Format
requirements for Personal Understanding of Diversity/ Social Justice Paper:
·
3 pages
written in Microsoft Word’s 12-point Times New Roman font, 1 inch
margins, double-spaced. Include a title page with name and date (not to be
included in the 3-4 page requirement)
The essay should be an honest self reflection on your experiences and personal
understanding of class, diversity, social justice and equity. The assignment is
for you to consider and write about any areas of personal growth,
misconceptions, personal ‘isms’, barriers to learning, ‘aha’ moments, and
thoughts on leading through the lens of social justice, diversity, inclusion,
and/or equity. What (if any) impact did this reading have on your life
personally and professionally? How do you foresee taking the impact moving
forward? How (or were) your previous perceptions and attitudes challenged? What
paradigm shifts or new insights did you obtain about yourself, your cohort as a
collective or as individuals?
——– What I wrote
Your Personal Understanding of Class, Diversity and
Social Justice
I love Mexico, and for many years, I have observed
inequality, inclusion, and a lack of diversity, especially among women. Gender
equality, by definition, refers to equal rights, responsibilities, and
opportunities for everyone, regardless of gender or sex, ethnicity, age,
ability, religion, and culture.
I have worked since I was 14 years old, and even when I was
young, I could see how other women were not treated equally at work, not just
in the aspect of position promotion but also in the executive environment.
Women did not have the same opportunity for fair employment.
Also, in high school, I noticed that out of my class of 40
students, 25 were women and 15 were men; many of my female classmates were not
continuing their education because they had to continue working or start
working to help their families. On the other hand, almost all of the male
classmates were pursuing college or technical careers. In my own family, my mom
was told by the city major that she was still young to retire after 25 years of
service in the government. That year, the city management changed the
retirement qualification years of service from 25 to 30 years before receiving
retirement benefits.
Here in the States, I met my husband when I was going to
nursing school. To be honest, we both applied after graduation to the same
company and the same job position, but when we received the job offer, it
clearly looked different from my husband’s. It looked significantly different
in the hourly compensation section by a couple of dollars per hour. To my
surprise, the company we both applied to had a particular policy not to discuss
how much we were getting paid with other co-workers.
I guess I was not surprised but a little disappointed that I
saw the same inequality in pay compensation, and it was hard to believe that it
also happened in the number one nation in the world.
One of the many things I improve in the people I have had
the opportunity to touch with for a few months is when working on their
resumes. I have had the chance to work with many employers and HR
representatives, and one of the things that they check is the prospective
employees’ social media, home addresses, and personal references. It got me
thinking: if they would research their addresses and notice that they live 30
to 40 minutes from the employer’s address, would they give them an opportunity
based on their skills and personality and not on the distance that they have to
travel to get to work? Suppose they ask them a question that asks them to tell
me a little bit about yourself during the interview. They answer I am a single
mom or I have several kids. In that case, they may not want to employ them
because they may be afraid of the employee coming to work late or even how many
times they will miss work because their children were sick or had emergencies.
I help them not only modify the resume format but also provide them with an
opportunity to receive an interview, and the employer find how quality and good
employers they can be and the much potential and aspect that they can be to any
employee if they only give them the opportunity to become part of the company.
As a person leaving with a disability, I understand directly
that inclusiveness is not always present. I understand that it is not always
simple to overcome the obstacles in front of us because of our limits. However,
it is difficult when society and the community contribute to making exclusion
appear more like inclusion for all abilities.
In my opinion, women’s rights call upon us, everyone as a
society, to critically assess the persistent gaps in workforce participation,
pay equity, and leadership opportunities. Our role is pivotal in conquering
these obstacles and constructing a more just and equitable city, state, nation,
and world. We need an authentic revolution of education and society to achieve
this goal. We must educate and have an impulse for freedom of expression.
(I know I am missing more in
inclusion and diversity; can you please add it)
