Effectively Serving Culturally Diverse Students: A Growing Opportunity for Job Corps 1

Effectively Serving Effectively Serving Culturally Diverse Students: Culturally Diverse Students:

A Growing Opportunity for Job CorpsA Growing Opportunity for Job Corps1

PresentersPresentersDiane PetersManaging PartnerStrategic Training Resources

Mary Lopez SchellDirector Humanitas, Inc.

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DIVERSITYOverview/DefinedOverview/Defined

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ObjectivesObjectives• Provide overview of the concept of diversity.• Increase awareness of the various dimensions of

diversity.• Examine our own cultural identity and how that

identity affects our relationships with Job Corps staff and students and in the workplace.

• Become more aware of our own attitudes, perceptions, and feelings about various aspects of diversity.

• Make a commitment to increase an understanding of the scope of diversity issues in the workplace.

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DiversityDiversity is… is…

• Much like jellybeans!• It represents a myriad of human perspectives,

backgrounds, experiences, cultural values, beliefs, and practices.

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DiversityDiversity is… is…EVERYONE. People differ from one another in many ways. There are many dimensions of diversity. Some dimensions of diversity have more impact than others on the opportunities people may experience.

Diversity can be categorized as primary and secondary dimensions.

The primary dimensions are unalterable and are extremely powerful in their effect.

The secondary dimensions are important in shaping us, but we have some measure of control over them.

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SKILL-BASED TRAINING

Developing Proficiency in Basic Concepts of Developing Proficiency in Basic Concepts of Diversity and CultureDiversity and Culture

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POP ACTIVITY! POP ACTIVITY! Brief Skill-Based TrainingBrief Skill-Based Training

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Dimensions of DiversityDimensions of DiversityPrimary or Secondary?Primary or Secondary?

• Gender • Religious Beliefs• Marital Status• Race• Parental Status• Ethnicity• Language

• Education

• Occupation• Physical Ability• Learning Ability

• Income• Sexual Orientation• Age• Geographic Location• Veteran Status

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Something to think about…• One in every 7 Americans speaks a language other

than English at home.• An estimated 2 to 10 percent of the population is

gay/lesbian.• People with disabilities make up the largest minority

group today at 15 percent of the U.S. population.• Currently in California, our most populous state,

Whites account for less than 50 percent of the state’s population.

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Why is Diversity Important?Why is Diversity Important?

More to think about…• Estimates show that by 2056, there will be no single

majority group in this country. The United States will be composed of multiple minority groups.

• African Americans and Hispanic/Latinos will be the majority population in more than one-third of the nation’s 50 largest cities and five of the nation’s states.

• 84% of LGBT community voted in the mid-term elections.

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Why is Diversity Important?Why is Diversity Important?

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A Girl Like Me Video

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CultureCulture• What are some

examples of your cultural programming? – Think about the family or

personal beliefs or values you hold, or rituals you perform based on the cultural programming you received.

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POP ACTIVITY!POP ACTIVITY!Cultural ProgrammingCultural Programming

• “The marriage will be more successful if you say your vows while the clock is on the upside of the hour, not while it is on the downside of the hour.”

• “Your hair will grow back if you cut it on the full moon.”

• “You can’t teach an old dog. . .”• “Big boys don’t. . .”• “You can lead a horse to water, but. . .”

These commonly recognized statements represent cultural attitudes that are, in some cases, inaccurate.

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• Read each word or phrase as it comes up. For each one, write down the first thought that comes to your mind. Don’t spend a lot of time thinking—just write down the first thing that comes to mind.

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POP ACTIVITY!POP ACTIVITY!Cultural ProgrammingCultural Programming

• Politician • Homeless person• Lawyer• Black male teenager• Professor

• Police officer• Man in a wheelchair• Farmer• Californian• 300-pound woman

Some Common Some Common Autonomic ResponsesAutonomic Responses

• Politician: liar, government, white male

• Lawyer: evasive, expensive, snake, someone who compromises

• Professor: absent-minded, intelligent, educator, lifelong learning

• Man in a wheelchair: weak, helpless, dependent, pity, suffering, asexual

• Californian: surfer, physically fit, blond, tan

• Homeless person: irresponsible, dangerous, drug and alcohol addict, unfortunate

• Black male teenager: good athlete, drug dealer

• Policeman: power hungry, helpful, trust, fine, beater/ abuser, risk-taker

• Farmer: hard worker, unsophisticated, country bumpkin, American

• 300-pound woman: motherly, lacking in discipline lazy, greedy, unattractive, jolly

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That’s So Gay

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Developing Diversity Competence Developing Diversity Competence (Proficiency)(Proficiency)

• To help us move “off automatic” and begin to value differences, we need to develop Diversity Competence.

• Diversity Competence consists of four areas:– Awareness– Knowledge– Skills– Action or Behavior

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• Recognize staff and student differences as diversity rather than abnormal behavior or inappropriate responses to the environment.

• Respect the benefits of Job Corps staff’s and student’s diverse values and behaviors.

• Recognize your own ethnocentricity—the ways in which you stereotype, judge, and discriminate, and your emotional reactions to conflicting cultural values.

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AwarenessAwareness

• Understand the effect that historic distrust has on the present-day interactions of our staff and students.

• Recognize the similarities that are shared across the “human culture,” regardless of the differences.

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AwarenessAwareness

It Gets Better Project

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• Explore your family history and background. Where did your ancestors come from before arriving in this country? What are the special customs and traditions that were shared from generation to generation?

• Learn factual information about other cultures and groups with different backgrounds represented on your Job Corps center.

• See a movie about other cultural lifestyles. Compare how you live your life to what you’ve seen on film.

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KnowledgeKnowledge

• Attend a cultural event, celebration, or holiday program of a different culture that you have never experienced before. Compare the similarities and differences of this event/celebration to those of your cultural group.

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KnowledgeKnowledge

• Take personal responsibility for the way you respond to difference.

• Make continued and sincere attempts to understand the world from a staff or student point of view.

• Develop and model problem-solving skills.• Develop and model skills in conflict management.• Assist your center to look for ways to work

effectively with diverse groups on center.

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SkillsSkills

• Provide training to staff and students about cultural differences.

• Develop a mentoring relationship with someone from a different culture or identity group represented on your center.

• Show more patience when working and interacting with staff and students who have different learning styles than you.

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Action/BehaviorAction/Behavior

• Integrate diversity issues as an ongoing topic in your center staff meetings.

• Develop a personal plan for continued learning toward diversity competency based on the needs of your center.

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Action/BehaviorAction/Behavior

• CASE STUDY: Diversity Competence requires that each Job Corps center has a clearly defined, congruent set of values and principles, and demonstrates behaviors, attitudes, policies, structures, and practices that enable the center staff to work effectively with diverse groups.

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Diversity Competency Diversity Competency (Proficiency)(Proficiency)

BUILDING INCLUSIVENESS AND BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS

Suggestions and ResourcesSuggestions and Resources

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• An Affirmative Action plan shall include methods to:– Ensure assimilation of minority group members and

females throughout various center organizational and responsibility levels.

– Identify and analyze civil rights problem areas.– Correct and follow up on problem situations and, if

necessary, ensure that appropriate steps are taken to discourage recurrences.

– Provide prompt, fair, and impartial consideration of discrimination complaints.

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Affirmative Action PlansAffirmative Action Plans

Students with disabilities may face visible and invisible barriers, such as: • Physical• Cultural• Fear• Denial• Equity• Cost

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Identify BarriersIdentify Barriers

The greatest barriers individuals

with disabilities have faced for decades and

continue to face today are

attitudinal barriers.

www.disabilityisnatural.com

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• An "individual with a disability" is someone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

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Who is a person Who is a person with a with a

disability?disability?

• People with disabilities in the labor force is 21.3% compared with 70.2 % for persons with no disability. 2011 Bureau of Labor Statistics

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What is the What is the percentage of percentage of people with people with disabilities in disabilities in

the workforcethe workforce

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What are some What are some perceptions or perceptions or fears that you fears that you have or you have or you have heard have heard regarding regarding disability?disability?

• Educate, promote, and model the use of “Person-first” language.– Person First Language puts the person before the

disability and describes what a person has, not who a person is.

– For example, a “person with a disability” not a “disabled” person.

This attitude or workplace culture is applicable for promoting overall inclusion policy.

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Person-first LanguagePerson-first Language

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The r-Word CampaignThe r-Word Campaign

• Invite employers to participate in the center’s programs and activities.

• Include disability organization representatives on the center’s: – Community Relations Council– Business Industry Councils

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Involving EmployersInvolving Employers

1. Kaiser Permanente 6. Johnson & Johnson2. Sodexo 7. IBM3. PricewaterhouseCoopers 8. Deloitte4. AT&T 9. Kraft Foods5. Ernst & Young 10. Colgate-Palmolive

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DiversityInc.’s Top 10 CompaniesDiversityInc.’s Top 10 Companies

www.diversityinc.com (2011)

SUPPORTING DIVERSITYJob Corps InitiativesJob Corps Initiatives

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• Collaborative Relationships– Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)– Civil Rights Center (CRC)– Disability Navigators– Job Accommodation Network (JAN)– Remote Interpreting– Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

SupportingSupportingDiversityDiversity

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• Activities/Resources– Webinars– Websites– Newsletters– Guidance and Training Documents/Manuals

• Policy and Requirements Handbook (PRH)– EO Officer and Programs– Diversity Coordinator– Required Diversity Training – Career Success Standards – Multicultural Awareness Standard

Supporting DiversitySupporting Diversity

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Diversity ResourcesDiversity Resources

• Job Corps Community Website – Cultural Competency Resources– http://jcweb.jobcorps.org/EnglishLanguageLearning/Pages

/CulturalCompetencyCurriculum.aspx

• National Center for Cultural Competence– http://www.clcpa.info

• Smith, B., Miller; A. W., Archer, T., and Hague, C. Working with Diverse Cultures Fact sheet. CDFS-14. This is a publication of Ohio State University Extension. – http://ohioline.osu.edu/bc-fact/0014.html

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