Office of Institutional Safety & Equity (OISE) |
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As noted in a previous issue of our Diversity Newsletter, the need to belong at work comes second to the need to belong at home. Here at PAFA and within the Office of Institutional Safety and Equity (OISE), we are working to create a culture where everyone can achieve their own vision of success and excellence. To do that and achieve this collective goal we need to employ the tools of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, justice, accessibility, sustainability, truth, racial healing, and transformation.
By celebrating differences and similarities during this month, we hope that our community will gain a richer understanding of each other. As we do every month, we encourage you to use the Diversity Awareness Calendar to explore how these ethnic, cultural, and significant events may affect students, colleagues, and friends in the PAFA community.
– Dr. Ronke Oke
The Office of Institutional Safety & Equity (OISE)
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"Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and test of our civilization."
-- Mahatma Gandhi
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April is Celebrate Diversity Month! |
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The Office of Institutional Safety & Equity (OISE) dedicates the April 2022 issue of the Diversity Awareness Newsletter & Calendar to two dimensions of identity:
age-group identity and generational identity.
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Diversity is a very rich and complex concept that captures the breadth and depth of the human experience. However, when we think about diversity we tend to focus generally on individual differences or specifically on racial identities. It is important that we expand our understanding of identity beyond race and ethnicity and consider how we can interact with individuals across the dimensions of diversity. Diversity is as much about bringing new viewpoints to education as it is about elevating voices that can help create a more inclusive atmosphere in both content and environment. |
The difference between "age identity" and "generational identity":
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Age-group identity refers to our sense of feeling "young" or "old" while generational identity are a way to group age cohorts.
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Age-group identity is more frequently associated with loss and decline, whereas generational identity is more frequently associated with positive characteristics and increased levels of agency.
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Age-group identity analyzes subjective beliefs about "old" age constructed from cultural representations about the "elderly" while generational identity analyzes how common experiences create a shared identity and the evolution of "group think" that occurs among members of a generational cohort.
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The 'Four Layers of Diversity' wheel shows the complexity of the diversity filters through which we all process stimuli and information. This leads to our assumptions, drives our own behaviors and ultimately impacts others.
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For a more comprehensive list of diversity markers please see the "34 Types of Diversity in the Workplace" We also encourage you to explore this Diversity 101 Toolkit for more resources and readings.
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On Age-Group Identity
In social identity theory, there are two general identity categories: self-assigned identity categories like race, gender, etc. and socially-assigned identity categories like age and generation, etc.
“Age-group identity” refers to a subjective, rhetorically constructed awareness of age. Much like gender, race, and ability, age identity includes both physical (biological) and sociocultural dimensions. As a social identity category, age identity includes the relative sense of feeling “young” or “old,” which does not necessarily coincide with chronological age. For example, people typically report feeling older than their chronological age until age twenty-five, at which point they begin to report feeling younger than their chronological age (Galambos et al.). Age identification also changes in the short term based on a contextual sense of social appropriateness—such as feeling “too old” to change careers, but “too young” to retire. Simultaneously, longer-term transitions to a new sense of age identity happen gradually and are prompted by a disruption to a sense of continuity; for example, an illness or injury, a milestone birthday, or the death of a peer can all contribute to an emerging awareness of oneself as aging or old. Age cohorts give researchers a tool to analyze changes in views over time; they can provide a way to understand how different formative experiences interact with the life-cycle and aging process to shape people’s view of the world. While younger and older adults may differ in their views at a given moment, age cohorts allow researchers to go further and examine how today’s older adults felt about a given issue when they themselves were young, as well as to describe how the trajectory of views might differ across age cohorts." | Read More
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On Generational Identity
On the other hand, “generational identity” refers to "an individual’s awareness of his or her membership in a generational group and the significance of this group to the individual" (Joshi, Dencker, Franz, & Martocchio, 2010). "The cutoff lines between one generation and another are somewhat arbitrary, and multi-decade age cohorts are not really monolithic entities with one particular identity or another. Generations are one way to group age cohorts. A generation typically refers to groups of people born over a 15-20 year span, such as the Millennial generation, currently the
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youngest adult generation. Generational analysis is an important tool used by Pew Research Center and other researchers. This report aims to describe the basic approach of generational analysis at the Pew Research Center and some of the key insights it provides into understanding public attitudes and behaviors. The factors associated with generational differences can be complex and overlapping. Researchers often think about three separate effects that can produce differences in attitudes between age groups: life cycle effects (sometimes called age effects), period effects and cohort effects." | Read More
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"Building a better future will depend on our ability to appreciate generational differences."
-- Mal Fletcher
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The Rise of Diversity Statements |
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In the Spring 2020, BELONGING successfully drafted and published PAFA's first ever diversity statement. PAFA's diversity statement is yet another way PAFA reiterates its core values and demonstrates institutional support of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). Along with our diversity and inclusion strategic goal, PAFA's diversity statement is a description of our collective vision for the future of PAFA.
Generally speaking, institutional diversity statements outline demonstrated, sustained commitments to advancing DEIB goals within the organization and beyond. Since Summer 2020, and in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, companies around the country have individually made bold promises expressing deep commitments to racial justice and institutional reform, leading to a rise in the popularity of institutional diversity statements. In response a new degree of corporate accountability has pushed institutions to move from performative diversity statements to real, transformative action.
Nowadays, many jobs (including Higher Education, law firms, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations) require candidates to create and submit personal diversity statement. Different from institutional statements, personal diversity statements have become as important as an applicant's resume and cover letter. They allow applicants to
How to write a great personal diversity statement?
- Review Gardenwartz & Rowe's "The Dimensions of Diversity" Wheel
- Spend some time outlining what "diversity" means to you and your commitment to diversity
- Consider the many aspects of your background and experiences that make you unique
- Reflect on experiences you have had on a diverse team or in a pluralistic workplace
- Ask yourself how your experiences in diverse workplaces have impacted your personal growth.
- Ask yourself how your experiences in diverse workplaces have impacted your professional growth
- Detail how you will contribute to and enhance diversity in your workplace
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The History of Diversity Trainings
& Workshops
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THE HISTORY OF DIVERSITY TRAINING & ITS PIONEERS
Reprinted by permission: Vaughn, B. E. (2007). Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Management Magazine, pp. 11 - 16, Vol.1, Issue 1, Spring 2007. DTUI.com Publications Division. Diversity training refers to teaching with the goal of improving...
Read more
diversityofficermagazine.com
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Neurodiversity is the next paradigm shift in the alphabet soup of
diversity, inclusion, access, and belonging.
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U.S. employers large and small are beginning to face a major demographic shift: the sharp increase in the neurodiverse workforce, made up of workers with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, Tourette’s syndrome, and other learning and mental health differences.
In his 2013 blog post on Psychology Today, John Elder Robison, who has Asperger’s -- syndrome (a form of autism spectrum disorder) -- defines neurodiversity as “the idea that neurological differences like autism and ADHD are the result of normal, natural variation in the human genome.”
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Neurodiversity is a Competitive Advantage
Many people with neurological conditions such as autism spectrum disorder, dyspraxia, and dyslexia have extraordinary skills, including in pattern recognition, memory, and mathematics. But the neurodiverse population remains...
Read more
hbr.org
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Neurodiversity: The Next Phase in the Diversity Discussion..
We all want inclusion, diversity, equity, and acceptance (IDEA) in our workplaces. Corporations are creating and hiring diversity and inclusion positions to help address issues related to racial, ethnic, and gender diversity and inclusion. In...
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icma.org
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"The number of people with autism entering the workforce in the next 10 years and beyond is on the rise, with the growth cutting across racial, ethnic, and geographic lines. Currently, the unemployment rate among people with autism remains high, with some estimates coming in at over 80%. The heightened profile of disability, equity, and inclusion functions in major employers is already leading companies to think about forms of diversity beyond race and gender. Since the early 2010s, a network of major employers has developed targeted employment initiatives and protocols to better integrate this workforce into their companies. But the number of companies involved in neurodiversity hiring initiatives is modest today, as is the number of participating workers." | Read More
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Guerrilla Girls is an anonymous group of feminist, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world. The group formed in New York City in 1985 with the mission of bringing gender and racial inequality into focus within the greater arts community.
This poster comes from the Guerrilla Girls’ Portfolio Compleat, a set of 109 posters, books, videos, and ephemera created between 1985 and 2016, representing over thirty years of the group’s activity.
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We challenge you to check PAFA’s Diversity Awareness Calendar monthly and attend monthly OISE sponsored events. The purpose of this calendar is to celebrate and raise awareness of religious obligations, ethnic and cultural festivities, and significant events that may affect students, colleagues, and friends in the PAFA community.
Being an ally for a S.A.F.E. Community at PAFA
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