Increasing Positive Perceptions of Diversity for Religious Conservative Students
ABSTRACT
Evidence suggests that positive perceptions toward diversity enhance the potential group and organizational benefits resulting from diversity. Given the make-up of today’s organizations, encountering diversity has become the norm ra-ther than the exception. As such, it is becoming increasingly important to address diversity issues, and take steps to increase positive perceptions of diversity within the business classroom in order to carry that advantage into the workplace. Religious conservative students present a unique challenge to diversity education in that they likely hold value- laden attitudes that lack alignment with diversity principles. This study prescribes a scaffolding approach to increase positive perceptions of diversity within a classroom comprised predominantly of religious conservative students
Evidence suggests that positive perceptions toward diversity enhance the potential group and organizational benefits resulting from diversity. Given the make-up of today’s organizations, encountering diversity has become the norm ra-ther than the exception. As such, it is becoming increasingly important to address diversity issues, and take steps to increase positive perceptions of diversity within the business classroom in order to carry that advantage into the workplace. Religious conservative students present a unique challenge to diversity education in that they likely hold value- laden attitudes that lack alignment with diversity principles. This study prescribes a scaffolding approach to increase positive perceptions of diversity within a classroom comprised predominantly of religious conservative students
KEYWORDS
Teaching Diversity, Positive Benefits of Diversity, Teaching Methods, Religious Conservative Students
Teaching Diversity, Positive Benefits of Diversity, Teaching Methods, Religious Conservative Students
Cite this paper
nullCook, A. & Callister, R. (2010). Increasing Positive Perceptions of Diversity for Religious Conservative Students. Creative Education, 1, 93-100. doi: 10.4236/ce.2010.12014.
nullCook, A. & Callister, R. (2010). Increasing Positive Perceptions of Diversity for Religious Conservative Students. Creative Education, 1, 93-100. doi: 10.4236/ce.2010.12014.
References
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[1] J. R. W. Joplin and C. S. Daus, “Challenges of Leading a Diverse Workforce,” Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 11, No. 3, 1997, pp. 32-47. [2] D. D. Frink, R. K. Robinson, B. Reithel, M. M. Arthur, A. P. Ammeter, G. R. Ferris, D. M. Kaplan and H. S. Morrisette, “Gender Demography and Organization Performance: A Two-Study Investigation with Convergence,” Group and Organization Management, Vol. 28, No. 1, 2003, pp. 127-147. [3] L. S. Hartenian and D. E. Gudmundson, “Cultural Diversity in Small Business: Implications for Firm Performance,” Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, Vol. 5, No. 3, 2000, pp. 209-220. [4] O. C. Richard, T. Barnett, S. Dwyer and K. Chadwick, “Cultural Diversity in Management, Firm Performance, and the Moderating Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation Dimensions,” Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 47, No. 2, 2004, pp. 255-266. [5] O. C. Richard and N. B. Johnson, “Understanding the Impact of Human Resource Diversity Practices on Firm Performance,” Journal of Managerial Issues, Vol. 13, 2001, pp. 177-196. [6] R. J. Ely, “A Field Study of Group Diversity, Participation in Diversity Education Programs, and Performance,” Journal of Organizational Behavior, Vol. 25, No. 6, 2004, pp. 755-780. [7] A. M. Konrad, Y. Yang and C. Maurer, “Strategic Diversity Management: A Configurational Approach to Diversity-Related HRM Practices,” Presented at Wilfrid Laurier University Speaker Series, February, 2009. [8] S. K. Schneider and G. B. Northcraft, “Three Social Dilemmas of Workforce Diversity in Organizations: A Social Identity Perspective,” Human Relations, Vol. 52, No. 11, 1999, pp. 1445- 1467. [9] J. F. Dovidio and S. L. Gaertner, “Affirmative Action, Unintentional Racial Biases, and Inter-Group Relations,” Journal of Social Issues,” Vol. 52, No. 4, 1996, pp. 51-75. [10] K. Kawakami, E. Dunn, F. Karmali and J. F. Dovidio, “Mispredicting Affective and Behavioral Responses to Racism,” Science, Vol. 323, No. 5911, 2009, pp. 276-278. [11] S. Brammer, G. Williams and J. Zinkin, “Religion and Attitudes to Corporate Social Responsibility in a Large Cross-Country Sample,” Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 71, No. 3, 2006, pp. 229-243. [12] R. J. Ely and D. A. Thomas, “Cultural Diversity at Work: The Effects of Diversity Perspectives on Work Group Processes and Outcomes,” Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 46, No. 2, 2001, pp. 229-273. [13] P. L. Nemetz and S. L. Christensen, “The Challenge of Cultural Diversity: Harnessing a Diversity of Views to Understand Multiculturalism,” Academy of Management Review, Vol. 21, No. 2, 1996, pp. 434-462. [14] K. O. Mason and L. L. Bumpass, “U. S. Women’s Sex- Role Ideology,” American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 80, No. 5, 1975, pp. 1212-1219. [15] C. G. Ellison and M. A. Musick, “Southern Intolerance: A Fundamentalist Effect?” Social Forces, Vol. 72, No. 2, 1993, pp. 379-98. [16] N. T. Ammerman, “Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World,” Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, 1987. [17] M. L. Bendroth, “Fundamentalism and Gender, 1875 to the Present,” Yale University Press, Connecticut, 1993. [18] L. M. Moore and R. Vanneman, “Context Matters: Effects of the Proportion of Fundamentalists on Gender Attitudes,” Social Forces, Vol. 82, No. 1, 2003, pp. 115- 139. [19] J. G. Melton, “A Directory of Religious Bodies in the United States,” Garland, New York, 1977. [20] T. W. Smith, “Classifying Protestant Denominations,” Review of Religious Research, Vol. 31, No. 3, 1990, pp. 225- 245. [21] M. B. Brinkerhoff, J. C. Jacob and M. M. MacKie, “Mormonism and the Moral Majority Make Strange BedFellows?” Review of Religious Research, Vol. 28, No. 3, 1987, 236-271. [22] C. Wilcox, “Fundamentalists and Politics: An analysis of the Effects of Differing Operational Definitions,” Journal of Politics, Vol. 48, No. 4, 1968, pp. 1041-1051. [23] J. R. Rest, “Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory,” Praeger, Boston, 1986. [24] J. W. Fowler, “Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning,” Harper, San Francisco, 1995. [25] L. Rosenzweig, “Kohlberg in the Classroom: Moral Education Models,” In: B. Munsey, Ed., Moral development, moral education, and Kohlberg: Basic Issues in philosophy, psychology, religion, and education, Religious Education Press, Birmingham, 1980, pp. 359-380. [26] D. Christiansen, D. Rees and J. Barnes, “How to Develop Resolve to Have Moral Courage,” Working Paper, 2007, South Utah University. [27] K. V. D. Zee and G. V. Der, “Personality, Threat and Affective Responses to Cultural Diversity,” European Journal of Personality, Vol. 21, No. 4, 2007, pp. 453-470. [28] K. D. Simons and P. A. Ertmer, “Scaffolding Disciplined Inquiry in Problem-Based Learning Environments,” International Journal of Learning, Vol. 12, No. 6, 2005, pp. 297- 305. [29] B. R. Belland, K. D. Glazewski and J. C. Richardson, “A Scaffolding Framework to Support the Construction of Evidence-Based Arguments among Middle School Students,” Educational Technology Research and Development, Vol. 56, No. 4, 2008, pp. 401-422. [30] X. Ge and S. M. Land, “A Conceptual Framework for Scaffolding Ill-Structured Problem-Solving Processes Using Question Prompts and Peer Interactions,” Educational Technology Research and Development, Vol. 52, No. 2, 2004, pp. 5-22. [31] K. P. D. Meuse and T. J. Hostager, “Developing an Instrument for Measuring Attitudes toward and Perceptions of Workplace Diversity,” Human Resource Development Quarterly, Vol. 12, No. 1, 2001, pp. 33-51. [32] K. T. Sullivan, “Understanding the Relationship between Religiosity and Marriage: An Investigation of the Immediate and Longitudinal Effects of Religiosity on Newlywed Couples,” Journal of Family Psychology, Vol. 15, No. 4, 2001, pp. 610- 626. [33] J. Rohrbaugh and R. Jessor, “Religiosity in Youth: A Personal Control against Deviant Behavior,” Journal of Personality, Vol. 43, No. 1, pp. 153-169. [34] G. D. Wilson and J. R. Patterson, “A New Measure of Conservatism,” British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 7, No. 4, 1986, pp. 264-269. [35] D. M. Collins and P. F. Hayes, “Development of a Short-Form Conservatism Scale Suitable for Mail Surveys,” Psychological Reports, Vol. 72, No. 2, 1993, pp. 419- 422. [36] J. P. Henningham, “A 12-Item Scale of Social Conservatism,” Personality and Individual Differences, Vol. 20, No. 4, 1996, pp. 517-519. [37] L. Kohlberg, “A Current Statement on Some Theoretical Issues,” In: S. Modgil and C. Modgil, Eds, Lawrence Kohlberg: Consensus and Controversy, Falmer, Phildelphia, 1985, pp. 485-546. [38] Poll: Most Amer Cans Say they are Christians, 2007. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/