SOCS350 All Weeks Discussions Latest November 2018

SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions

Week 1 Discussion

Some of My Best

Scenario

Your hospital is in need of someone to fill a new position. The spot calls for some very specific skills, education, and experience, but you happen to have an old friend who exactly fits the bill. In addition, he has mentioned to you that he feels it is time to make a change and has been contemplating looking for a new job. You give him a call and he said that he is very interested, so you call the head of the department in question and tell him about your friend. The department head is very excited and tells you to have him call for an interview. You do and everything seems fine. Several weeks pass and your friend calls you and asks if you have any idea what happened with the job. He interviewed and everything went well, but he never heard back and just learned that the position had been filled with someone who has no experience and a much different background. You call the department head and relay the question. After some hemming and hawing, the department head makes some vague statement about your friend not being a “good fit.” He was afraid that your friend’s “accent” might make it difficult for him to be understood, and he was concerned about his work ethic since he came from a cultural background that has a more “laidback” work ethic. You hang up and think about it. Your friend is from Jamaica and does have an accent and very relaxed personality, but is certainly not lazy. Then you realize that he is also a minority and that this particular department not only has no minority employees, but never has had one.

Initial Post Instructions

For the initial post, address the following:

Is the department head being ethnocentric or prejudiced?

What do you do?

Do you tell your friend what you were told?

Do you call someone higher up and express your concerns?

Do you do nothing at all?

How would you address diversity with the department head in future conversations?

What suggestions would you make to your own department head about diversity?

 

 

SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions

Week 2 Discussion

DQ1 Culture Is in the Air

This week’s introduction noted that culture was a lot like air. It is all around us, but we really do not pay attention to it unless it is absent or smells odd. The same is true about our culture. We do not think much about it, and we go through our lives feeling that things are the way they are because that is the way they ought to be. This week, start sniffing the cultural air around you, including your workplace’s communication styles and barriers. Additionally, examine specific cultural healthcare practices and values regarding health promotion and illness prevention.

For the initial post, address the following:

What do you learn about our culture?

Identify some things that are distinctively “American.” Do not include only material culture (objects and physical symbols), but include non-material culture such as language, values, ideology, ethics, behaviors, and the like.

Distinguish your local culture from your national culture?

DQ2 Power Relationships

A cellphone company once ran a television ad touting its call reliability, in which a young man is talking to his future father-in-law, who is telling him to address him by his first name and consider him a friend. The young man launches into a series of variations of the first name. Unknown to either party, the call is dropped and the young man does not hear any response from the father. He becomes very nervous and disconcertedly reverts to “Mr.” and “Sir.” The ad’s message is clear: Use our service and this sort of thing won’t happen.

For the initial post, address the following:

Why do you think the ad agency chose this power relationship for its commercial? Is it one to which you can relate?

Have you had any kind of similar experience at your workplace or school (e.g., with a patient, client, or professor), not necessarily on a cellphone?

Have you encountered the power relationships exemplified in the commercial when implementing various healthcare practices such as disease prevention? Are co-workers and patient receptive?

 

 

SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions

Week 3 Discussion

Gender Roles

When traveling to other countries, it is important to know the male/female roles in each country. Not knowing these roles could cause problems in discussions impact the quality of their experience or your ability to care for them properly.

If you were helping a person from Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Brazil, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Russia, or Rwanda, what would you need to know about the traditional male/female roles? Search the Internet for one or more of the above countries to find out about male/female roles.

Consider your research prompt using one of the following perspectives:

Traveling for business

Working with patients and clients

For the initial post, address the following:

Share your findings with the class.

How would this information influence your interactions with people of that country?

What would you do to improve communication with those people?

 

SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions

Week 4 Discussion

DQ1 Triggers

Triggers are ethnocentric responses to differences and defensive reactions to ethnocentrism. Any number of things can serve as triggers, but they generally fall into the following categories: voice, appearance, attitude, and behavior.

For the initial post, address the following:

Describe a trigger that you have responded to in the past, even if it was only a fleeting mental thought.

What was the result of your response?

If you had a negative response, how could your response to the situation been better or different?

What barriers did you need to overcome?

DQ2 Diverse Groups

If we look at the term diversity as different groups, we can include groups such as Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y.

For the initial post, address the following:

What are some of the major differences between these groups when it comes to the work force?

What strategies can be implemented to deal with the issues and overcome obstacles to create a successful organization?

Follow-Up Post Instructions

Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification. For example, did your peers point out differences you did not consider? How have you dealt with the barriers they noted in your workplace? How would your peers strategies work for your workplace? Provide some new advice to your peers for the issues and obstacles you noted.

 

 

SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions

Week 5 Discussion

The Glass Ceiling

For the initial post, address the following:

Does the “glass ceiling” still exist?

Are there invisible barriers to advancement that impact some groups more than others?

How does the concept of the “glass ceiling” impact job opportunities and advancement in the health professions?

How does a diverse workforce affect the glass ceiling?

Use examples from the course reading to support your points, and feel free to share your own experiences with the glass ceiling including the impact of workplace politics or the economy.

 

Follow-Up Post Instructions

Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification.

 

SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions

Week 6 Discussion

DQ1 Examining Strategies

For the initial post, conduct an internet search and locate short video clips that provide examples that offer strategies for dealing with prejudice and discrimination. For example, you can look up and review the video A Class Divided (a PBS documentary). Then, address the following:

What strategies are used to address prejudice and discrimination?

How does the strategy vary according to the audience (e.g., children, adults, etc.)?

Connect the strategies presented in the video to the strategies discussed in this week’s lesson or course reading.

Offer examples of how your workplace or how the health care professions environment could develop strategies to improve communication barriers and compliance.

Explain the value of self-awareness regarding your role in the healthcare profession by being able to recognize and manage diversity issues.

What role does self-awareness play in addressing these issues?

What policies or procedures does your workplace have in place to promote and encourage self-awareness of diversity?

Can you make any recommendations for workplaces to highlight self-awareness as a value of importance?

DQ2 Traditions and Cultures

For the initial post, address the following:

In our diverse society, how do we honor the traditions and cultures of so many varied groups without inadvertently disadvantaging anyone in your workplace and/or in the healthcare profession?

How can we develop strategies to ensure that cultural traditions are respected and preserved while recognizing our commonalities?

Follow-Up Post Instructions

Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification. For example, evaluate your peers’ ideas. What strategies would work in your workplace? What drawbacks do you see or what caution will you need to take?

 

SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions

Week 7 Discussion

Coming Full Circle on Research

Research is fundamental in the social sciences. A common data collection method is the survey. Let’s look at the survey as a social scientist.

Navigate to the Chamberlain portal. At the student portal, enter your DSI# and the password used to log in to the student portal and navigate to the End of Course Evaluations and Student Satisfaction Survey directly from the home page. Locate the Quick Links section on the left side of the home page, scroll to the bottom of the page and select the link for Surveys. Now, let’s discuss the merits and flaws of this survey instrument.

For the initial post, address the following:

Which questions would you add?

Which would you delete?

What questions would you change?

What questions would you keep the same?

How are survey questions important to the interviewer and the subject being researched?

Why is it important to ask the appropriate questions that are relative and will be effective?

As we discuss these initial discussion questions, please begin thinking about the questions you will be asking for the interview assignment this week and their importance to you as you explore the experiences of others in the helping professions.

 

 

 

 

SOCS350 Cultural Diversity in the Professions

Week 8 Discussion

DQ1 Appreciating Our Differences

We have been talking about the importance of understanding our own attitudes and prejudices in order to appreciate cultural differences. In light of this topic, why is it important? How have you dealt with situations in which you did or said things that you later learned or realized might have been offensive, or at least misunderstood?

Follow-Up Post Instructions

Respond to at least two peers or one peer and the instructor. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification. For example, what did you learn about your own attitudes and prejudices? Have you changed your perspective on any of the issues and/or topics presented in the class? Please explain with specific examples.

DQ2 Reflection

For the initial post, look back over the Course Outcomes and address the following:

What are you looking forward to learning more about throughout your education and career in the helping professions?

How will you be able to apply the information learned in this class to your role in the workplace? Specifically, reflect on the course by sharing some examples about the importance of valuing diversity and the importance of self-awareness in your role as a professional in a healthcare or helping professions environment.