Tag: unit1

Discussion Questions Week of 6/21

Response to #1

I began my search to expand the canon by going back to Fundamentals of Management, the textbook for the management course I took last semester. We did a unit on “Managing Human Resources and Diversity,” so I thought the endnotes of that chapter in the book would lead me to some interesting articles. The chapter covered the full range of diversity from gender to race to sexual orientation to age and more, so there were many possible angles to pursue. I used Summon on the SU library website to search for the scholarly articles, and I found other articles directly on the web from the links that were in the endnotes. I also did keyword searches using terms from our readings and from concepts I came across that I was jotting down as I did my research. One idea led to another and another. So far, I have downloaded about 25 mostly academic articles, and I have started skimming them looking for one that could be influential. Some articles are narrowly focused on a specific industry like healthcare or IT or are based on research in another country. I think I will choose an article that has a broader scope with a US focus probably written by an expert in human resources or management.

Response to #3

In “Understanding Key D&I Concepts,” authors Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan aim to help managers understand the complex nature of diversity and inclusion in the workplace and point out ways they can adapt their behavior to have a more positive impact. In their own words, Kaplan and Donovan describe workplace diversity and inclusion as “a thousand-piece puzzle … [with] no picture on the box cover to show where the pieces might fit” (1). While their project has a broad scope, they make the concepts relatable by describing them in the context of a typical manager’s day. From their experience as management consultants, the authors understand that concepts such as “unconscious bias” are difficult to grasp yet must be understood before they can be addressed. That is why their method of highlighting moments where improvements can be made and offering possible solutions is so effective. While it is true that not every manager in the real world works in a structured organization like the one described, Kaplan and Donovan reveal many insights, share useful tips, and help managers understand that “good intent is not enough” (6). In other words, to improve workplace diversity and inclusion, managers must be active and not passive about it.

Discussion Questions Week of 6/21

Response# 1

As I read Robert Austin and Gary Pisano’s article, Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage, I was immediately reminded of HBO Max’s documentary “Persona: The Dark Truth Behind Personality Tests”. While viewing the film, I was utterly appalled when I learned how personality tests are used as a screening tool for employment, which unfairly discriminates against neurodivergent and other disabled people.  I think this is a topic in need of further exploration in the D&I arena. I have googled several articles and posts and discovered there is a field of study called Psychometrics meant to measure skills, attitudes and personality traits.  I think it will be helpful if I can find an article by a person in that field who disagrees with using personality tests as an employment screen.  So far, I have a report on algorithms and disability discrimination. Next, I will check out the SU library where I’ll look for any journals related to disability and Human Resources, as well as any on Psychometry.

Response #2

Although “Understanding D&I Concepts” from The Inclusion Dividend: Why Investing in Diversity & Inclusion Pays Off by Mark Kaplan and Mason Donovan offers us an incredibly insightful and detailed dissection of the meaning and implementation of crucial D&I concepts, the authors fail to mention real world examples of best practices for handling bias. Whereas Robert Austin and Gary Pisano’s Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage gives us a robust report on how to recognize discriminatory practices against the neurodivergent, as well as detailed plans from existing businesses on D&I implementation. As exhibited in Austin and Pisano’s piece, they have convincingly demonstrated to us that the reported strategies work, based on listed companies’ willingness to implement them.

As you can see above, I have utilized 2 theys and have tried to remain somewhat neutral in what my beliefs are. With that said, I still employed the use of descriptive and emphatic verbs to help get the point across that real world examples are important when recommending strategies for workplace improvement.

Austin and Pisano Summary

“Neurodiversity as a competitive advantage” by Austin and Pisano is an analysis of the effects current workplace standards have on the Neurodiverse. From onboarding to the criteria for promotion, members of the Neurodiverse community often go overlooked and struggle to find employment as a result. Austin and Pisano refer to the Neurodiverse community as an “untapped pool of talent” and support their claim through the use of various studies that prove Neurodiverse people to be more than capable of completing the jobs they are qualified for. The idea that “Innovation is most likely to come from parts of us that we don’t all share.” reflects the core ideas of this text. This article not only raises awareness around the lack of diversity for the Neurodiverse within global workplace settings, but it also shows examples of the prospects of cultivating equity and promoting inclusion. 

Discussion Questions wk 6/21

  1. For my assignment I’ve been looking for all types of materials that I can find, I haven’t limited it to just one type (at least not yet). I’ve found 1 experiment, and 2 articles that discuss the topic like Austin and Pissano did. As of right now I’m leaning more towards my topic being Neurodiversity just because I’d like to learn a lot more about it because I wasn’t aware of this term before this course. I also think that it’s very important to realize that neurologically diverse people are just as capable as everyone else. I think it would be very beneficial if I can come across an article that was written in the point of view of someone who is neurologically diverse as well as their coworkers just so we can see a first hand account of how it is in the workplace. So far I’ve used google scholar and i’ve been watching a few youtube videos to find information.
  2. In discussions of challenges that may arise when hiring neurodiverse employees, Austin and Pissano state that many people they have interviewed believe that there should be an emphasis on on the need to be sensitive to their stress. Similarly, Kaplan and Donovan contribute that it is very important to take time to find positive solutions because “a mismanaged event may not lead to a bigger crisis but rather to an unintended impact.

I think I did better on this They say /I say than the first time. I chose to use two they says so that I could connect both articles. Although Austin and Pissano is about Neurodiversity, I think the quote that I chose from the Intent and impact section of Kaplan and Donovan definitely applies the same because if the situation is not handled correctly it can make matters worse.

K&D summary

The Kaplan and Donovan article explored several inclusion concepts as well as detailed explanations of each so that the readers can be left with a deeper understanding of the different components of inclusion. The article is written for the Dagoba group which is an organization that aims to educate leaders on ways to implement and encourage inclusion in their organizations. While reading, one part that stuck out to me was when the authors were discussing Intent and Impact and wrote “Intent Frequently does not equal impact…in order to move the company forward though, leaders intentions have to create a desired impact.” This immediately reminded me current events because Ikea, a Scandinavian furniture chain has been facing a lot of backlash for its “Juneteenth Menu” by it’s Black employees because this action was deeply offensive. This is a prime example of intent not matching impact because Ikea may have thought that it would be a nice gesture, but the impact it had was not what was intended. This article shows how much we deal with issues of inclusion on a day to day basis while also communicating the importance of taking the time to educate yourself and try to apply these concepts in order to foster a more inclusive environment.

Discussion Questions Week 3

Response to #1

The reading in this unit that stood out to me the most was the Austin and Pisano article about neurodiversity. As a result, I would like to focus on neurodiversity in the workplace. The Austin and Pisano article focused a lot on the benefits of neurodiverse individuals, along with how to get them into specific industries which could use their skillsets. However, I would like to focus on areas or industries where there is already an underrepresentation in the industry, the struggles that they have with adding neurodiverse individuals, and see if there is any room for change. In order to have the most success in finding an article which interests me, I plan on using google, as well as the SU library database using key words to narrow down my search. I plan on using the filter features on the SU database, as I believe that this will help me narrow down the results and find something that is relevant towards our class. Some of the filters I plan on using to have an article that is credible and relevant in today is to have the filter set for articles published in the past five years, as well as journal articles. After I have found an article that meets these criteria, I plan on googling the author to make sure that they are respected individuals within that field. The experts I believe that would be relevant would be people in academia, or people in the corporate world who have experience dealing with neurodiverse individuals. So far, I have had success using these techniques to find articles which would be relevant and interesting to research more on.

Response to #2

In their article, Austin and Pisano highlight the fact that people with neurodiverse conditions are not taken full advantage of due to conventional recruitment tactics. In addition, they state some of the benefits associated with neurodiverse individuals, along with ways to get them involved in the workplace. Although Austin and Pisano do not say so directly, they acknowledge that accommodations for neurodiverse individuals often involve extreme amounts of effort and change within the organization.  In their recent work, Kaplan and Donovan have found that having good intentions does not always mean that there will be a positive impact. Kaplan and Donovan argue that to have a positive impact on diverse individuals there must be constant changes taking place in the organization in order to accommodate and help diverse individuals grow.  This is similar to Austin and Pisano as they both illustrate that in order to accommodate diverse individuals,  many things have to change in the workplace. Along with this, both articles stated the fact that it is often difficult for people who do not have the same background as diverse individuals to help them grow, as they do not understand where they are coming from, or their personal needs.

Discussion Questions Week 3

1.

I would like to look more into diversity among neurological disorders and different occasions and people who participate and are affected by it. As someone who has ADD and has needed a little extra help in school to do the best possible work that I can, I find the topic as a whole very interesting. I understand that that is not as extreme as what Austin and Pisano discussed in their article, but I am able to relate to somewhat of what they were saying. I also think that this is a kind of diversity that is overlooked and there needs to be a larger focus on it. I think that the experts to talk about this would be people who study neurological disorders and people who work on recruiting and hiring people to work for a company. They can both discuss the different sides to the hiring process and working with the company that will provide helpful and important information.

2.

While Kaplan and Donovan ague that while people may have the right intentions when it comes to diversity and/or inclusion, it is not more or less important than following through and allowing actions to match up with ideas. Austin and Pisano agree that diversity and inclusion need to take place but are less focused on the intentions and more focused on the outcome.

I had a hard time coming up with a statement because both articles discuss similar ideas that I agree with. That being said it was not easy to come up with a way that they “disagreed” or had “contradicting” ideas. However, after thinking about both articles and looking them back over I noticed that the idea of intentions behind the actions differed just a little bit. While I definitely think that like Kaplan and Donovan discussed that the intensions are important, I do think that in the end at least we are getting somewhere and are treating people like they should be treated, as equals.

Discussion Questions Week 3

Response to #1

When it comes to my addition of valuable texts that will expand our “canon”, I want to focus on the neglect of disability. However, as we have seen how those with disabilities have been treated in the workforce, I want to research how they are treated in the health care workforce. I began thinking about this after reading Pisano’s article about neurodiversity. In the past, neurodiversity, and disability, when introduced into a business-type setting, could have been seen as foreign to uneducated and biased people. However, I want to explore what happens when these people are introduced into a legally supposed setting to cater to them and help them. I have been googling my topic, trying to find a majority of articles, and then will want to hone in on a reoccurring theme between them. I hope that once I find this theme or idea that I want to follow up on, Summon Libraries will have an article that encompasses it well. 

Response to #2

For this week’s template exercise, I decided to use two “theys.” The articles I will be referring to are Pisano’s and Kaplan and Donovan’s. My attempt reads:

Pisano reminds us through SAP’s experience that by acquiring people in the workforce that see differently, employees won’t all look in the same direction for an answer, while Kaplan and Donovan acknowledge that while having the good intention of hiring diverse employees, the desired impact will only be tangible if there is common ground. Kaplan and Donovan do not suggest avoiding diverse employees but rather encourage the balance between intent and effect, which all happens by being aware of words and behavior.

This template was harder for me than the previous weeks’ attempt. However, it was easier for me to make my point by using two “theys” because the ideas bounce off each other, and I did not have to think too hard yet about my opinion and input. I am glad I did two theys first because now I will feel more confident about creating a “they say/i say” sentence. 

Overview of Week of 6/21

Now that we’re getting our feet under us in terms of what organizational culture is, why diversity and inclusion are part of the conversation, and how thinking about rhetorical situation can help us to engage with complex texts, it’s time for us to build on that.

As a group, we’ve all been working with the same set of texts, and that gives us a shared foundation of knowledge. What I’ve tried to assemble here is a set of texts that function as a canon–works that are essential to an understanding of the subject matter, important and influential works. But there’s so much more out there to explore, and that will be your primary work for the week–looking around to locate an additional text that you think should be part of the canon.

Canonical works are substantive–building on careful and thoughtful research. They provide new insights and ideas, and don’t simply re-present known information. They work well for their audience, so that they can contribute to the world of knowledge.

Chances are you’ll need to look at several articles to find one that does all this and that meets the particular criteria that are set forth on the

Unit 1 schedule and assignment sheetDownload

The SU libraries’ website is a good starting point. You can use the Advanced Search functions there to help filter the results so they meet some of the basic criteria to start with (i.e. adjusting the publication dates, limiting the types of publications, etc.). You’ll find a number of useful tutorials on the library site if you’re not already familiar with using it. This search tips page is a good place to start.

(A quick note on using SU libraries vs. Google Scholar–you’ve already paid for the SU services and won’t ever bump into a paywall; on Google Scholar, you often will. The library also provides free research support, which you can’t get on Google.)

So, where to begin? Here’s an overview of your tasks for the week:

Reading assignments:

  • chapters 2 and 3 of TSIS
  • chapter 1 of Rewriting by Joe Harris (PDF on Blackboard)
  • “Understanding key D&I concepts” (PDF on Blackboard)
  • your selected article (that you plan to contribute to the canon)–to write an effective summary, you will need to read this carefully and probably more than once. Be sure to consult the close reading handout and the handout on summary.

Discussion/writing assignments:

  • write a 100-200 word summary of either the Kaplan and Donovan article from this week OR the Austin and Pisano article from last week, and submit this on the blog (categorize as “Discussions/Homework”; tag with “K&D” or “A&P” as appropriate, along with “weekof6/21,” and [your name] (due Weds., 6/23) 
  • respond to 2 of this week’s discussion questions (linked below). Categorize as “Discussions/Homework”; tag with “weekof6/21,” “unit1,” and [your name]. (due Thurs., 6/24):  https://ksoakes.expressions.syr.edu/wrt205summer2021/2021/06/21/discussion-prompts-for-week-of-6-21/
  • respond to at least 2 of your classmates’ discussion posts on the blog (due Sat., 6/26) write a 200 word summary of your selected article. Include a link to or PDF of the article you’re working with, and reference the author and title of the text you are summarizing. Categorize this as “Expanding the Canon”; tag it with “summary,” “weekof6/21,” and [your name]. (due Sun., 6/27)

Discussion prompts for Week of 6/21

This week you’ll begin injecting into this conversation about diversity and inclusion that we’ve been reading about. Each of you will suggest an article to add to this body of information, so that we can all continue to expand our understanding of the issues. Please be sure to reread the last page of the the Unit 1 assignment sheet (linked below).

Unit 1 schedule and assignment sheetDownload

First, a quick refresher on rhetorical situation. This is the idea that everything is written by someone, for someone, for some purpose, and within some broader context. Considering these different elements of a text can give us a window into how the text works, why it looks the way it does, whether it is likely to be successful for its intended reader, etc. You’ve already seen rhetorical situation represented in visual form like this:

Just a little something to keep in mind as we move into discussion for the week–we’ll be thinking a lot this week about how authors respond to their writing situation in order to produce successful communications, and in particular about how an author’s audience connects to his/her purpose in writing.

On to the prompts–this week everyone should respond to the 1st question and then select 1 of the other 2 to answer. Responses should be >150 words each. Please tag your responses with “unit1,” “weekof6/21,” and [your name]. Categorize as “Discussions.”

  1. It’s time to get moving along with your unit 1 assignment. For this assignment, you will be adding to the set of sources we’re reading about diversity and organizational culture (which amount to a canon of sorts–a collection of important texts). We’ll expand this canon by suggesting additional valuable resources. So, for your first discussion post this week, please tell us a little about how you’re doing that: what kinds of material are you looking for? what topic are you following up on? what sort of expert(s) do you think we need to hear from? how are you looking (i.e. what particular databases or search tools are you using)? what techniques or strategies are proving helpful?
  2. This week’s readings move from the theoretical conversation about diversity that unfolds in the pages of scholarly journals to the practical–consideration of what is actually involved in creating and maintaining a diverse workforce, this time through the lens of (dis)ability. Let’s start to put the pieces together, as we’re adding to our growing foundation of knowledge: construct a they say/I say sentence (or series of sentences) that connects one of this week’s readings about disability inclusion with one of the readings from the last 2 weeks. (There are a number of templates in chapter 2 of TSIS that might help you with this work.) You are welcome to include yourself as an I in this formulation, but you may also choose to use 2 theys here–i.e. While Austin and Pisano contend that…. Kaplan and Donovan suggest that… Be creative, and use this work to further your understanding both of the texts you’re employing, as well as your own perspective.
  3. In chapter 1 of Rewriting, Joe Harris asks us to consider a writer’s project when we’re trying to make sense of a particular text. That is, he encourages us to think of “something far more complex than a main idea, since it refers not to a single concept but to a plan of work, to a set of ideas and questions that a writer ‘throws forward (Latin, pro + jacare)” and to recognize that “a project is something that a writer is working on–and that a text can only imperfectly realize” (Harris 17). Thinking in these terms, how would you characterize the project that Kaplan and Donovan undertake in “Key D&I Concepts”? That is, what do you think they are “working on” in this article? (Review Harris’s steps at the bottom of page 15.)