Paper

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION (DE&I)

OVERVIEW

As we discovered in our learning activities for Week 2, the topic of diversity is a mainstay in life.  Organizations and individuals both work to educate those around on the value of understanding and embracing diversity with the hopes of ensuring the underrepresented receive equal opportunities, fair treatment, and experience inclusive environments. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are independent concepts, but many believe to truly commit to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I), all three must be successfully attained and sustained.  

 

Diversity brings together the various characteristics of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, tribe, cast, socio-economic status, cognitive abilities, etc. but this is often where it stops for many.   A diverse organization does not mean it is inclusive or equitable in the treatment of their employees.

 

Some of the underserved and underrepresented groups we have seen as the subject of articles, news, and social media are, 
but not limited to, the following: former felons, LGBTQ, Asian American, Hispanic, neurodiverse groups, law enforcement, veterans, Black African Americans, Arab Americans, long-term unemployed, just to name a few.  

 

Some of the social movements that have brought attention for the need to strengthen an organization’s DEI programs include MAD Pride (users of mental health services), Men’s Rights Movement, Me Too Movement, Black Lives Matter, Trans Lives Matter, and Blue Lives Matter, 

 

ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES  

Choose one of the following options.  For each option, except Option 3, you will need to select a group or movement to be the focus of your paper.

 

Option 1:  Develop a 
diversity initiative for your organization that targets your chosen group.  In your learning material for Week 2, you will find a discussion on creating a diversity initiative, as well as provide you some examples of initiatives.  Questions to answer:  1) history and treatment of chosen population 2) the value to organizations by increasing their DE&I efforts, and why this population and initiative is key to the success of the organization 3) detailed description of the initiative and 4) how you will be able to determine the success of the initiative. 

 

Option 2: Develop a 
case study for your chosen group.  The elements you will include are an introduction, background, literature review (minimum of 5 sources reviewed**), assessment/evaluation of your research, recommendations, and conclusion.  DO NOT forget to make sure you tie it to the course objectives. One place that would be great do this in is your 
summary and recommendations where you would discuss the benefits of the information to information to the organization and HR, to support a diversity initiative, etc. — just make sure you do tie to the course content. 

**The 5 sources are for the review and not necessarily what you will need to complete the paper. 

 

Option 3: Conduct a 
DE&I audit for your chosen organization. An audit includes the assessment of the organization’s leadership, culture, policies, and procedures/practices for legal compliance with equal opportunity laws, as well as analyzing specific ways the same support or act as barriers.  The parts of your paper include the introduction, brief organizational background, your audit, and a summary and recommendations.

 

Additional Assignment Guidance:

· paper should be a minimum of 6 pages in APA format (excluding title page and references) but encouraged use the number of pages needed to complete your assignment and address each of the elements effectively.

· Read the instructions before beginning this assignment. Please ask questions.

· Remember, Week 2 Learning Materials are a good resource.

· Submit your work as an MS WORD ATTACHMENT in either a .doc, .docx, or .rtf format.

· You are encouraged to use subheadings. A subheading reflects the content that follows. Subheadings provide a point of reference for the reader as well as guide the reader through your paper.   If you do not have a clear thesis or your introduction is a bit complicated, the reader spends time guessing and is unclear as to what they are reading and why.