IDIV 501 -- Globalization and Diversity

From the syllabus:

"IDIV 501 is an intensive examination of the importance of multicultural competence for graduate professional programs and upper level undergraduates... The multidisciplinary nature of this course provides opportunity for multilevel discussions as students are exposed to problems specific to professional areas other than their own while also investigating the commonality of cross cultural dilemmas in all professions. The class uses the recent hurricane Katrina disaster as a case study that will help integrate multidisciplinary perspectives and bring them to discussion."

Structure and Style of the course

Team taught by

• GSLIS (Sergio Chaparro)

• School of Social Work (Gary Bailey)

• School of Management (Lynda Moore)

• School for Health Studies (Anne Rundle)

• Undergraduate school - Economics Department (Niloufer Sohrabji)

Each instructor led approximately two sessions of the course, focusing on his or her area of expertise. Many sessions were attended by most or all of the other professors, who would place the week’s discussion within context of their discipline towards the end of class.

-Had multiple outside speakers, some of them interesting and insightful, others less so.

-lots of reading mostly really great articles, definitely worth looking at IDIV 501 Reading list

-lots of discussion, which really made the class. it was great to share experiences across disciplines, hearing stories from social work and the business world as well as multiple international students discussing cultural differences. Professors also participated in discussions.

Intro

What is Globalization?

Refers to the changes that occur (economic, social, cultural, political and technological) with increasing interdependence, integration and interaction between communities in disparate locations.

-The variety of effects that come with increased international communication, trade and multinational organizations and corporations.

In this course, we spent a lot of time discussing what happens, what it means to have people from many different cultures trying to work together, whether for economic, academic or social reasons. A lot of attention was paid to cultural sensitivity, which is recognizing that there are differences between cultures and staying open to understanding how we can work together despite the differences in cultural norms.

Reasons for globalization

• increased ability to communicate

• economic growth (countries that are more global have higher growth in GDP)

• increased trade/investment with other countries; easy access to new markets

• offshoring of domestic jobs

• sharing of technology

• Not just economic, also includes increased opportunities for multiculturalism, travel

So what’s the downside?

• Countries that aren’t yet global are often left in poverty, sometimes increasing it

• GDP increases, but so does the gap between the rich and poor within a country

• New wealth is not distributed equitably. The poorest members of the population will initially be negatively impacted, and will not notice any benefits from trickle down until a high level of economic globalization is reached.

• Globalization is only part of a strategy, in order for it to work for the population, need an educated work force.

• Global trade rules are often set with enormous input from corporations (and corporate influenced organizations like the IMF and World Bank), leaving the working and impoverished classes with no voice in creating policies

Getting from globalization to diversity:

Globalization is not just an economic issue. With increased globalization, people from different cultures have increased contact with each other. This increased diversity requires cultural sensitivity, so we spent a lot of time on cross-cultural issues.

Culture and Identity

What is culture?

• “patterned ways of thinking, acting, feeling and interpreting” of particular groups (Ting, Toomey)

• passed down through generations

• enduring and changing, not deterministic

• people within a culture exhibit great variability

Three systems given cultural meaning

1. Language and Communication (Verbal and non-verbal patterns)

2. Artifacts (Music, art, architecture, clothing, rituals)

3. Abstractions (Values, morals, ethics, laws)

Discussed how this can be a factor in the workplace. Used the example of a Japanese company that built a car factory in the US (due to tariffs, too expensive to import). In this company, the Japanese were accustomed to working for the team, with little individual recognition or incentives. The company put their own executives in advisory roles rather than managers of US employees. They had two options: use their own cultural values and practices or discover the method used by the host country. They first tried to use the model that worked in Japan and it failed, so they were required to reassess values and business practices.

National culture explains differences in work-related values:

1. Individual/Collectivism

2. Power distance (amount they accept power of immediate superior v. circumventing them)

3. Uncertainty avoidance

4. Career success as a measure of quality of life

5. Confucian dynamism (work ethic, respect for tradition)

Cross-Cultural Communication and Disparity

Workplace:

A multicultural organization is one that

• values, encourages and affirms diverse cultural modes of being and interacting

• creates an organizational dialog in which no one cultural perspective is presumed to be more valid than other perspectives

• empowers all cultural voices to participate fully in setting goals and making decisions

Why is this important?

Workforce is becoming more diverse. More white males leaving than entering workforce. larger number of white women and people of color entering the workforce than white males. Workplace model is changing, and new ways of thinking will need to be embraced.

Healthcare:

Health care providers are trained in the biomedical model, which 7/8 of the world does not follow. This model leads to ‘one size fits all’ treatment of patients, which leads to confusion and feelings of alienation, which leads to non-compliance of recommended treatment.

Dynamics of Power

Defining power helps to make clear how complex an issue it is. I had never realized how big an issue power was until this lecture. Thought it had to do with politics and possibly toddlers in power struggles with their parents. Now I see behavior everywhere that I notice is more about power than whatever it appears to be about (queuing up at the subway stop, acknowledging/ignoring someone, someone’s response to a joke).

Anyway, one definition, “the capacity to produce desired effects on others, which includes the power to influence those things that affect your life”

Types of power:

• Positional power (authority)

• Information and Expertise

• Control of Rewards

• Coercive power/manipulation

• Alliances and Networks (ingroups/good ol’ boys)

• Control of meaning and symbols (imparts bias)

• Personal power (social capital)

Race

Adapted paranoia- Some people of color are already on guard. It is important to be very consistent or explain inconsistencies because those with paranoia sometimes give those of other ethnicities one chance before losing trust in them.

Gender

A social construction-society determines what is acceptable behavior.

Digital Divide

Refers to the technological disparity both internationally and domestically. Disparity includes the fact that some people don’t have access to computers and Internet (68% of American adults use the Internet), but many sites are now designed for high-speed internet use, limiting those with lower connection speeds from access to this information.

Adults with high speed internet connections from home: Take a guess of the percentage?

24% rural

39% urban

One example of a problem with the digital divide: US Government wants to go digital, including US Government documents. This prevents those without access from gaining information about the government, becoming a citizen, voting, etc.

Discussed the idea of digital colonialism- limiting access to information, providing journals in English only. Flow of information is mostly North to South, limiting flow from South to North or South to South.

Libraries are affected by copyright issues and availability of digital works for patrons

• Greater dominance of electronic distribution

• Publishers gain more control

• Routine library practices could be and have been restricted

• Libraries are on the side of fair use, e-publishers not as much

• License agreements of digital products generally prohibit or limit ILL

• Tracking devices and techniques may discourage use of library’s digital resources

• Archival and preservation practices limited if licenses prohibit reproduction.

MDG

This was the first topic we covered in this class, and we went back to it frequently. We considered how the various cross-cultural issues were considered or not considered by the MDGs.

From the UN Development Programme

The MDGs promote poverty reduction, education, maternal health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality, AIDS and other diseases.

Set for the year 2015, the MDGs are an agreed set of goals that can be achieved if all actors work together and do their part. Poor countries have pledged to govern better, and invest in their people through health care and education. Rich countries have pledged to support them, through aid, debt relief, and fairer trade.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Problems

• Unrealistic to have goals without setting in a cultural context

• No accountability nor responsibility from developed countries

Time: 10:00 am - 10:45 am

Location: C120