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| Title: | ARCHIVE-- Topics of Interest to Women, Volume 1 --ARCHIVE |
| Notice: | V1 is closed. TURRIS::WOMANNOTES-V5 is open. |
| Moderator: | REGENT::BROOMHEAD |
|
| Created: | Thu Jan 30 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Fri Jun 30 1995 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 873 |
| Total number of notes: | 22329 |
91.0. "VALUING DIFFERENCES - IDEAS " by ESPN::HENDRICKS (Holly Hendricks) Tue Sep 23 1986 13:12
I spent all morning in a meeting discussing ways to implement a
"Valuing Differences" program for the group I work in. We talked
about issues relating to women, minorities, handicapped people,
members of different religious groups, gay people, wage class 1,2,3
and 4 people, and managers and individual contributors.
Some of us felt that change had to begin on a very personal and
active level, and reflect a deep personal commitment to valuing
difference, while others felt that valuing differences only refers to
the behavior one exhibits in the workplace between 8 and 5.
We discussed risk-taking, power issues, and the safety and
appropriateness of opening up issues like this at work. Some people
mentioned that they worked much better with people whom they had
gone out of their way to get to know, but they also noticed that
they (and others) tend to gravitate toward the people most like
themselves, usually people who share background/lifestyle/assumptions.
Many of us are friendly to everyone, but seek the same few people out when
we want to feel the most comfortable.
Does anyone in this notesfile have any kind of Valuing Differences
program in place in their group? If so, what strategies have you
used to involve the people in the group? I would be interested
in hearing about goals, activities, topics, and general opinions.
Here are some of the topics we came up with. (This is still a rough
list from a brainstorming session.)
I. Issues
Gender Issues
Sexual harrassment
Affirmative action in promotion, hiring, firing, "perks"
Power issues between members of the opposite sex
Male and female Stereotypes
Being promoted because you are good/because you fill a quota
Mentoring - same sex and opposite sex
Race/Culture/Ethnic Difference Issues
Stereotypes
Tokenism
Developing relationships with people who are different than
yourself
Assumptions we make about others based on first perception
The language we use about race and culture (private and public)
Family Status/Sexual Preference
Homosexuality (the most invisible differences topic)
Are single people, couples, single people raising children,
and families with children treated differently?
Are these "bedroom" or "after 5:00" issues, or do they have
relevance to us at work?
Status/Wage class at DEC
Valuing people in a "lower" wage class
Is it possible to have an honest and fruitful discussion with
people from all wage classes, or does it work best when
groups are homogeneous--can we only discuss difference with
people who are "the same"
Discrimination
Moving from a lower wage class to a higher
Age
II. Behaviors related to talking about these issues/implementing
change
Confronting other people
Honesty
Feeling safe enough to express oneself
Refraining from intellectualizing what we fear or do not understand
Ignoring other people
Listening carefully as opposed to listening with a ready-made response
on the tip of your tongue
Using inclusive language and examples
| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 91.1 | My experience with Valuing Differences | WFOVX3::ESCARCIDA | | Thu Sep 25 1986 18:41 | 35 |
| The original program as sponsered by DEC was called Multicultural
Seminar which graduated into Valuing Differences. The idea, in
the beginning, was that large groups of people, an even mix of men and women
with a racial and ethnic difference as well as representation from
management and individual contributors would be housed together to
discuss and explore each others differences. This formal program was
presented by a group from UMASS specifically for this purpose and they
facilitated the progress from start to finish. I attended a
an intensive week long Multi-cultural meeting in Pittsfield and of that
I can only say that it changed my outlook, my attitude, my
expectations of others and also served to establish a bond with those
in attendence still keenly felt today.
It wasn't plesant exploring our differences, walking in each others
shoes,there were tears and more pain and laughter and sharing than I
would have ever realized for believed possible with a group of people
with such different backgrounds.
Many of us were strangers to each other or just acquaintances at
work. We are definitely not strangers anymore. We meet once a quarter
to check on each other, see how we are progressing in a world that has
trouble dealing with race and gender and other issues, ie, sexual
orientation, age and handicap. The group is a mixture of black,white
and hispanic and We are incredibly bonded to each other.
Ours is success story and I wished that every one at DEC could have
had the opportunity we did, perhaps with a program at the grass
roots level is a good beginning but I think it would be advisable
to work with the experts on how to start. If you are interested,
I could get the information on the group or person at UMASS who
first worked this program with DEC.
I recomend it wholeheartedly.
Addie
|
| 91.2 | | HBO::HENDRICKS | Holly Hendricks | Mon Sep 29 1986 10:15 | 5 |
| Addie, please post the information you mentioned. I have received
some mail indicating that there is interest in this topic from other
womannotes readers.
Holly
|
| 91.3 | I got the names at least. | WFOVX3::ESCARCIDA | | Mon Sep 29 1986 21:31 | 6 |
| The facilitators for Multicultural/Valuing Differences Seminar was
a man by the name of Bailey Jackson and a woman named Janice Eddy.
I am trying to obtain thier phone numbers and addresses and will
pass on the information as soon as I do.
Addie
|
| 91.6 | I don't understand | APEHUB::STHILAIRE | | Wed Oct 29 1986 08:58 | 15 |
|
Re .5, I don't want to sound rude but in order for advice to be
practical it seems to me it should be easily understood and I have
no idea what you are getting at here. Could you explain?
Also, I'm just curious, but I've seen your responses here and in
Soapbox, and are you a man named Steven Dana Thompson, or a couple
named Steven and Dana Thompson (who always agree on everything -
since you seem to refer to yourself as "we" on occasion) or are
you really an eagle (sorry)? I felt it was alright to ask this
since someone recently asked in Soapbox if Jym Dyer and
APEHUB::STHILAIRE are really the same person!
Lorna
|
| 91.8 | women are engineers, not "women engineers" | GARNET::SULLIVAN | vote NO on #1 - Pro-Choice | Wed Oct 29 1986 12:24 | 22 |
| > Anyway ... back to the topic ... Given that our group is under-staff
> and we_as_an_engineering_group were never very "friendly" anyway
> ... from the woman's viewpoint ... how can us_who_hide_behind_VT's
> provide an environment that includes the different_1_among_us ???
First of all, try not to think that she's different. Is she an engineer
too, does she work behind VT's? Aren't you different from the man
in the cubicle next to you? What do you do that excludes others?
If you talk to one co-worker about the Red Sox's you can talk to anyone
about them. Don't be nervous trying to think up special ways to treat
someone, because that's emphasizing a difference. Treat them the same.
Then it will be more natural to talk about items that you do feel
make you different (what's it like going to school in England, China, etc).
Now if you want to do something to get the entire group more cohesive,
try getting the entire group to go out to lunch together. Celebrate
a project getting to a certain point, and invite everyone. Have a
group Christmas party. Bring in homemade cookies and invite everyone
to take a break at the same time to eat and talk.
...Karen
|