Sex-bias against Morgan Stanley

1. Sex-bias against Morgan Stanley • In your experience, do you feel that this case reflects a situation experienced by many? Or is it simply a rarity? • What other experiences have you had that could be considered biased treatment or examples of intolerance to diversity.

2. Experiential Exercise: Stereotypes • Sit around a table • Put on the headbands • A 3x5 card will be placed on the forehead of each person • You are not to remove the card from your head • In discussing the topic, you are to honor the label of each other; that is, relate to each other according to how each is labeled (by the 3x5 card on their forehead). • Topic: Agree or Disagree—Experiencing intolerance to the diversity of any group presents simply a rite of passage. Its just a political football and organizations should not take it all that seriously.

3. Debriefing • What happened? • What were the effects of using labels • On you? What did it do to you? • On the group? What did it do to the group? • How did you feel • Stereotyping others? • Being Stereotyped by others? • What are the implications? • What affect did the stereotyping have on productivity and effectiveness of the discussion? • What form of stereotyping takes place in your organization? How similar are they to this exercise? • What if the labels you wore were in fact more immutable characteristics like race, gender, age, ethnicity? • Labeling takes place all the time, and all of us likely engage in it—it helps us order our world and make sense out of things. What is the difference between helpful and harmful labeling? What have we learned? What can you do to deflect or avoid the negative effects of labeling? What challenges might one face in this regards? How might we meet these challenges?

4. Diversity:"Encompasses any characteristic used to differentiate one person from others"-- Joplin & Daus

5. Discrimination is what we do... • Among Adam’s 1st tasks was to name the animals & plants in Nature • To decide requires creating ‘this’ and ‘that’ & thus separating ‘this’ from ‘that’-- drawing a (mental) line, constructing boundaries

7. Left Right

9. Outside Inside

10. No-Thing!

11. Below Average Above Average Poor Wealthy Useful Useless

12. Without Authority With Authority

13. Non-White White

16. That which we perceiveis no-thingwithout its background! We don’t see entities We can only see differences We need it for completeness

17. For Discussion • What is it about people that causes them to be intolerant to diversity? What are the justifications for intolerance to diversity? • Is diversity an individual issue or an organizational issue? Explain.

18. Diversity as an Organizational Issue • Continuum of Stages • Attitude & Perception • Actions & Behaviors

19. Challenges to Face • Feelings of Erosion of Power • Diverse Opinions • Lack of Empathy • Feelings of Tokenism • Lack of Participation • Overcoming Inertia

21. "Awareness of similarities is just as important as the understanding of differences" WHY? The Implications in Diversity are …...

22. Drawing the line (in the sand) = Drawing the battle ground The firmer the line, the more I identify with it The more I hold onto ‘this’ the more I fear ‘that’

23. Our thought-perception can either Separate or Conjoin • The mistake is that we draw lines thinking them boundaries, thus demarcating them as separate and erroneously believing that what we discriminate are irreconcilably different. • What needs to be done? • We must not fight for ‘this’ winning over ‘that’, but we must surrender the boundary--let go of the mistaken belief that we are separate. Different yes, but not separate--we absolutely need each other

24. What implications might this suggest for diversity education? “If men (people) cannot refer to a common value recognized by all as existing in each one, then man is incomprehensible to man” -- Albert Camus

28. Case: It wasn’t about race.Or was it? • What is the reason for the conflict? • Do the commentaries by Todd Gitlin and Earl Ofari Hutchinson offer any insight? • Who is at fault? • Who could have changed the outcome for the better? How? • What, now, should be done? Why? • Outline your recommended approach to creating a more diversity appreciative organization. Why this approach?