Week 43

My friend invited me to a Community & Connections chat which I was not previously aware of; and man am I glad I went!  It was SUCH  a great session and I learned so much!  There's been a lot around identity exploration that I've had to do these past few years, a product of being in the Higher Education space, as well as a student in my masters program.  I think racialized spaces like this one would have intimidated me in undergrad, but now as a staff member I find them comforting and uniquely empowering.  I've been to one of Dr. Sonia Kang's sessions before, but this time she brought much more research into the picture! 

Date: Wednesday February 28, 2018
Event/Activity: Community & Connections: Going Beyond Diversity Statements
Capacity:  Staff

Found: Word of Mouth
Host: Connections & Conversations Group (racialized staff & allies at U of T)
Link: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/going-beyond-diversity-statements-with-dr-sonia-k-kang-phd-tickets-42363696958#

Description:
This workshop will explore ways in which employers and job seekers are reacting to discrimination in the labor market, and offer suggestions for increasing the diversity of U of T's workforce by making its hiring practices more equitable.

Experience: 
  • Lecture style session, but lectures are different when there is a direct tie to information which impacts you and/or impacts a process you can change! 
  • Besides rapidly jotting down notes during the entire session, my mind was racing with best practices that I could implement in my own work





What I learned: 

  •  Whitened resumes are more likely to get a callback (based on name)
  • Companies with diversity statements on their site are still more likely to prefer the whitened resumes 
  • Racialized job seekers are more likely to feel a false sense of security and include things like cultural experiences when they see a diversity statement on an employers site
HOW BAD IS THAT!?!?! 
  •  Male vs. female candidates tend to have different use of language in their applications (more assertive versus more team/collaborative focus)
  • Females applying for roles in male dominated fields are more likely to try and use assertive language in their application along with more gender neutral activities/experiences
  • Employers see this negatively - they are essentially punished for not following the stereotype rules
CRAZY 
 
 
-M