Diversity Training Session Analysis

* Watch the video titled “Diversity’s real power” (2 min 6 s) from Management Tips with Todd Dewett, located at http://www.lynda.com/Business-Business-Skills-tutorials/Diversitys-real-power/126132/174433-4.html?org=strayer.edu. Investigate two to three (2-3) reasons why diversity is important to an organization’s

I have learned that it is important that educators  and health providers be trained on cultural competency to understand the population they are serving. Marks, Sims, and Osher (King, Sims, & Osher, n.d.) define cultural competency  as a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals and enables that system, agency, or those professionals to work effectively in cross–cultural situations" ( as cited in Cross et al., 1989; Isaacs & Benjamin, 1991). Health providers and educators should investigate demographic patterns or trends in the place where they live and work. This brings awareness of the types of cultures that they might come across when they are working with people. Organizations should integrate and implement policies that promote the value of  diversity, self-assessment, manage the dynamics of difference, acquire and institutionalize cultural knowledge, and adapt to diversity and the cultural contexts of communities they serve (Georgetown  University, 2004). Georgetown University (2004) also stresses that culture competency grows gradually and is always open for improvement.

More importantly, to help improve your diversity IQ, Doug outlines nine alphabetized steps: A – Awareness, B – Be Yourself, C – Check Your Bias, D – DNA Dive, E – Eat Out More, F – Focus on Females, G – GLAAD Matters, H – Hidden Handicap, and I – Inspire, Insights (TEDx Talks, 2015). As the owner and leader of a consulting company, my personal and business goals are to promote diversity within and outside the workplace. Out of Doug’s nine suggestions, I find Doug’s A for Awareness to be of great interest. Particularly, I believe to enhance my awareness of diversity, my goal is to get to know individuals on a personal level, regardless of their culture and background. Nevertheless, increasing my diversity awareness is a great way for me to identify, evaluate and modify my own behavior. However, I do understand that to understand other, I must first understand myself. On the other hand, I must look within myself and remove any bias that may hinder me from embracing diversity. As a matter of fact, I believe that diversity awareness is a great opportunity to treat people the way you want to be

I researched diversity training for the NCAA. There are five major tenants of the NCAA diversity training First, is inclusion. In fact, the NCAA is so committed to inclusion that it has an Office of Inclusion Staff. The Office Inclusion provides support and education to all aspects of diversity no matter the person’s sex race, religion, educational background, disability, or gender identity. The second major tenet of the NCAA diversity training focuses on women, gender equity, title IX. The NCAA diversity training and their office of inclusion helps members adhere to federal and state laws with regards to gender equity and title IX. The third major tenet is making sure that student-athletes with disabilities have equal opportunities to participate in sports. The NCAA is also educating coaches on how to provide more opportunities for students with disabilities and how to help students with succeed. The fourth tenet addresses how to convey an awareness and sensitivity of the difficulties and issues that racial and ethnic minority groups face especially in regards to hiring, retention and engagement. The fifth major tenet of the NCAA diversity training. addresses how coaches and staff can support lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) students. The NCAA discusses the resources available to these communities.

Diversity itself remains an unclear concept. It is contextually specific and linked to demographic and socio-political features of the population and the workforce. Diversity is a selective concept in that some, but not all physical characteristics are incorporated into Managing Diversity programs (Moore 1999). Diversity also has invisible and hidden aspects that include culture and attitudes (Moore 1999). Managing Diversity programs in general mimic or reflect legislative programs

Many people of religion feel an obligation towards their religion and want to reinforce it. A point has been made that allowing a member of the LGBT community to work with them would violate this obligation. In a catholic hospital or school their religious freedom would allow them to terminate an employee based on sexual orientation because of their moral obligation. It is also argued that employers should not be able to, because a person’s sexual orientation would not effect their ability to perform a

Diversity lately is leaving a negative impact to us. Everytime, diversity is brought up the following topics: race, gender, and religion.

At Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) at All Saints, we celebrated diversity week in June of this year. The Café featured a meal from a different culture each day. Then, in the main atrium, a culture map was hung with push pins available to mark the country of a person’s heritage. Later, an employee could choose to complete a puzzle related to diversity in health care. The completed puzzle could be turned in to Human Resources (HR), and the employee would be entered in a drawing for a prize. Another activity for the employees was Bingo. The card had quotes and trivia about diversity and were handed to employees to complete. Once the card was finished, the card was turned into HR. At that time, the employee was entered a drawing. Briefly, these activities demonstrate how BSWH at All Saints is actively educating the staff and others in the different cultures surrounding our hospital. In essence, the exercises focus on the positive aspects of the different cultural groups. This was a fun and enjoyment way of learning about the cultural and traditions of different groups of people. The atrium was filled with excitement and interaction with people. Incidentally, hospital administration was present during the festivities.

Cultural diversity continues to become more common in the workplace. Diversity refers to qualities and features that are different from our own. These differences include race, gender, age, personality, talents, and nationalities. Diversity includes how one identifies themselves as well as how others perceive one. The ability to appreciate the qualities that make us individuals and embrace those who are dissimilar can help increase performance within an organization and prevent conflict.

Diversity is an ongoing discussion in day-to-day life. Not many situations occur without diversity having a role. There are a multitude of topics that introduces or involves diversity, to include age, sex, race, gender, ethnicity and so on. Prior to participating in this Diversity Awareness class, I’ve always thought diversity was more geared around discrimination and racism. Through weekly readings and discussions, I have discovered that diversity is much broader than that. There are many countries that are mixed culturally

Cultural differences in the workplace can sometimes become a challenge in the work environment. In order to facilitate these differences, there must be some form of cultural awareness. Cultural awareness can help employees face the challenge of responding to individuals with different religions in the workplace, expose religious practices, and eliminate stereotyping in the workplace. Awareness of religions, and the beliefs associated with different religions, can be accomplished in many ways, such as training courses, workshops or company handouts (Thomas Kochan, 2003, p. 4). Companies must embrace multiculturalism and diversity.

Cultural shapes how individuals experience the world around them. These experiences are a vital component of how services are both delivered and received. Gladding (2012) describes three key aspects of a multicultural leader. The first key aspect is to be aware of a diverse population and the effect on group work interventions (Gladding, 2012). To better facilitate a multicultural group, a leader

Today’s management in the workforce is composed of all types of people verses thirty years ago when white males held a majority of upper-management positions in companies. These positions are now held by a mixture of ethnic back grounds and women who hold just as many if not more management positions then men. Just by looking at the changes in management demographics shows how important it is for people to understand cultural competency in the workplace. Dr. Roosevelt Thomas Jr. (1999) stated, “Diversity is the collective mixture of whomever we have in our workforce characterized by their differences and similarities” (p.11). Managers and supervisors must understand the characteristics of a diversity mature individual; they also need to be

The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. In the U.S., where the dialogue of inclusion is relatively advanced, even the mention of the word “diversity” can lead to anxiety and conflict. Supreme Court justices disagree on the virtues of diversity and the means for achieving it. Corporations spend billions of dollars to attract and manage diversity both internally and externally, yet they still face discrimination lawsuits, and the leadership ranks of the business world remain predominantly white and male.

In the article, “Making Difference Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity,” the authors David A. Thomas and Robin J. Ely state that the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm and the access-and-legitimacy paradigm are the ”perspectives that have guided most diversity initiatives to date.” (p. 80) Thomas and Ely took these two paradigms and came up with the learning-and-effectiveness paradigm, which combines the best of the discrimination-and-fairness paradigm and the access-and-legitimacy paradigm to create a paradigm that genuinely shows care to learn and understanding of diversity.