Responsive to Cultural and Educational Inequities within the Workplace
Overview
Government employees can be lifelong positions with little room for growth or development.
Promotional opportunities are infrequent and are often dependent on external factors including collective bargaining agreements, budgets, and favoritism.
As you move up the career ladder, education takes on a higher level of importance, outweighing experience and knowledge.
There can be a lack of respect for technological certifications and other non-traditional qualifications.
As a union leader, I see the direct impact the lack of a college or advanced degree has on promotional advancement.
Instead, I am working on changing the narrative to focus on qualifications and experience over socioeconomic and cultural privilege.
As a result, I developed a strategic plan to address systemic inequities.
"Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves."
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
Importance
I believe organizations should provide career pathways and professional development for all employees including financial and workplace support for access to higher education or other certification programs, and the flexibility to attend on work time.
​
Oftentimes, manager will go into an interview with an unconscious bias based on their review of a resume.
An individual with an educational background has a better chance of securing a promotion over someone who had limited access to education, regardless of qualifications and experience.
The assumption that someone without a degree is uneducated and therefore should be classified as unprofessional is an outdated concept.
​
My approach to this was two-fold: 1) develop a long-term plan to address the cultural systemic issues within the institution by creating a strategic plan and 2) provide an immediate means for individuals to self-promote and “level the playing field” by designing and implementing a resume writing workshop.
​
Achievements
I created a resume workshop designed for individuals with limited education opportunities. This workshop teaches individuals how to shift the focus from their limited education or work history to highlighting their strengths, skills, and alignment with a job specification. The original workshop was designed for in-person learning. As a result of COVID-19, the workshop was redesigned and launched using Microsoft Class Notebook.
​
​
​
The strategic plan addressed this issue by providing recommendations for educational partnerships, updating the vocabulary used in job descriptions; increasing the number of positions with higher responsibility and without requiring an advanced degree; recognizing non-traditional learning paths have value; and creating a career path.
Strengths
Systems Thinker: Demonstrates strategic awareness. Looks for patterns and makes connections. Sees how parts relate to the whole
​
Creative Problem Solver: Situational awareness and leadership in identifying and defining challenges. Thinks creatively to generate ideas and be open to alternatives
​
Advocacy: Actions to influence decisions to support change for a cause
​
Culturally Responsive: Aware of the dynamics of race, class, gender, and other cultural factors
​
Contextual Cognizance: Demonstrate responsiveness to organizational culture, including the capacity to negotiate with others and manage change.
​
Communicator: Facile with technology, keeps current with emerging technologies
Skills
-
Gap Analysis
-
Leadership and Vision
-
Strategic Planning
-
Goal Development
-
Cultural Responsiveness
-
Program Assessment
-
Communication
-
Curriculum Development
-
New Technologies
Insights
Management does not always recognize the worth of individuals using an outdated method for evaluation. Demonstrating a positive impact on an organization as a result of implementing research based recommendations will allow for cultural growth and a paradigm shift.
​
Empowering individuals to stop evaluating their self-worth based on their educational level and instead focus on demonstrating how their experiences and knowledge align with a promotional opportunities will lead to increased opportunities for growth.