At a minimum, each student will be expected to post an original and thoughtful response to the DB question and contribute to the weekly dialogue by responding to at least two other posts from students.
The insight I got from my reading is although companies try to become more diverse they still are biased to black and white. I also found rather interesting is how companies are hiring and employees to just monitor and operate how diverse their company is. I feel if you have to monitor how diverse your company is then that is a problem, it seems as though you don't really want to be to diverse, but just a little. That is disturbing to me. i also found that companies who are looking and trying to become more diverse, are still biased to how they employee and choose their employees. i think it is a good thing to be a diverse company, because it gives you a edge over your competitives, and helps to make your company more productive. i only problem with companies who have to hire a diversity team, I think companies that try to become more diverse are not hiring people based on their talent alone, but there culture, so they can appear to be a more diverse company.
My experience with diversity is that while I was working at a automotive plant, I found that as a minoritywe were all grouped together, even though we aere different cultures. I also found a lack of communication with each other, because of the language barrier. So there was alot of seperation and segretation. Although diversity is good, it can be bad, it can seperate cultures more.
I found the study by EgonZeghner in the “Why Diversity Matters in the Workplace” article to be a refreshing study for me. I come from a very diverse circle of friends and yet I sometimes feel we live in a society that believes company’s hands are forced when it comes to creating a multifarious work environment. The fact that it shows only a 21% “public pressure” factor really helps negates that belief. Although I do wish that number were lower it does show growth as a people in general. We now see that all people have their stakes to claim and that a diverse group can increase production. There were several great examples as to why diversity in the workplace is a positive but what stood out to me the most was the personal growth aspect of the actual employees and not necessarily the company. Immersing younger and impressionable employees into an environment that may seem atypical to them at first is a means to open their eyes to a whole new world of ideals and prepares them for things to come. That open-mindedness in return benefits the employee and company.
I also found the Huffington Post article to be an eye opener. In particular the “You don’t provide the feedback you would give to the people who look like you” quote mentioned be Chuck Shelton quote featured in the USA Today article linked in the article. The article pertains to white managers, such as myself, and the reasoning some of them/us may have to not vocalize equally amongst the employees in a diverse environment out of either fear of backlash or just general discomfort or inability to approach a person as simply that. A person. And the study was based on companies that rank high on the diversity scale. Just apparently not on the diverse communication scale. It actually had the adverse effect on me that the first article I mentioned in this post. It’s a bit disappointing.
As I read through the Forbes report I figured I would read through it in its entirety but probably end up on a similar subject as the previous two or even on the subject of the female workforce in the U.S or world in general but I couldn’t get past the “age diversity” section. It’s something that has never even crossed my mind when it comes to the workforce. It claims for the first time people over the age of sixty five will outnumber children under the age of five and that fact will directly force governments to rethink the way we view older workers and retirement. It’s just not the first thing that comes to mind when I think workplace diversity.
I’ve fortunately had a very diverse experience in the workplace from a very young age. I grew up working with my father at his restaurant and it was an extremely diverse group of people and I feel it prepared me for jobs to come. I’ve never been intimidated with working or managing people of different races or sex. But I’d be lying if I said it sometimes isn’t a challenge. But I suppose that goes without saying for a manager in general. People will challenge you regardless. It’s part of the territory and part of my learning process. I feel I learn more in a diverse environment like the one I’m in and it will give me an advantage in years to come.