Sofia Gasperino Journal #3

I learned that a large percentage of people polled thought that diversity education is necessary. I learned that many firms have training on diversity issues. Women are more likely than men to see the positive side of diversity. This is probably because women understand what it feels like to be in the minority or treated like it. However, men don’t have more negative views towards diversity than women do. There are many positive aspects to diversity in the workplace but there are also many negative aspects. I learned that the diversity training they received wore off after about a year. I think that diversity training is less impactful than forming relations with people of different cultures on a more personal level because you are learning to respect the differences but you might not understand exactly why they are different. However, not everyone is interested in doing this. For those people, a mandatory diversity training class might be the only way to help people work together. It challenges my view because it brings up the fact that there are some negative aspects to diversity in the workforce. The author is reporting the procedures and results of his study. I think his audience might be corporations who are thinking about implementing a diversity-training course for their employees and how to go about it. I want to expand my inquiry past diversity in the workforce.

The Effects of a Diversity Learning Experience on Positive and Negative Diversity Perceptions

Todd J. Hostager and Kenneth P. De Meuse

Journal of Business and Psychology , Vol. 23, No. 3/4 (Dec., 2008), pp. 127-139

I learned that the majority could sometimes feel misrepresented, dismissed, or even left out. I still feel that it is important to learn about other cultures. This new information makes me more sensitive to the way people in the majority may feel. I also understand why they would not want to study literature only about other cultures. I think that people can be afraid or uninterested in things that are different from them and so they would be more comfortable reading literature based on their own culture because they can relate to it better. I did not develop any new questions about my topic after reading this. This information strengthened my views on my topic because it reinforced the idea of coming out of your comfort zone and opening your mind to new things. Not everything or everyone you come across in life is going to be familiar to you. The author is speaking from the point of view of a teacher and third party in the conflict. She is speaking for teachers who have students that struggle with the culturally diverse literature they give them.  The bias she may have might come from the nature of being a teacher. By this, I mean that teachers are supposed to be well educated and knowledgeable about the world. Also, many literature pieces are from another time period or culture and so naturally they are learning about these other cultures. I want to delve further into why many people are uncomfortable in learning about other cultures. 

Carol G Nelson - The English Journal