Your Identity @ Work: Dialogues about Social Identity and

Career Development

Arianna Agramonte, Bernadette So, CJ Holterman, Ross Wantland, Susann Sears

Provide an example of how you have seen diversity benefit your work place?

Share an example of a challenge that you have seen a student encounter related to stereotypes and the job/graduate school application process.

The Challenges of Diversity and Inclusion in the selection process

• Bias in the selection process:– Male applicants considered more competent and hireable than female

applicants for laboratory manager position (Moss-Racusin et al.)– “White-sounding names” more likely to be selected than applicant

resumes with “African American-sounding names” (Bertrand and Mullainathan)

– Higher Body Mass Index predicted fewer offers of admission to psychology graduate programs (Burmeister et al.)

– Asian American applicant concern that selecting race will reduce chances of admission (USA Today)

What got us thinking about Your Identity @ Work?

• Professional Experiences– Protective: “Don’t include information that points to your identity on a

résumé”– Reactive: Alumni experiencing discrimination in the workplace – Preemptive: know the possibilities of what could happen and giving

students the tools to navigate these systems

• We wanted to empower students to make informed choices about how they share their social identities in professional settings.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

• 44,520 total students: 32,281 undergraduate and 12,239 graduate and professional students, 52% men, 48% women, 5.0% African-American, 7.0% Latino/a, 14.0% Asian-American, 2% Multiracial and 21% International

• Visible/Non-visible Disabilities – ADHD, Psychological, Mobility/Physical, and LD compose the highest proportion of

enrolled DRES students– Approximately 85% of students registered for services have Non-Visible Disabilities– 78 wheelchair users

• Over 1000 Registered Student Organizations, many of which are identity based (including professional organizations)

Identifying Collaborators• The Career Center• Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations• University Housing• Disability Resources and Educational Services

• Social Identity Development Model (Hardiman & Jackson, 2007)– Social identity is the self-definition based upon

membership in a socially defined group– Individuals may move from unawareness to

redefining to reintegration (and back)– Both self-defined and other-defined

Guiding Frameworks

Understanding Inequality• Oppression & Power (Hardiman & Jackson, 2007)

– Groups receive different treatment – privilege or marginalization – based upon social identity

– Subtle, pervasive, and normalized– Experiences impact student’s worldviews, interactions

• Microaggressions are an interpersonal form of status inequality (Sue et al., 2007)

Privilege & Awareness• Students with dominant

identities may lack preparation for engaging in diverse classroom/workforce

• Intercultural competency and knowledge assists students in recognizing their whiteness, maleness, straightness, etc. as identities

Guiding Theories of Change• Social Justice Educational Pedagogy (Adams,

Bell, & Griffin, 2007)• Bystander Engagement Theory (Banyard,

Moynihan, & Crossman, 2009)• Multicultural Organization Development

Model (Jackson, 2006)

Learning Objectives • Social identities: awareness, importance, and

articulation• Professional settings: factors of inclusive settings,

researching organizations• Disclosure of identity: pros/cons, approaches• Positive bystander: microaggressions, responding

to bias

Social identities• Definition of key concepts

– Social Identities– Identity Salience– Ascribed/prescribed identities

• Examples of social identities• Writing activity• Discussion questions @ table

Professional Settings• Professional panel: search process, “how to”• Alumni panel: lived experiences

Disclosure of identity• Advantages and Disadvantages of disclosure• Practice with a partner• Reflections

Positive Bystander• Definition of

microaggressions• Intervention methods:

Inner Voices• Decision Making

Process

Successful Elements • Collaborators from multiple offices

– Articulating learning objectives – Funding – Securing outside presenters (panelists)

• Campus resources– Flash drives – Campus swag

• Food• Flexible space• Universal design • Interactive activities

What We Learned

Different audience members than expected

Timing is critical– Collaborators– Students

Marketing– Communicating what our program is… – Partnering with student groups– Social media

Marketing

Marketing

Action Plan

• Thanks for listening!– Arianna Agramonte: agramont@illinois.edu– Bernadette So: bernaso@illinois.edu – CJ Holterman: cjholt@illinois.edu – Ross Wantland: wantland@illinois.edu – Susann Sears: sheft@illinois.edu

Questions?

References• Burmeister, J.M., Kiefner, A.E., Carels, R.A., Musher-Eizenman, D.R. Weight bias

in graduate school admissions. Obesity 2013; 21(5):918-920.• Moss-Racusin, C.A., Dovidio, J.F., Brescoll, V. L., Graham, M.J., and Handelsman,

J. Science faculty’s subtle gender biases favor male students. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2012;109(41):16474-16479.

• Mullainathan S, Bertrand M. Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination. American Economic Review. 2004;94(4):991-1013.

• The Associated Press. (2011, December 4). Some Asians’ college strategy: Don’t check ‘Asian’. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-12-03/asian-students-college-applications/51620236/1

References • Sue, D.W. et al. Racial Microaggressions in Everyday Life: Implications for Clinical Practice, American

Psychologist, 62(4), 2007, 271–286• Banyard, V., Moynihan, M., & Crossman, M. Reducing Sexual Violence on Campus: The Role of

Student Leaders as Empowered Bystanders. Journal of College Student Development 50(4), July/August 2009, 446-457.

• Hardiman, R., & Jackson, B. (2007). Conceptual Foundations for Social Justice Education. In M. Adams, L.A. Bell, & P. Griffin (Eds.), Teaching for Diversity & Social Justice (pp. 35-66). Routledge, New York: Routledge.

• Adams, M. (2007). Pedagogical Frameworks for Social Justice Education. In M. Adams, L.A. Bell, & P. Griffin (Eds.), Teaching for Diversity & Social Justice (pp. 15-34). Routledge, New York: Routledge.

• Jackson, B. (2006). Theories of Multicultural Organization Development. In B.B. Jones & M. Brazzel (Eds.) The NTL Handbook of Organization Development and Change (pp. 139-156). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.