Global Inclusion, Diversity, Belonging, Equity, and Access - GIDBEA. The Architecture of A New Different

The article asserts the need for organizations to adopt intentional and transformative Global Inclusion, Diversity, Belonging, Equity, and Access (GIDBEA) practices, to ensure their future readiness. The research developed reaffirms the benefits of GIDBEA strategies in identifying gap areas and navigating crises, by providing insights on how to successfully embed a ‘new different’ GIDBEA strategy into organizational frameworks. By drawing trends across the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic and other previous health and economic crises, it is indicated what is described as the “normality of disruption” and the need to move away from the idea of a ‘new normal’ to a new different. The new different acknowledges that the ‘normal’ or the status quo was often challenging for many. The impact and importance of the disruptions that individuals, communities, nations, etc., all have and will face together, is also recognized. The new different emphasizes organizational transformation through co-creation, sustainability, adaptivity, resilience, and design thinking. By implementing a design thinking model, GIDBEA proactively engages mistakes while promoting innovation through dissent and disruption. As a result, disruptions are not considered episodic crises but as recurring, expected, and presenting opportunities. Furthermore, it is argued that GIDBEA expertise is essential for remaining agile, innovative, and providing strategic organizational architecture to prepare and innovate for these disruptions. However, it is necessary to consider that GIDBEA practice can be limited due to the failure of organizations and leaders to frame it as an asset and develop strategic plans to leverage it in the same way they do other critical functional business units. Therefore, unless prioritized and conducted intentionally, GIDBEA work will not achieve its promised bonuses and transformative potential. The article offers readers insights and tools to assess existing GIDBEA within their organization. Using metaphors of “construction” and “architecture,” it illustrates how reimaging organizational architectures and constructing initiatives focused on GIDBEA are fundamental to resiliency, organizational sustainability, and the ability to thrive through shifting landscapes.

Book Review: Changemakers! Practitioners Advance Equity and Access in Out-of-School Time Programs

Changemakers! Practitioners Advance Equity and Access in Out-of-School Time Programs, edited by Sara Hill and Femi Vance (Information Age) provides a thorough (and long overdue) examination of youth development policy and practice in the context of White supremacy, systemic oppression, and other forms of inequity. It offers a valuable introduction for those new to the field and for veterans just now starting to consider more equitable approaches to their work.

Polytechnic Tutor Training After Learning for Life: A Study of the Effects of Funding Policy Changes

<p>This thesis presents the findings of an investigation into the effects of a change in government policy for the funding of polytechnic tutor training in New Zealand after 1990. The new policy arose from Learning for Life: Two, and was part of a major reform of the administration and funding of all tertiary education and training in New Zealand. The main intentions of Learning for Life: Two were to make individual institutions more autonomous, through the decentralisation of management and funding, and so to create increased equity and excellence in tertiary education. From 1973 to 1990, tutor training had been directly funded by the Department of Education; the 1990 Tutor Training Policy required each polytechnic thenceforward to provide for tutor training from its annual bulk funding. Comparative data was collected by survey and interview, relating to polytechnics' treatment of initial tutor training in 1990 and 1993, and a more detailed case study was carried out at one polytechnic that had made substantial changes in practice. In 1990 all new tutors had been entitled to 12 weeks of initial training at one of three regional centres, with all training costs met centrally, including travel, accommodation and relief staffing. Analysis of the findings showed that by 1993, despite some transitional funding protection for the regional centres, tutor training provision varied considerably around the country, as polytechnics made local decisions about funding and implemented various forms of training delivery. When the emerging trends and effects were compared with the policy intentions of Learning for Life, it was concluded that the equity and access intentions had not been achieved consistently around the country in respect of tutor training. Longer term research was recommended into the effects of changes in tutor training on teaching quality in polytechnics.</p>

Polytechnic Tutor Training After Learning for Life: A Study of the Effects of Funding Policy Changes

<p>This thesis presents the findings of an investigation into the effects of a change in government policy for the funding of polytechnic tutor training in New Zealand after 1990. The new policy arose from Learning for Life: Two, and was part of a major reform of the administration and funding of all tertiary education and training in New Zealand. The main intentions of Learning for Life: Two were to make individual institutions more autonomous, through the decentralisation of management and funding, and so to create increased equity and excellence in tertiary education. From 1973 to 1990, tutor training had been directly funded by the Department of Education; the 1990 Tutor Training Policy required each polytechnic thenceforward to provide for tutor training from its annual bulk funding. Comparative data was collected by survey and interview, relating to polytechnics' treatment of initial tutor training in 1990 and 1993, and a more detailed case study was carried out at one polytechnic that had made substantial changes in practice. In 1990 all new tutors had been entitled to 12 weeks of initial training at one of three regional centres, with all training costs met centrally, including travel, accommodation and relief staffing. Analysis of the findings showed that by 1993, despite some transitional funding protection for the regional centres, tutor training provision varied considerably around the country, as polytechnics made local decisions about funding and implemented various forms of training delivery. When the emerging trends and effects were compared with the policy intentions of Learning for Life, it was concluded that the equity and access intentions had not been achieved consistently around the country in respect of tutor training. Longer term research was recommended into the effects of changes in tutor training on teaching quality in polytechnics.</p>

Law's Ability to Further the "Menstrual Movement"

The current menstrual movement calls for overcoming the cultural stigma associated with menstruation, achieving “menstrual equity,” and ending “period poverty.” The stigma the movement seeks to address is that menstruation is seen as taboo, unclean, and impure. The movement’s aims are twofold: First, it wants to increase awareness of menstruation and remove discrimination against those who menstruate, thus achieving menstrual equity. Second, it intends to provide greater access to menstrual hygiene products (“MHPs”), particularly for homeless and lower income people, thus eliminating period poverty. To achieve these goals, the movement is advocating to legislatively eliminate the “tampon tax” and increase access to MHPs in prisons, homeless shelters, and schools. It also supports lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the tampon tax. Advocates view these legal changes as instrumental in furthering the goals of equity and access to MHPs that underlie the movement. This Essay discusses whether the two major legislative changes the movement advocates—repeal of the tampon tax and providing MHPs in schools for free—will actually achieve the movement’s goals. The Essay begins by explaining how these legal changes, in theory, are meant to address menstrual equity and period poverty. It then explores the operational limits to, and expressive benefits of, these legal proposals. The Essay concludes that the expressive function of demanding these legal changes, and sometimes achieving them, plays a more significant role than the laws’ actual operation in reaching the movement’s goals.