you disclose…when do you disclose, and I suppose how do you disclose? This research I’m doing may always be with me well into the world beyond this course.
As we moved into Unit 2, I expanded my research from strictly pre-employment interest of disclosure to after employment disclosure. Both areas present somewhat similar issues of concern.
I also found another area of interest in my research searches, individuals with visible disabilities that became invisible due to COVID and working virtually. They now face the same quandary as far as disclosure to employers. That’s an issue I didn’t expect.
Frankly, I’m trying to keep all the pieces of this research portfolio organized. At this rate, I may need to increase computer storage :).
Research Portfolio- Caitlin
Sherri Holmes Research Portfolio
When preparing my portfolio, I sought to include sources that supported my goal of providing meaningful suggestions and dialogue on how to make workplaces more equitable and inclusive of Black workers. Despite my initial resistance to using the SU library databases, ultimately, I found more articles than anticipated on this topic. As a matter of fact, on several occasions, one article led to another and so on. I didn’t necessarily decide in an orderly fashion as to what I would need, rather as I saw what kind of information was available, it informed what direction my research would take. I knew that I needed to explain why America is in this space of devaluing Black people’s labor and disrespecting our humanity with micro and macroaggressions. I realized I would need a source that provided historical context on Black labor in the U.S., which serves as a foundation for understanding how Black workers are perceived today. I knew that data showing statistics on the state of Black employment trends would align with many Black people’s experiences, therefore validating them. Then I thought it was imperative for people to understand how it feels to be a Black person in the workplace, so I’ve included sources that detail personal recollections of Black people’s experiences at work. Later after doing some of the research portfolio exercises, I realized I needed information from the opposition detailing how they might feel about diversity and inclusion initiatives. Finally, it was of course necessary to include sources that provided an answer to my research question – what are solutions for being inclusive and equitable to Black workers? This is a topic close to my heart because I have both experienced and seen in others the consequences of lack of equity and inclusion. Black people have contributed so much to this country and to its economy. We deserve better.
Research Portfolio- Oumou
Dylan Lopez Research Portfolio
At the beginning of the summer, as we read about the challenges of organizational culture and diversity and inclusion, the question that kept recurring to me was: “Why aren’t CEOs and other leaders held accountable for creating measurable progress in these areas?” After all, they are held accountable for performance in so many other areas of their businesses. I was curious to find out if any research had been done on the roles leaders play in creating change.
A few things happened as we transitioned into Unit 2 that redirected my focus. First, as I read the Expanding the Canon blog posts of my classmates, I began to see that issues of bias and discrimination extend beyond the boundaries of organizations into society where they are pervasive and systemic. The idea of focusing on the role of CEOs, while important, seemed too narrow to me. Second, our classmate Sherri Holmes’s post on “Algorithm-Driven Hiring Tools: Innovative Recruitment or Expedited Disability Discrimination?” by Lydia X. Z. Brown, Ridhi Shetty, and Michelle Richardson affected me on a personal level because I had recently taken an online personality test during a routine job application. And lastly, I watched the documentary Persona, which explored the dark side of personality testing and artificial intelligence (AI), including the risks for discrimination against many protected groups. I suddenly realized that AI technologies for human resources could be systematizing bias on a massive scale, so I decided to turn my research focus to this topic.
In Unit 2, I immersed myself in the topic of AI in HR by searching for and reading material from a wide variety of sources. Using my Research Plan as a guide, I found an active conversation taking place in scholarly journals, trade publications, popular websites, and in various other outlets such as YouTube, TED Talks, podcasts, blogs, and corporate websites. I enjoy hunting for great information, so my research process is usually to read everything I can find and to look for ideas and patterns that resonate with me. In the past, I have done this in a haphazard way, but all the tools we used in this unit, such as the three listed below, helped me stay organized and kept me from chasing some ideas that were off on a tangent.
As a result of this more focused process, I found many great sources, including the following which I have annotated here:
The more reading I did, the more I realized that it was not so easy to sort all of my sources into clearly defined “Pro-AI” and “Anti-AI” categories. Instead, many sources fell into a kind of gray area where both advantages and disadvantages of AI were discussed and explored. At first, I thought this meant I wasn’t doing my research properly, but I now see that the conversation taking place right now is actually in a kind of gray area. As a society, we don’t know yet what to make of AI in HR. Many of the major problem areas have been identified, but we are still feeling our way through the issues that are more subtle. Even the harshest critics of the use of AI have a tiny bit of hope that it may turn out to be just fine. But one thing I noted is that the conversation hasn’t really heated up to the point where our government is paying enough attention and getting involved. Part of me worries that our representatives are going to get involved when it’s too late. Ultimately, my work in this unit has inspired me to add my own thoughts and ideas to the conversation. If I can reach even a small audience, I think I will have done my part to move the discussion forward.