This course provides a practical foundation for analyzing and integrating diversity in contemporary organizations and businesses. While it applies a policy analysis and economics lens, the interdisciplinary approach of this course draws upon themes from a variety of topics from racial and gender identity, to intersectionality, to freedom of expression and legal foundations. The lectures and discussions focus on the following:
a) the economics of diversity;
b) the business and public administration cases for workplace diversity;
c) the value of cultural competency in public and non-profit organizations;
d) current policy debates about how and whether diversity competes with other policy objectives, such as efficiency and equity.
The course consists of three parts. The first part will focus on the foundations of diversity in terms of definitions, legal and economic implications, and contemporary academic debates. During the first part, students will form teams and begin researching an assigned or selected diversity topic to analyze in their policy briefs. The second part on the course, diversity and difference, will focus on specific elements on diversity, such as gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, and others. During this part, students will be exposed to guest speakers who provide a unique perspective on the subject as well as prepare and lead class-discussions to engage their peers. The third part of the course will focus on hands-on discussions about how a policy maker or an organization's leader might go about allocating resources for different diversity groups and the inherent trade-offs in this process. The students will also learn about writing and presenting their research findings in a form of a policy brief which they will present to classmates on the last day of class.
Reading materials will be available via the course Moodle site. Some links to reading materials are also included in the syllabus.