Raising Diversity Consciousness. There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. Shakespeare

Transcription

1 Raising Diversity Consciousness There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so. Shakespeare

2 What is Diversity Diversity is about people. It s about the environment we work in and respecting our customers and coworkers. Its about how we value and appreciate those that are unlike ourselves. It s about how we think and how that translates into how we act in all that we do as employees and representatives of Genesee County.

3 What do we mean, understanding Diversity? Acknowledging our own prejudice and bias. Increasing understanding of other s point of view. Increasing respectful behavior. Increasing openness. Increasing humility.

4 Definition of Consciousness: To increase one's awareness and understanding of one's own needs, behavior, attitudes, etc., especially as a member of a particular social, work, or political group.

5 Question?? Am I comfortable working with people whose age, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and other group characteristics are different than mine? Have you ever experienced prejudice?

6 Understanding Diversity Grand Torino The Movie - His once all-white neighborhood is now mostly Southeast Asian and he has a Hmong family living next door. What were the lessons about Diversity in this movie?

7 Definition of Discrimination: Behavior that treats people unequally because of their group memberships. Discriminatory behavior, ranging from slights to hate crimes, often begins with negative stereotypes and prejudices.

8 Nature of Stereotypes and Prejudice The ability to distinguish friend from foe helped early humans survive, and the ability to quickly and automatically categorize people is a fundamental quality of the human mind. Categories give order to life, and every day, we group other people into categories based on social and other characteristics. (Stereotype) A prejudice is an opinion, prejudgment or attitude about a group or its individual members.

9 Know Yourself Know Yourself Likes and Dislikes Triggers Your personality and identity How Would You Describe You?

10 Taking a look within Understanding diversity begins with understanding yourself As a start, complete each statement In my family, children are expected to I often feel uncomfortable around people who are I am proud to be When I hear people speaking another language, I think they re

11 Taking a look within I really feel like an outsider when The most important thing in life is My ethnic or culture heritage is special because I m often attracted to people who

12 What is Respectful Behavior to you?

13 What makes each person unique Biology, which determines gender, body size; skin, hair and eye color, sexuality and age. Ethnicity and culture, the customs, language and sense of identity often shared by people with similar roots. Beliefs, ones religion or philosophy of life, political views. Family life, including family size, values traditions and social class. Geography, how one feels about being from a certain neighborhood, city or region. Experiences, in school, work, travel, recreation and with other people.

14 Identity Trans people dis-identify, in varying levels of degree, with the sex/gender assigned to them at birth.

15 Identity Just as gender is part of a person s identity, so too is nationality.

16 Mental Illness Implicit bias against persons with mental illness was evident in the association of mental illness with dangerous, but was not evident in the association of mental illness with bad (though there was a trend in this instance also).

17 Removed after This shirt, targeted to young girls, was offered on JC Penney s website earlier this year and swiftly the company received numerous complaints that the shirt perpetuated gender bias.

18 Large Families

19 Small Families

20 Body Size

21 Old People

22 Who would you hire?

23 Who would you hire? Who would you like to live next to?

24 Who would you hire?

25 Disabilities

26 Politics at work

27 Why is Embracing Diversity Important? Diversity is the creation of an organizational culture where the best people want to work, and are treated equally because of that. where everyone is treated with dignity and respect where people are promoted on their merits and where opportunities for success are available to all. Embedding the principles of diversity management in everything helps in achieving your company s most ambitious business goals.

28 Characteristics of Prejudice A prejudice can be positive, but in our usage refers to a negative attitude. Prejudices are often accompanied by feelings of insecurity, fear and/or hatred. Prejudices are formed by a complex psychological process that begins with attachment to a close circle of acquaintances or an "in-group" such as a family. Prejudice is often aimed at "out-groups. How we think determines how we act.

29 What is Bias? Bias can be referred to as a process where you prefer one thing over another thing. Bias is a term used when choice can be made between two things and the person selects the thing which he/she himself/herself likes. Everyone has biases. Biases are as natural as breathing.

30 Google Starts Diversity Initiative Unconscious Bias Unconscious bias affects every area of our lives. Unconsciously, we tend to like people who look like us, think like us and come from backgrounds similar to ours. Like Me Bias Most people like to think he or she is openminded and objective.

31 The American Denial D:\download.html

32 Unconscious Bias These thought patterns, assumptions and interpretations or biases we have built up over time help us to process information quickly and efficiently. From a survival standpoint, bias is a positive and necessary trait. Bias is a natural function of the human brain.

33 Unconscious Bias Research has shown that the beliefs and values gained from family, culture and a lifetime of experiences heavily influence how we view and evaluate both others and ourselves People who argue that prejudice is not a big problem today are, ironically, demonstrating the problem of unconscious prejudice. Because these prejudices are outside our awareness, they can indeed be denied.

34 Unconscious Bias In business, however, bias can be costly. It can cause us to make decisions that are not objective; and ultimately we miss opportunities.

35 Diversity and Responsibility You are a manager in an organization that is trying to encourage respect for racial and ethnic diversity. You overhear someone telling a racist or ethnic joke. What do you do?

36 An Active Bystander can be a co-worker, not just a manager A coworker/active bystander can speak up, make room for silenced voices, halt a painful escalation, steer everyone away from the blame game, and sustain and increase respect for diversity in the workplace. An understanding of the constructive role that a bystander can play grew out of psychological research done at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.

37 Fear keeps us from being an Active Bystander Civil courage is the antidote to bystander apathy, Dr. Blake-Beard explains. You can t let it go because of the damage it will do to you when you don't act.

38 What Do Co-Workers Want From Each Other? Reliability Responsiveness To Feel Valued Empathy Competency Teamwork

39 Effective Communication Works Be Ready To Listen Ask The Right Questions Restate Match The Speed And Style Body Language Words 7% impact Tone of Voice 38% impact Body Language 55% impact

40 You can get more out of relationships Be open about differences Don t assume anything Encourage questions Make a point to make friends with people different from you. Don t make someone a spokesperson Avoid telling ethnic, racial or sexual jokes Make your feelings known Remember that mistakes happen.

41 Things we can do to mitigate the effects of Bias Recognize and accept that you have bias (no guilt) Mindfulness Use a flashlight on yourself Practice constructive uncertainty Explore when you feel awkward and uncomfortable Engage with people who are others and expose yourself to exemplars of others. Give Feedback compassionately