He believes in change; he has good reason. In 14 years, Gil Salazar has gone from harvesting jojoba beans in Yuma as a farm attendant to being a computer support systems analyst for the College and the Department of Plant Sciences. Two months ago, he was named to the College Diversity Committee.

Of course, in the five years he has served as analyst, computers have changed greatly, too. For one thing, capacities have gone from a 10 megabyte hard drive to 10 gigabytes, a thousand-fold increase.

"People who use computers for their desktop capabilities have added networking via E-mail," Salazar says. "People can't live without their computers. If the systems are down more than a few hours, I get complaints."

Soon after he was hired on as a farm attendant, Gil realized he needed more education if he didn't want to pick jojoba for the rest of his career. At first, he had problems with one supervisor who didn't support his ambitions. But, he says his Department always backed him up.

He credits Dr. Wallace Hoffman for acquainting him with the importance of computers. Hofftnan said computers were a growing field and, "I realized that was true."

Gil took ten years to finish his bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems. "Once I started working with computers, I was happy to stay in the Department of Plant Sciences. This is a field that can go on until I am ready to retire."

Write to Be Read

Ask yourself: Who has time to read what you write?

You write for the non-reader who's in a hurry. Statistics show that only 70 percent of the U.S. population graduates from high school. Those who do read, on the average, read at a sixth-grade level.

It's far more likely that the casual reader will put your newsletter down unread-unless your writing clearly and quickly spells out why and how your readers will benefit from reading.

Don't forget. If you want to be read and believed, your readers have to take top priority. Always.

(Dr. Don Ranly, "Writing to be Read.")

The Numbers Game

- In the United States, 32 million people (13%) speak languages other than English at home.

- In 1940, 70 percent of immigrants came from Europe. In 1992, 15% came from Europe, 37% from Asia and 44% from Latin America and the Caribbean.

- The unemployment rate for the foreign-born in 1990 was 7.8% compared with 6.2% for the native born.

- Since 1901, 30% of the U.S. Nobel prize winners have been immigrants.

- More than 100 languages are spoken in the school systems of New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Fairfax County, VA.

(Source: Census Bureau)

Leadership Jazz

The human need for dignity and opportunity and reward must move us beyond the stiff and bureaucratic language of governmental regulations, necessary as they are.

Leaders are required to understand this is much deeper, a matter of authenticity. Each of us is part of the same family, an ingredient in a great, cross-cultural mix. No person awards us authenticity; we are born with it.

If you agree with me so far, I think you will find our perspective lends an elegant clarity to this issue. It enables us to see into the heart of things. We can exchange the shifting ground of tactics for the solid ground of understanding.

Make organizations big enough to be natural for all the different kinds of people who work there. By "big enough," I'm not talking about the number of employees or the size of buildings. People need to feel free enough to be naturally who they are.

This kind of belief and behavior is not a matter of charity. It isn't a luxury. Any organization trying to progress, to produce, will be required to live up to the potential lying hidden in its diversity.

(Reprinted from the book "Leadership Jazz" by Max DePree)

Interviewing Tips

Most people who don't have formal interviewing training tend to hire the person who is most like them. Our inability to remove stereotypes, biases, and cultural prejudice from screening, interviewing and selecting is perhaps the greatest impediment to creating a diverse work environment.

The key to objective interviewing is to focus questions and discussion.

What must the candidates be able to do? If you haven't reviewed job descriptions lately, they may include requirements that are outdated or unnecessary, thus eliminating people from consideration.

Which factors in the candidate's background match the function of the position and its role within the unit? As we move toward team processes as a way of doing our work, a person's ability to be flexible, creative, and work collaboratively can become more important than specific skills.

How would the candidate know when she/he was performing the job well? Discuss your expectations; make sure they're established before beginning the interviews, and that you relate them in the same way to each candidate.

(Connie A. Gqiewvki, "Synergy, " UA Diversity Action Council newsletter, Feb. 1995)

Innocents Abroad

Many Europeans will quickly tell us they have been managing diversity a lot longer than we have. They're usually talking about managing interactions between relatively stable, identifiable cultural groups.

When Americans talk about diversity, they are usually talking about managing the tensions be- tween acculturation and assimilation of groups within the U.S. population. They are looking for inclusion, conflict reductions and productivity.

Europeans may believe that U.S. diversity efforts are just another step in the continuing process of homogenizing our culture.

Put in less provocative and more academic terms, diversity is a U.S. cultural artifact, newly emerging from existing U.S. cultural premises about who we are and how we should be as a nation. Diversity work is a way by which the U.S. can create its now and future culture.

Europeans are rightfully nervous. Even well-intended efforts to export U.S. diversity programs can easily turn out to be thinly disguised cultural colonialism, unconscious attempts to make Europeans more like Americans rather than to address the real diversity challenges of Europe.

(George F. Sinions & Baudouin E.J.M. Knaapen, "Managing Diversity," Jan. 1995)

Quote of the Month

"Am I suggesting that anti-Semitism is rampant in American workplaces'? Fortunately, this has not been my experience. Racism and sexism are, today, in most workplaces, far more severe and pervasive."

Jonathan A. Segal, labor attorney

Resources

CES National Diversity and Pluralism Database on PENpages Internet. Internet Access: psupen.psu.edu
Gopher: penpages.psu.edu
WWW: http://penpages.psu.edu
Dial in phone numbers:
814-863-4820 (19.6 & 2400 baud)
717-248-0332 (9600 baud modem)
For more information:
814-865-1229

"Women Workers: Trends and Issues" Free from: Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Box HB, Washington, DC 20210

"Designing & Implementing Successful Diversity Programs" Lawrence M. Baytos, $79.50 plus shipping from Prentice Hall, 1-800-288-4745

"Harness the Rainbow: Diversity and the Bottom Line" and "Harness the Rainbow: Diversity and Change in the Workplace" Two videos with Dr. Samuel Betances. United Training Media; 1-800-4240364

"Land of Os" and "Tale of O," diversity training videos narrated by Dr. Barry Stein, $695 ea., from Goodmeasures, 1-800-635-2501

Vision: To affect positive change in the CALS community by valuing differences and building respect.

The University of Arizona is an equal opportunity, affirmative action institution. The University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or sexual orientation in its programs and activities.

Content Questions/Comments: Billye Foster (billye@cals.arizona.edu) or Steven Crofts (scrofts@cals.arizona.edu)
Last Updated: 05/16/2005