Diversity Training Project
Write a 3-4 page proposal (750-1000 words) for a new diversity training program for your real or hypothetical public or non-profit organization. The training program should incorporate some form of required reading/media for participants such as a book or podcast. Some options include How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, The 1619 Project by the New York Times and White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo.
Read the Book/Listen to the Podcast
Be an active reader of the book or active listener to the podcast. Sit at a desk with pen and paper in hand. As you read/listen, stop frequently to summarize the argument, to note particularly clear statements of the book’s argument or purpose, to note how those arguments or purposes relate to a human resource management concept or practice, and to describe your own responses.
Some questions to keep in mind as you are reading:
- What is the book’s/podcasts argument?
- Does the book/podcast do what it says it is going to do?
- Is the book/podcast well-written or well-produced?
- What are the book’s/podcast’s terms and are they defined?
- How accurate is the information (e.g. the footnotes, bibliography, dates)
- Who would benefit from reading this book/listening to this podcast?
- What HR concepts or issues come to mind when reading/listening to the text?
Evaluate the Media
Once you have read the work, take a few days to evaluate it. Evaluate the key arguments, how effectively they were presented and supported, and if they help or fail to help readers understand workplace diversity and diversity management. How do these issues relate to other HR concepts such as recruitment and retention, constitutional protections, HR planning, etc.?
Consider the following questions
- How and what does this work help us to understand about human resource management?
- What types of evidence does the author draw on to support their argument?
- Does the work fit in what you have learned about Public Human Resource Management throughout the semester?
- Are there other types of evidence that the author fails to acknowledge or ignores?
What theoretical perspective does the author work from? How does this shape or affect their argument? - Are you convinced by the book/podcast? Why or why not?
