i need two to three paragraphs answer

After viewing/reading the articles, videos and interviews in the module, write two-three paragraphs on your thoughts about the importance of having diverse perspectives in communication, what we need to consider when understanding our intercultural audiences, how diverse teams can work together to support those cross cultural perspectives.

News Analysis
Hillary Clinton Ignited a Feminist Movement.
By Losing.
She was poised to lead and now is on the sidelines.
By Amy Chozick
Jan. 13, 2018
Hillary Clinton, the first woman who had a real shot at the presidency, has finally set off a
national awakening among women. The only catch? She did it by losing.
In the year since a stoic Mrs. Clinton watched as Donald J. Trump was sworn in as the 45th
president, a fervor has swept the country, prompting women’s marches, a record number of
female candidates running for office and an outcry about sexual assault at all levels of
society.
Even those women who disliked Hillary-the-candidate or who backed her opponent Senator
Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary now credit the indignities and cynicism Mrs.
Clinton faced in the 2016 election and her unexpected loss to Mr. Trump, an alleged sexual
abuser, for the current moment.
We wouldn’t be here — black gowns at the Golden Globes, sexual assault victims invited to
the State of the Union address, a nationwide, woman-led voter registration drive timed to
the anniversary of the Women’s March — without Mrs. Clinton’s defeat.
And yet, for Mrs. Clinton, it’s the latest — and perhaps last — cruel twist in a public life full
of them. Her loss to Mr. Trump helped ignite the kind of movement she’d once been poised to
lead but that she now mostly watches from the sidelines.
Ever since she wielded a bullhorn at Wellesley in the late 1960s and later instructed her
classmates to “practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible
possible,” Hillary Rodham seemed destined to empower women. But over the next several
decades, the promise of that young activist collided with the realities of presidential
elections and her husband’s personal scandals.
Mrs. Clinton — scarred by the blowback for saying she chose to pursue a career rather than
staying home to bake cookies, chastised by her husband’s West Wing aides for declaring
that “women’s rights are human rights” in Beijing in 1995 and warned by her 2016 campaign
chairman to avoid talking about glass ceilings — came to adopt a more tentative embrace of
how she talked about her gender.
Throughout her career, many women would view Mrs. Clinton as an imperfect vessel for the
feminist cause. She was a Yale-educated lawyer who at the height of the 1970s women’s
movement moved to Arkansas to put her own ambitions on hold in furtherance of her
husband’s career. A refrain I’d often hear from voters on the 2016 campaign trail was that
they were happy to vote for a woman, just not “that woman.”
But the roiling, messy, often painful progress made since Mr. Trump took office has recast
Mrs. Clinton, who recently topped Gallup’s poll of most admired women. Her career brings
to light the truth that there is no perfect vessel, that sooner or later, the harder we strive, the
higher we climb, we all become that woman.
It’s now nearly a year since several million women with pink pussy hats and homemade
signs took to the streets in cities across the country to protest Mr. Trump. Mrs. Clinton didn’t
attend the Women’s March on Washington, but the role she played in spurring the current
wave of activism has become more clear.
“None of us were prepared for this loss in the sense that we didn’t have well-laid plans to
mobilize,” said Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood. “But that’s what’s
happened, it’s been a year of channeling, catching up to the activism as much as trying to
foment engagement.”
After Mr. Trump’s victory, the concerns that women would be reluctant to come forward
with accusations of sexual assault and harassment spread, given that millions of Americans
and a majority of white female voters seemed unfazed by an audio recording of Mr. Trump
bragging about violating women.
“To watch him win was to make women feel like ʻI just exposed myself for absolutely
nothing,’ ” said Joan Walsh, a writer for The Nation and a CNN political analyst.
But the opposite happened. The collective voice of victims of sexual assault, spurred by the
revelations against the movie producer Harvey Weinstein and other powerful men, has
become a forceful, cathartic revolt.
Political analysts predicted that Mrs. Clinton’s loss would cause women to retreat from
running for public office, turned off by the combat and nastiness ushered in by a reality-TV
star who vanquished the bookish, dutiful woman. Instead, data shows the number of women
seeking office is rising at every level.
In her recent book, “What Happened,” Mrs. Clinton is forthright about the country’s mixed
opinions of her and about the news media’s treatment of her (including by Matt Lauer, who
has since been fired from NBC News after he was accused of inappropriate sexual
behavior). “Then there was the matter of my gender,” Mrs. Clinton writes.
But on issues of sexual assault, Mrs. Clinton has remained mostly muted, her hands tied as
liberals rethink how President Bill Clinton’s accusers were dismissed and shamed in the
1990s. Even the #StillWithHer crowd seems to agree that the #MeToo movement cannot
feature Mrs. Clinton.
In November, Patti Solis Doyle, a senior aide to Mrs. Clinton from 1991 to 2008, published an
article on CNN’s website in which she said she didn’t take the allegations of sexual
harassment and assault against Mr. Clinton as seriously as she should have.
In an interview, Ms. Solis Doyle said that she and other White House aides considered
quitting at the time but that would have just hurt Mrs. Clinton. “Why would we punish her
for his actions?” Even so, Ms. Solis Doyle said that, as for Mrs. Clinton, the #MeToo
movement “is one area she cannot go.”
In the days after several Hollywood actresses told The Times and The New Yorker that Mr.
Weinstein, a longtime donor to the Clintons, had harassed or assaulted them, Mrs. Clinton
denounced his behavior, saying she was “shocked and appalled by the revelations.”
A debate ensued, with feminists asking why Mrs. Clinton always seemed to be held
responsible for the badly behaving men around her. “The people saying, ʻWhy won’t Hillary
go away?’ are the same people saying, ʻWhy hasn’t Hillary condemned this terrible thing
that’s happened,’” said Nita Chaudhary, a founder of UltraViolet, a women’s advocacy group.
It’s impossible to know whether the #MeToo movement would have swept the nation had
Mrs. Clinton finally shattered “that highest, hardest glass ceiling.”
Conservative critics argue that a second Clinton administration would have allowed Mr.
Weinstein to maintain his status as Hollywood kingmaker and powerful Democratic donor.
“The predators, most of them media and Hollywood liberals, would still be in power,”
Michael Goodwin wrote in a column in The New York Post that Mr. Trump recommended to
his 46.6 million Twitter followers.
Liberals say, policy advancements aside, Mrs. Clinton’s victory would probably have led to a
brief period of euphoria and a return to complacency — or worse, a backlash against
ambitious women.
Mrs. Clinton enters a select club of losing presidential candidates whose defeats lead to
larger cultural movements. In 1964, Barry Goldwater was defeated by Lyndon B. Johnson in
a landslide, but the bruising finish motivated conservatives to organize, establish think
tanks, publish right-leaning magazines and encourage other conservatives to run.
“It took a while, but eventually the movement surfaced with Ronald Reagan,” said Doris
Kearns Goodwin, the historian. “That was the success that came out of the huge failure of
1964.”
Ms. Goodwin sees parallels to what Mrs. Clinton’s loss to Mr. Trump (and in her case,
winning of the popular vote) could lead to among women. “It’s hard to see when you’re in
the middle of it,” she said. “But it feels like something’s happening, a fervor, an excitement,
an optimism.”
Even before Mr. Trump took the oath of office, some feminists sought to move beyond the
Clinton years. Last January, the organizers of the Woman’s March on Washington released a
list of 28 “revolutionary leaders who paved the way for us to march,” including Shirley
Chisholm, Gloria Steinem and Malala Yousafzai. The list did not include Mrs. Clinton.
In October, the Women’s March faced criticism for choosing Mr. Sanders to speak on the
opening night of its national convention. (The organizers later apologized, and Mr. Sanders
bowed out.)
Linda Sarsour, a co-founder of the Women’s March who supported Mr. Sanders in the
primary, credited Mr. Trump’s victory — not Mrs. Clinton’s defeat — with the current
reckoning among women. “People were so aghast and felt betrayed that so many of our
fellow Americans voted for a misogynist, accused sexual predator,” she said.
The 2018 midterm elections will test whether the Women’s March and related movements
can translate into electoral power, the way conservatives eventually turned the 1964 rout
into the Reagan revolution. In the meantime, allies of Mrs. Clinton see something tragic
about the Trump era, and the resistance mounting against it, as the final note to her public
life.
“I guess every cloud has its silver lining, and this is it,” Ms. Solis Doyle said. “But in terms of
Hillary’s perspective and career it’s sad that it comes as she’s diminishing, some would say
vanishing, from the political stage.”
10 Ways Employees can Support Diversity and Inclusion
September 9, 2014
By Robin Pedrelli
In most organizations, diversity and inclusion is best approached with a top-down,
bottom-up strategy. While it’s imperative that D&I efforts are supported by the CEO
and actively engages leaders, one cannot discount the impact of employee
involvement. Engaging employees at all levels is the most effective way to reach
critical mass and communicate the import of diveristy and inclusion. Often
employees are eager to join in the process but lack the know-how and confidence
to take action. It is important to let employees know that there are many ways to
contribute and support D&I efforts and does not necessarily require expertise in the
field.
This article offers some concrete tips that are designed to engage employees at all
levels within the organization. Remember it is important to commit to the process,
value the thoughts and ideas of everyone, and celebrate along the way.
How Employees Can Support Diversity
and Inclusion
Robin Pedrelli, co-founder and
partner of VisionSpring, Inc
1. Know the diversity goals and vision of your organization and its connection to the overall business objectives.
Commit to the process by understanding how diversity impacts your role, and how your role impacts the success of
the diversity initiative.
2. Participate in employee engagement surveys and respond as openly and honestly as possible. Finding an internal
champion with whom you can comfortably express concerns and/or elicit advice can be instrumental in supporting
your efforts.
3. Actively engage in the diversity effort. You can take part in or start an Employee Resource Group, or volunteer to
chair or serve on committees that organize diversity-related events and activities. Consider becoming a mentor,
mentee, or part of a co-mentoring relationship. These activities require a commitment of time, but represent a
valuable opportunity for personal and professional development.
4. Become culturally competent. Take the time to learn about different cultures, races, religions and backgrounds
represented by your colleagues. Ask your coworkers to share some of the customs and practices associated with
their cultures. Become familiar with diversity-related terms and, if you err, apologize and ask for help.
5. Treat people in a way they wish to be treated rather than the way you wish to be treated. Common social activities
and practices that are comfortable for you may not be comfortable for everyone. Do not tell offensive jokes that
may alienate those who are different from you — even if they are not present at the time. Most importantly, be
respectful always. Diversity exists everywhere — not just in the office. Take these diversity principles into your
community and your home.
6. Drive positive change in the organization. Be a spokesperson for diversity issues that are not necessarily your own.
Any organization will find it difficult to ignore the powerful voice created when groups representing different diversity
dimensions unite.
7. Welcome ideas that are different from your own, and support fellow teammates. The creativity that comes with
diversity can help you generate new ideas or improve a process already in place. It can also make work more
interesting, engaging, and fun.
8. Understand the diversity elements you personally bring to the organization. Diversity comes not only in the form of
culture, race, and gender but also includes elements such as socio-economic background, education level,
geographic location, sexual orientation, thought, and many others. Each of us brings to the table a lifetime of
experiences and knowledge. Each of us is different and adds value to the organization because of these
differences.
9. Commit to continuous improvement. Be willing to learn, accept feedback, and listen to the concerns of those
around you. Even the most enlightened individual can find opportunities for growth.
10. Communicate and educate. Diversity work is a journey, not a destination. It takes time, patience, and
perseverance. Be tolerant of coworkers who do not yet appreciate the value of diversity or who may not always
behave respectfully. Often, negative behavior comes from ignorance rather than malice. A willingness to educate
can go along way.
Robin Pedrelli is the co-founder and partner of VisionSpring, Inc. VisionSpring, Inc. is a WBENC certified, women
owned and operated diversity and inclusion consulting firm offering fully integrated strategy development, workforce
planning, training and continuous learning solutions to leverage diversity and inclusion to drive innovation and
improved business outcomes. We provide customized strategic solutions that address the specific needs of each client
and blend workforce, workplace, marketplace and community related goals.
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Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Vaibhav Joshi
Features Writer, Entrepreneur Asia-Paci c
October 25, 2018
The Importance Of Having Diversity In The
Workplace
Recruiting from a diverse pool of people can bene t the company as well as its employees, says science.
Even though considering differing opinions and opposing points of view during a brainstorming
session can be frustrating, the process almost always seems to lead to an elegant and feasible
solution. According to research, the same principle can be applied at work—studies show a diverse
workforce can boost employee performance as well as that of the company as a whole.
Better Performance
The more diverse the board of a company is the better, suggests a study conducted by McKinsey.
Examining the performance of 180 publicly traded companies in France, Germany, the United
Kingdom, and the United States over the period from 2008 to 2010, their researchers found that
companies with more women and foreign nationals as part of senior teams performed much better
than less diverse boards.
A similar study carried out by Credit Suisse Research Institute backed up their findings. Published in
2012, the Credit Suisse report revealed that companies with at least one woman on the board have
outperformed their this with no women on the board by 26 per cent over the last six years. This
was seen uniformly across all fronts, including returns on equity, debt to equity ratios, price/book
value as well as average net income growth.
In a release related to the study, Stefano Natella, Co-Head of Securities Research & Analytics said,
“This in-depth study provides investors with striking evidence that greater gender diversity is a
valuable additional metric to consider when evaluating investments. The results of our analysis are
irrefutable and for the first time offer a global view of this topic and a compelling explanation of
why gender diversity adds value.”
Better Problem Solving
Having a diverse group of people attacking a problem could lead to a multi-pronged attack that
results in better problem solving, suggests a 2006 study conducted at Tufts University. Published in
the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in April 2006, the study involved 200 participants on
29 mock juries.
The researchers found that panels of white and black participants performed better than all-white
groups by a number of measures. “Such diverse juries deliberated longer, raised more facts about
the case, and conducted broader and more wide-ranging deliberations,” said lead author Samuel R.
Sommers. “They also made fewer factual errors in discussing evidence and when errors did occur,
those errors were more likely to be corrected during the discussion.”
While his study was set in a courtroom, Sommers also talked about the implication of the study’sf
findings in other situations.”Because the study examines group decision-making in a realistic
setting, the findings have potential implications for a variety of contexts–from the classroom to the
boardroom, or wherever a premium is placed on fact-findings and reaching a good decision,” he
said. “Diverse groups show a number of advantages and benefits hen it comes to this type of
decision making.”
Researchers from Columbia, MIT, University of Texas-Dallas, Northwestern, and a few other
prestigious universities looked at stock-picking in ethnically homogenous and diverse groups. In
their study entitled ‘Ethnic diversity deflates price bubbles’ published in PNAS in December 2014,
they focused on experimental markets in Southeast Asia and North America.
The findings of the study revealed that the financial decisions of the more diverse groups were 58
per cent better than those of the homogeneous groups, which led to fewer bubbles on the market.
“In homogeneous markets, overpricing is higher and traders’ errors are more correlated than in
diverse markets. The findings suggest that price bubbles arise not only from individual errors or
financial conditions but also from the social context of decision making. Informing public
discussion, our findings suggest that diversity facilitates friction that enhances deliberation and
upends conformity,” wrote the researchers.
Better Exposure
In a study published in Scienti c American in 2014 looked at 1.5 million academic papers and found
that papers written by diverse groups are more likely to receive citations and had higher impact
factors than those whose authors belonged to the same ethnic group. They also found that people
of similar ethnicities are more likely to collaborate on papers more often, but the final product was
much more impactful in the diverse groups. “Diversity jolts us into cognitive action in ways that
homogeneity simply does not,” says the Scienti c American report on the study.