Leadership and Organizational Structure

AbstractAchieving diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in an institution requires a strong and lasting commitment from organizational leaders. Given the magnitude of the challenges, that commitment must be organizationally embedded such that changes in leadership do not lead to changes in commitment or to backsliding as new initiatives emerge and potentially gain favor. Leadership is essential to establishing the overall vision of a new institutional culture as well as accurate and responsive communication of that vision. It is also necessary to build committed teams with relevant expertise. The organizational structure must reflect the involvement of experts but also be broadly inclusive of the community in question and establish mechanisms for learning, communication, and open discussion. This chapter describes the role of leadership in institutional transformation as well as elements of team assembly and design, along with the critical role of communication.

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How narratives of racial progress create barriers to diversity, equity, and inclusion in organizations

10.31234/osf.io/k3dmf ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Michael W. Kraus ◽

Brittany Torrez ◽

LaStarr Hollie

Keyword(s):

Policy Change ◽

Structural Changes ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Organizational Leaders ◽

Racial Justice ◽

Racial Equity ◽

Effective Policy ◽

Racial Progress ◽

Equity And Inclusion

Despite recent statements in support of racial justice many organizations fail to make good on their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In this review, we describe the role of the narrative of racial progress—which conceives of society as rapidly, naturally, and automatically ascending toward racial equity—in these failures. Specifically, the narrative of racial progress: 1) envisions organizations as race neutral, 2) creates barriers to more complex cross-race discussions about equity, 3) creates momentum for less effective policy change, and 4) reduces urgency around DEI goals. Thus, an effective DEI strategy will involve organizational leaders overcoming this narrative by acknowledging past DEI failures, and, most critically, implementing significant, immediate, and evidence-based structural changes that are essential for creating a more just and equitable workplace.

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“This is the Way I Win my Own Soul Back”: Exploring the Role of Allies’ Virtuous Motivation for Equity and Inclusion

10.31234/osf.io/uej8g ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Meg Aum Warren

Keyword(s):

Past Research ◽

Business Case ◽

People Of Color ◽

Organizational Leaders ◽

Dominant Group ◽

Group Members ◽

Equity And Inclusion ◽

Life Career

As organizations take on grand challenges such as gender equality, anti-racism, LGBTQ+ protections and workplace inclusion, many well-intentioned individuals from dominant groups (e.g., cisgender men, Caucasian, heterosexual) are stepping forward as allies toward under-represented or marginalized group members (e.g., cisgender women, people of color, LGBTQ+ identified employees). Past research and guidance assume an inevitable need for external motivation, reflected in the ‘business case’ for diversity and in top-down policies to drive equity and inclusion efforts. As such, little research has explored the internal motivations, particularly the specific virtues of well-intentioned dominant group individuals. Through this qualitative study, I explore how peer-nominated exemplary allies grew over the course of their careers. I conducted in-depth life/career story interviews with organizational leaders from dominant groups to identify the virtues that motivate their allyship. Findings demonstrate that they tapped into a variety of virtues, including compassion, fairness, integrity, humility, prudence, moral courage, perseverance, and patience, in order to enact allyship. Further, these virtues played specific functions in motivating key allyship-supportive mechanisms such as psychological investment, intellectual understanding, allyship action, and long-term commitment. Thus, this study offers a detailed portrait of the functions that virtues play in enabling leaders and employees to become allies. This research has implications for theory and research on diversity, equity and inclusion.

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The Role of the SLP in Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and Assessment

Perspectives on Language Learning and Education ◽

10.1044/lle15.2.50 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 50-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Amy Philofsky

Keyword(s):

Language Development ◽

Critical Role ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Prevalence Estimates ◽

Notable Increase ◽

Screening Assessment ◽

Critical Components

AbstractRecent prevalence estimates for autism have been alarming as a function of the notable increase. Speech-language pathologists play a critical role in screening, assessment and intervention for children with autism. This article reviews signs that may be indicative of autism at different stages of language development, and discusses the importance of several psychometric properties—sensitivity and specificity—in utilizing screening measures for children with autism. Critical components of assessment for children with autism are reviewed. This article concludes with examples of intervention targets for children with ASD at various levels of language development.

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