{"id":9602,"date":"2021-08-06T11:26:59","date_gmt":"2021-08-06T10:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/?p=9602"},"modified":"2022-02-18T14:03:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-18T14:03:14","slug":"staff-development-for-anti-racist-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/altc.alt.ac.uk\/blog\/2021\/08\/staff-development-for-anti-racist-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"Staff Development for Anti-Racist Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Anti-Racism & Learning Technology Community <\/h2>\n\n\n

Dr Monica Chavez, University of Liverpool; Dr Teeroumanee Nadan; Tracey Madden, University of Edinburgh<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common form of professional development for race equality is normally a one-day training workshop or expert presentation, or a pre-packaged programme or resource (Robb, 2000). \u00a0 As a sub-group, we are especially interested in a community of practice approach for the sharing of tacit knowledge beyond the traditional approaches to CPD. Communities of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991) embedded in social theories of learning provide a collaborative professional development model \u2018where practitioners co-construct knowledge\u2019 (Clarke, 2006, p. 10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most frequent themes we encounter during our monthly open community meetings are discussions around diversity and teamwork.\u00a0 The benefits of diversity on teamwork and how professional development can support the optimisation of diversity on team dynamics have been extensively discussed in different fields such as organisational psychology and human resource management. According to Mannix & Neale (2005) diversity influences teams in three ways:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. People are attracted to working with and cooperating with those they find similar in terms of values, beliefs, and attitudes<\/strong><\/li>
  2. People tend to categorize themselves into specific groups, and categorize others as outsiders or part of other groups. <\/strong>People treat members of their own group with favoritism, and may judge \u201cothers\u201d according to group traits (e.g. stereotyping).\u00a0<\/li>
  3. However, diversity brings different contributions to teams. <\/strong>For example, a <\/strong>broader territory of information and range of networks and perspectives, enhanced problem-solving, creativity, innovation, and adaptability.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The table below from McKinsey\u2019s research on diversity illustrates the case of the benefits of diversity in teamwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Diversity management helps to\u2026<\/strong><\/td>Rationale<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
    \u2026win the war for talent<\/strong><\/td>A strong focus on women and ethnic minorities increases the sourcing talent pool, a particular issue in Europe. In a 2012 survey, 40% of companies said skill shortages were the top reason for vacancies in entry-level jobs.<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2026strengthen customer orientation<\/strong><\/td>Women and minority groups are key consumer decision makers: for example, women make 80% of consumer purchases in the UK;  gay men and women have average household incomes that are almost 80% higher than average.<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2026increase employee satisfaction<\/strong><\/td>Diversity increases employee satisfaction and reduces conflicts between groups, improving collaboration and loyalty.<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2026improve decision making<\/strong><\/td>Diversity fosters innovation and creativity through a greater variety of problem-solving approaches, perspectives, and ideas. Academic research has shown that diverse groups often outperform experts.<\/td><\/tr>
    \u2026enhance the company’s image<\/strong><\/td>Social responsibility is becoming increasingly important Many countries have legal requirements for diversity (e.g., UK Equality Act 2010).<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
    SOURCE: Women Matter, McKinsey & Company, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2013; Thomas Barta, Markus Kleiner, and Tilo Neumann, \u201cIs there a payoff from top-team diversity?\u201d, McKinsey Quarterly, April 2012; Martin Dewhurst, Matthew Pettigrew, and Ramesh Srinivasan, \u201cHow multinationals can attract the talent they need\u201d, McKinsey Quarterly, June 2012; Diversity wins!, McKinsey & Company, November 2011; McKinsey qualitative survey; The War for Diverse Talent, Green Park, September 2010; Scott E. Page, The Difference: How the power of diversity creates better groups, firms, schools, and societies, Princeton University Press, 2007; McKinsey analysis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The sharing of personal stories around the theme of diversity and teamwork has been a key and highly enriching experience during the monthly open meetings of the community in the last months. Although the community principles clearly outline the expected behaviour from its members (see our first blog post,<\/a>) we also understand that sharing personal and often difficult stories in a \u2018public\u2019 space might make the members even more vulnerable in terms of sharing racially charged incidents and events. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    One of the principles of cultivating communities of practice is that, in addition to public communal spaces where knowledge is built and shared, private spaces should be provided for its members. To approach the challenge of supporting and developing colleagues, we have created\u00a0 \u201cBold Conversations for Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging\u201d. These private spaces embedded in the Anti-Racism & Learning Technology Community aim to support and develop:<\/p>\n\n\n\n