I found three resources for you to explore this week. First, a NYT article about “employee fit” raises some excellent points regarding assumptions built into a great deal of the hiring that goes on today. Lauren Rivera questions the practice of aligning who is hired based on the “fit” with an organization’s “culture.” The second resource I found focuses on the hot topic of wealth inequality. The problem of keeping wealth and income inequality straight can test your critical thinking skills. The nine graphs at the Urban Institute website offer some interesting insights on this topic. Lastly, I came across a piece by Elena Muslar that does a wonderful job of confronting the usual challenges given about why there are so few people of color working as arts managers. She offers recommendations and action steps that arts organizations can take to more effectively address this issue.
Guess Who Doesn’t Fit In at Work
NY Times Opinion – Sunday Review
By LAUREN A. RIVERA, MAY 30, 2015
ACROSS cultures and industries, managers strongly prize “cultural fit” — the idea that the best employees are like-minded. One recent survey found that more than 80 percent of employers worldwide named cultural fit as a top hiring priority. When done carefully, selecting new workers this way can make organizations more productive and profitable. But cultural fit has morphed into a far more nebulous and potentially dangerous concept.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/31/opinion/sunday/guess-who-doesnt-fit-in-at-work.html?_r=0
Nine Charts about Wealth Inequality in America
Why hasn’t wealth inequality improved over the past 50 years? And why, in particular, has the racial wealth gap not closed? These nine charts illustrate how income inequality, earnings gaps, homeownership rates, retirement savings, student loan debt, and lopsided asset-building subsidies have contributed to these growing wealth disparities.
http://datatools.urban.org/Features/wealth-inequality-charts/
Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Arts Management: An Exposé and Guide
Elena Muslar, May 20, 2015, HowlRound
Are you tired? Rundown? Listless? Do you constantly meet the diversity quota in meetings? Well, if you answered, “yes” to these questions, you are not alone. I too, suffer from only-one-syndrome. I too, am the person that everyone turns to when a question arises about “outreach” to people of color. And yes, I too, look around the room with the hope to lock eyes in secret solidarity with the other person of color who just might be there.
http://howlround.com/racial-and-ethnic-diversity-in-arts-management-an-expos-and-guide