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Affirmative Action at the University of Selkirk and the Portrait of a Canadian Advisor #1) Perceptual Biases The business department was biased towards the AAC’s work because the department was comprised of 85% of males. The majority of AAC members, on the other hand, consisted only of women faculty members and librarians who believed that academic facilities were dominated by men and that there were an implicit set of values that effectively excluded women.
Since the majority of the members are women, this caused the AAC to be biased towards male faculty members and the university, since there were no male opinions in the group. The proposal that AAC formulated was very biased towards males, for example, it stated that women candidates with acceptable qualifications would be offered the position prior to any males. This could create an equity issue among the staff and could de-motivate them from their work and dislike the university. Fundamental Attribution Error
In the case of Affirmative Action at the University of Selkirk, the audits being conducted could’ve gone wrong because of many biases. For one, women may not have been hired because of external causes of the fundamental attribution error, which are “explanations based on situations over which the individual has no control. ” Specifically, an external cause would be if the female candidate’s qualifications did not match the job description and not necessarily because the university was biased against women. The Halo Effect
The Affirmative Action Committee (AAC) could be biased towards the Business Studies department by not allowing the department to hire a woman in the finance area until they negotiated a plan together. The business department rejected the AAC’s plan in 1990 and did not re-negotiate with the AAC because the majority of the faculty did not support the AAC’s work and openly expressed their dislike for the AAC. This caused the AAC to demonstrate the halo effect, which is “is the tendency for a group’s overall impression to bias his or her assessment of another on specific dimensions. To be more specific, the AAC formed a negative overall impression of the business department which biased the AAC’s assessment of the business department’s recommendation for hiring a female faculty member. The Pygmalion Effect and Stereotypes The Pygmalion Effect can be demonstrated in the case of University of Selkirk because men are seen as better qualified to be professors and so they are given more opportunities. In turn, male professors excel in their profession and do become particularly qualified for the job. For this reason, opportunities are rarely open for women.
This is shown by the reluctant attitude of the vice-president, Academic in approving the 1989 proposal, because he felt that “the best candidates” were not being considered, which implied that women were not among the best candidates. In the Portrait of a Canadian Advisor, a stereotype is made for the typical Canadian advisor. A stereotype is the belief that “all members of specific groups share similar traits and behaviours. ” In this case, the stereotype of the typical Canadian advisor is male, between 40 to 50 years old and speaks English or French.
Since our advisor was hired because he fit this description, we can say that his employment was due to external factors of the fundamental attribution error. Our advisor then complies with the Pygmalion Effect because he is expected to do well since he fit the stereotype, and judging by his answers in the interview, he believe that he is doing well. The Golem Effect In the case of the Canadian advisor, the Golem Effect is also in place for this advisor because his colleagues, spouses and counterparts perceive him as someone that has minimal involvement with the local culture and made little effort to learn the local language.
They already have a predetermined perception of him and have low expectations of him, which may be the reason that he has not made a big effort to be successful in his new cultural environment. Conclusion Therefore, both cases showed perceptual biases through external causes of the fundamental attribution error and the Pygmalion Effect. In the case of the University of Selkirk, a bias was also demonstrated by the Halo Effect, while stereotypes and the Golem Effect were exhibited in the case of the Canadian advisor. #2) Learning Program My program would be the same for both cases.
I would develop a program where a new group of hiring managers would be selected; it would consist of an equal number of males and females of different ages and ethnic backgrounds. For example, if there were six hiring managers in total, three would be males and three would be females, and not all of their mother tongue would be English or French. Together, they would review resumes and conduct interviews on potential candidates. A newly revised guideline would be created by the new team of hiring managers so that it would not be biased against gender, age or ethnic background.
Through the hiring process, it is necessary for the team to follow the strict guideline to ensure a bias-free environment. Cultural Awareness To eliminate the ethnic bias in the case of the Canadian advisor, the program would also include teaching cultural awareness, meaning not only would there be diversity in gender, but the University of Selkirk and the CIDA would also be culturally diverse. This would benefit the CIDA company in creating overseas contacts and contribute to the organization and potentially make it more successful by the new knowledge from advisors from different countries or ethnic backgrounds.
Positive and Negative Reinforcement If the team of hiring managers does well (how successfulness is measured is further explained below) in hiring a well-rounded faculty, then they will be encouraged through positive reinforcement. The successfulness of the managers will be measured through conducting bi-annual tests or surveys on how the university staff at Selkirk and the organizational staff at CIDA have improved from the employment of new members. Improvement could be easured through increased satisfaction among the staff and therefore increased work motivation. If there has been improvement among the staff, then there will be positive reinforcement through rewards, bonuses, team lunches, etc. However, if the survey shows a decline in work satisfaction and motivation, then it could lead to implementing negative reinforcement. This would include punishment such as shortening a lunch or coffee break, giving warnings, not giving monetary bonuses, being scolded by upper management, etc. Modeling and Self-Efficacy
Learning can also be implemented through the process of modeling, which is the “process of observing and imitating the behaviour of others. ” For example, if the finance department has shown a bigger improvement than the business department, then the business department should observe and imitate the actions that’s the finance department takes in order to better improve themselves. Self-efficacy is important in the program in order to promote people’s beliefs about their ability to successfully perform specific tasks and behaviours.
People at the University of Selkirk have a predetermined perception about women, but through self-efficacy in this program, it will put people in a new mindset that women have the ability to do just as well as men; that women can perform specific tasks such as teaching, doing business, etc. just as well as men. Learning through Training The new program would be implemented through training, which is a “process through which people systematically acquire and improve the skills and abilities needed to improve their job performance. All of the hiring managers are required to cooperate together to select the future employee, which would execute the first training principle of participation. Repetition would occur through regular meetings of the team of hiring managers, where they would discuss problems, goals, candidates, etc. The meetings about guidelines and problems would be applied to the actual hiring process of a new employee. By conducting bi-annual tests or surveys, the team will get feedback and be able to see how the university faculty members or the organizational members of CIDA are performing.
Conclusion In conclusion, the same program could be implemented on both of the cases. At the University of Selkirk, the program would help create eliminate the bias towards females, and create a more diverse environment for the faculty, consisting of males and females. For the case of the Canadian advisors, the program would help eliminate the ageism, sexism and racism in the stereotypical Canadian advisor, and help create more opportunities for men, women and people of different ethnic backgrounds that speak different languages. #3) Herzberg’s 2-Factor Theory of Work Motivation
My program would motivate faculty members at the University of Selkirk and the Canadian advisors because it would help to satisfy their needs. According to Herzberg’s 2-Factor Theory of Work Motivation, since the program offers the hiring managers benefits such as rewards, extra pay, bonuses, etc. , then it would help to satisfy their extrinsic needs, which are factors associated with the external environment. Not only do the managers benefit from these rewards, but the university would also benefit from having a more diverse faculty.
By being recognized through rewards, hiring managers would experience feelings of achievement, accomplishment and competence, which are the factors to satisfying their intrinsic needs. Likewise, in the case of the Canadian advisors, the hiring managers for the CIDA-sponsored projects strive to create diversity in the Canadian advisors. This helps the organization in achieving their organizational goals. For example, the stereotypical Canadian advisor is male, between 40 to 50 years old and is fluent in English and French.
However, by having more diverse employees, then there will be a wider range of people who are experienced in different areas and have knowledge from different places in the world. For example, if someone who spoke English and was also fluent in Chinese joined the CIDA, then they would be able to bring new innovative ideas and knowledge to the company. This would help motivate individuals working with the Canadian advisors because it would help them to satisfy their intrinsic needs by challenging them to work with an advisor from a different ackground. This would help to broaden their horizons so that they have a different or new perspective on how to handle situations, and because they would learn new things, they would feel more competent in their future endeavors. Expectancy Theory The case of the University of Selkirk satisfies Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory because the hiring managers feel competent and satisfied by doing a good job and were rewarded by bonuses, which are considered positive outcomes, and they will continue to be motivated to work.
The Expectancy Theory states that “an individual’s motivation is determined by the outcomes that people expect as a result of effort & actions on the job. ” The hiring mangers at the University of Selkirk are motivated to do their jobs and tasks properly, in this case, hiring a more diverse faculty, because it will lead to outcomes that they desire, which are accepting rewards & feelings of achievement. Vroom’s theory is based on the idea that hiring mangers will perform the activities that they find attractive to them that are likely to lead to favourable outcomes, such as incentives, that they feel they can accomplish.
In the case of the Canadian advisors, the manager’s actions satisfies the expectancy theory, because the Canadian advisors become more motivated as they learn more and become more competent as they work and learn in a more diverse workforce. First and Second Level Outcomes The first level outcome of the Expectancy Theory is to achieve the organizational goal, which is concerned with performance. To assess this, the valence should be considered; the valence will be high if employees are motivated to achieve the organizational goal because there are incentives for them to achieve it.
Once the first level outcome of the organizational goal is achieved, then the second level outcome of needs should be looked at. If the instrumentality is high, then this means that the second level outcome of needs will be satisfied if the team achieves the first level of organizational goal. Expectancy would be high if the employees are motivated to achieve the first level outcome of organizational goal because it is achievable. Finally, force can be measured by the amount of effort the mployees put into achieving the organizational goal because they are attracted to achieve the goal, which means valence is high, and that the goal is achievable, which means that expectancy is high. Conclusion In conclusion, my program would motivate faculty members at University of Selkirk and the Canadian advisors to behave differently through Herzberg’s 2-factor theory of work motivation, by satisfying their intrinsic and extrinsic needs, and through the first and second level outcomes of Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory.