Federal Aviation Administration IDENTIFYING AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR CULTURAL NARRATIVE ROAD TO ENCHANCED DISCOVERY The Aviation Safety Organization

Federal AviationAdministration

IDENTIFYING AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR CULTURAL

NARRATIVE

ROAD TO ENCHANCED DISCOVERY

The Aviation Safety Organization

Federal AviationAdministration The Aviation Safety Organization

Session Objectives

• At the conclusion of this session, you will have:– Examined the basis for the assumptions

made about other people and how those assumptions impact our communications, behavior, and actions

– Explore what is your Cultural Narrative – Discover the importance of Cultural

Diversity– Determine my role in working within a

culturally diverse environment? 4-2


Me Mapping

What do I look like?

Where do my people come from?

How might someone who doesn’t know me describe me?

Upon initially meeting what may be something someone might notice about me?

What is my first memory of being different?

Interactive Discussion

The Aviation Safety Organization 4-3


Background Conversation

MY STORY

THINK, BELIEVE

FEEL VALUE

SAY

BEHAVIORBEHAVIOR


Key Terms

• Diversity – Encompasses all of the ways that

human beings are both similar and different

– Includes dimensions such as race, ethnicity, age, gender, class, sexual orientation, and physical ability

– Also includes other dimensions such as education level, job function, personality traits, and ways of thinking and being



Key Terms

• Inclusion – Leverages diversity by creating an

environment with a broader bandwidth of acceptable styles of behavior and appearance

– Encourages a greater range of available paths to success

– Increases the total human energy available to an organization



Business Reasons for Pursuing Diversity Diversity• Working with your group, create a list of

the reasons you think organizations have for pursuing a diverse and inclusive workplace.

• What are the possible issues that can impact an organization when diversity/inclusion is not part of the mission and goals?




Factors Influencing Organizations Embracing Diversity/Inclusion • Recognition that people have to interact and

communicate with increasing numbers of people from diverse backgrounds

• Increased global work in industries around the world• Awareness that the world population is growing at a high

rate in developing countries• Understanding that income inequities and economic

opportunity lead to increased immigration and migration within and between nations

• The aging American workforce population means more retirees and potential gaps in availability of experienced workers



Cultural Flexibility Awareness Quiz1. Currently, how many of the 10 most populated cities in the world are in the United

States or Europe?

1. None of the largest 10 is in the United States. The top 10 largest are:

Shanghai, Istanbul, Karachi, Delhi, Mumbai, Moscow, San Paulo, Seoul, Beijing, and Jakarta. New York is 14th and London is 16th.

2. In 1980, fewer than 1 in 5 Americans were considered people of color, previously known as minorities. By the year 2010, what were these numbers?

2. One in three people in this country are people of color.

3. Of all people currently entering the workforce for the first time, what percentage are white males?

3. Fifteen percent of the workforce entrants are white males. In 1964, 63% of the entrants were white males.




Cultural Flexibility Awareness Quiz

4. How much faster than the general population is the U.S. Hispanic/Latino population growing?

4. The Hispanic/Latino population is growing 4 times faster than the general population.

5. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median annual income for U.S. white men, 25 years or older, who have earned graduate degrees, is $80,000. What are the median annual incomes for Latina and Native American women, 25 years or older, who have earned graduate degrees?

a. $80,000 and $80,000

b. $70,000 and $68,000, respectively

c. $60,000 and $62,000, respectively

d. $50,000 and $40,000, respectively

5. d. $ 50,000 an $ 40,000 respectively



Cultural Flexibility Awareness Quiz

6, What is the largest of all minority groups in America?

6. The disabled who are estimated to be 60 to 65 million people. 50 to 60% of them are unemployed.

7. What ethnic group remains the least targeted by many marketers of consumer products and services?

7. Asian Americans

8. Of the estimated 6 million homeless American youth, what percentage, identify themselves as gay, lesbian and/or transgendered? 8. 20% to 40% of the estimated 1.6 million homeless youth identified themselves as gay,

lesbian or transgendered.

9. What is the current estimate of the number of different languages spoken in schools within major metropolitan areas in the United States? 9. 36 to 52 different languages and dialects



WHO ARE THEY?

Diversity/Inclusion Simulation


Group Exercise


Who Are They?

• Instructions: Looking at each picture;• Describe the person• Give them a name,• Determine their age;• Their occupation• Their education• Their religion• Their hobbies/interest • Their family status• Their mode of transportation• Their most interesting life experience


Who Are They?



Who Are They?



Who Are They?


Who Are They?


Who Are They?


Who Are They?


Diversity: Lessons Learned

Each person can make a real impact by creating environments that foster feelings in others that says “you are valued, accepted and appreciated” for who you are.

• Be aware- know your own biases• Think about how your “background

conversation” affects how you see others• Consider how your behaviors can

contribute to the success or failure of others

• Challenge your assumptions about others• Work on what is takes to accept all people

–




• Creating and maintaining a diverse and inclusive workplace is everyone’s responsibility and requires the commitment and involvement of

everyone!

Putting It All Together

4-29The Aviation Safety Organization


– Understand and respect the work styles, customs, and values of co-workers

– Always consider the diversity/inclusion implications on work tasks and teams

– Recognize that diverse (cross-cultural) work teams require more work than homogenous teams

– Inform yourself of the work done by people from different disciplines

Tips for working in and maintaining an inclusive work environment:

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– Take advantage of opportunities to acquire and practice interpersonal and communication skills as part of building diversity competency

– Create opportunities to get to know people as individuals

– When you see friends, peers, and acquaintances demonstrating behavior inconsistent with the diversity values, challenge them to examine the impact of that behavior




– Think about a member of your team or work group who may get excluded more than others, and consider a strategy for including them

– Challenge the notion that individuals need to act, speak, or look a certain way to be successful or valuable

– Recognize your own patterns of assuming, judging, and possibly stereotyping others and the impact these patterns may have on you and others



Reflective Closing Thought

“Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most

dangerous thing for a society to be without.”

– William Sloane Coffin, Jr.Yale University Chaplin and Activist

Documents

Federal Aviation Administration IDENTIFYING AND UNDERSTANDING YOUR CULTURAL NARRATIVE ROAD TO ENCHANCED DISCOVERY The Aviation Safety Organization