Diversity Education and Training Lab Offerings

Part I : Leadership, Mindset & Care

This interactive workshop draws upon the concepts of leadership, mindset and care as foundational elements to building inclusive and positive working and learning environments. Using research and hands-on activities, participants will reflect upon Kouzes & Posner’s leadership principles; Dweck’s mindset research; and, Ferrucci’s characteristics of kindness. These concepts serve as a framework in which participant’s work, academic and personal practices are considered and discussed with emphasis on the ways these concepts foster growth, learning and kindness. Core topics covered: developing a working understanding of leadership, mindset and care and building inclusive leadership and mindset practices to apply to work and learning environments in which care and kindness are prioritized.

Part II : Cultural Competency Basics & Awareness

Through building an awareness of one’s own myths, biases and stereotypes, this workshop seeks to foster a general understanding of cultural competency within participants through interactive dialogues and shared experiences. An emphasis is placed on creating safe spaces for conversation and providing participants with tools to foster inclusive spaces within their own environments. Core topics covered: developing an understanding of cultural competency; self-awareness and understanding of biases, myths and stereotypes; defining diversity; and, building tools, skills and knowledge.

Part III : Understanding Unconscious Bias

Building upon the foundation developed in Cultural Competency Basics & Awareness workshop, this session delves deeper into self-awareness, consideration of one’s actions and ways these actions impact our actions. Activities and dialogue focus on increasing depth and cultivating cultural competency skills within oneself and one’s environment in connection to the nationally researched work on Implicit Bias and Implicit Association. Core topics covered: understanding unconscious bias; developing cultural competency skills; and, understanding one’s own blind spots (Banaji & Greenwald, 2013).

All three parts qualify for Kent State University's Beyond Compliance certification.

The Listening Project

The Listening Project aims to foster stronger working relationships among colleagues through intentional dialogue across difference. The program is organized by pairing participants based on factors such as race/ethnicity, gender, or a related workplace difference. Trained coaches foster dialogue between partners in cluster sessions on topics that range from getting to know one another to views on race. Goals of the program include: building of relationships among individuals that normally may not develop a relationship; increased understanding of diversity and inclusion, gender, ethnic and race differences; and, improve the climate and success of diversity at KSU through building trust and credibility.

Blind Spot

The Hidden Biases of Good People Book Dialogue: Building on research by three scientists (Tony Greenwald, Mahzarin Banaji and Brian Nosek), Blind Spot builds on the Implicit Association Test research to help readers understand how our unconscious biases may impact the ways in which we work, live and treat one another. Through a series of dialogue questions and book reading, this dialogue will help participants build awareness and increased understanding on one’s “blind spots.”

The Power of Kindness Book Dialogue

“The Power of Kindness” by Piero Ferrucci challenges us to consider simple yet profound concepts such as warmth, honesty, forgiveness and 15 other principles that foster kindness in all the work we do and how we treat each other. This dialogue applies these concepts to a workplace setting and how through these concepts we are able to thrive as leaders and human beings, appreciating and valuing difference.

Diversifying & Retaining Faculty & Staff, Part I

Part one provides an overview of the faculty and staff searches process and the ways in which bias impact the process as early as creating the job description. The seminar focuses on concrete strategies and a hiring process to mitigate bias and yield an increased diverse pool of candidates. Core topics covered: The importance of diversity in hiring; dispelling of myths and understanding of bias in the process; understanding search committee roles; diverse recruitment strategies; and, dialogue to share ideas and successful practices.

Diversity & Retaining Faculty & Staff, Part II

Part two picks-up at the campus interview phase and focuses on hiring through retention of diverse faculty. A continued understanding of bias in the interview and selection phase is covered as well as specific strategies to retain diverse faculty. Core topics covered: Strategies for effective campus interviews; processes to effectively screen and select candidates; strategies to develop retention plans; and, dialogue to share ideas and successful practices.

Both parts qualify for Kent State University's Beyond Compliance certification.

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