Essay on Friar Lawrence - 980 Words

Friar Lawrence is a character in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet that served as a mentor for Romeo and Juliet, the two star-crossed lovebirds. He served as a mentor and a friend throughout the entire play, and because of it, his life was forever changed. In the beginning of the story, we meet the friar and can see that he is a happy go lucky guy, frollicking through the fields and giving advice to Romeo. However, the friar has to deal with quite a bit more than a two lovestruck teens, and it changes him for the worse. By the end of Act V, all of the drama that had taken place had taken it’s toll on Friar Lawrence and he was very upset and seemed to have been broken by the events of the week. The first time that we hear him speak,†¦show more content†¦He sees himself as someone who can be establish a bridge to help the community by mentoring one in the middle of the gap. â€Å"But come, young waverer, come, go with me. In one respect I’ll assistan t be, for this alliance may so happy prove to turn your household’s rancor to pure love... Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast.† (Act II.iii.96-99 101) The desire to make people happy is a manifestation of the Friar’s loving and caring personality. As happens with most people when they carry a load that is too much for them to bear, Friar Lawrence starts to break emotionally. His light hearted spirit disappeared after a bloody battle between Romeo, Tybalt, and Mercutio, resulting in two murders. Romeo wallows in the floor, moaning about his punishment, banishment, and the Friar has obviously had enough, for he says, â€Å"O deadly sin, O rude unthankfulness! Thy fault our law calls death, but the kind prince, taking thy part, hath rushed aside the law and turned that black word ‘death’ to ‘banishment.’ This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not.† (Act III.iii.25-30) The kind spirit in Friar Lawrence has been worn out by th e stupidity of Romeo and it is easily noticeable due to the way that the friar speaks in attempt to get Romeo to pick himself up off of the floor. â€Å"Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art. Thy tears are womanish; thy wild acts denote the unreasonable fury of a beast. Unseemingly woman in a seeming man.† (Act III.iii.118-121) In hisShow MoreRelatedFriar Lawrence711 Words   |  3 PagesFriar Lawrence Friar Laurence is presented as a holy man who is trusted and respected by the other characters. The Friars role as the friend and advisor to Romeo and Juliet highlights the conflict between parents and their children within the play. The centrality of the Friars role suggests a notable failure of parental love. Romeo and Juliet cant tell their parents of their love because of the quarrel between the two families. In their isolation, Romeo and Juliet turn to the Friar whoRead MoreFriar Lawrence Character Analysis1006 Words   |  5 Pageswell portrayed by the holy friar of Verona. At a first glance, one would consider Friar Lawrence only a minor influence in the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. However, he is much more significant to the development of the play. Friar Lawrence acts as a catalyst to further sequence love and peace. He is without a doubt, a very complicated individual, and it is his complex nature that makes him such an interesting character. In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence is seen as a tragic heroRead MoreInterview with Friar Lawrence Essay619 Words   |  3 PagesInterview with Friar Lawrence Detective: How did it all begin, Friar? Friar L: Well I suppose it started when Romeo came to me one morning and I suspected that something was wrong because Romeo was all bright and cheerful. I guessed that he had spent the night with Rosaline†¦ Detective: Who is Rosaline? Friar L: She was Romeo’s Girlfriend. Then I asked if he was with Rosaline and he said that he had forgotten her name and the woe it brought. I then asked whereRead MoreFriar Lawrence: Friend or Foe?800 Words   |  4 PagesFriar Lawrence: Friend or Foe? The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet goes back for centuries. It still captivates millions of readers every year. Is it the way Shakespeare always keeps people guessing? How about the theme of relying on fate? Maybe its because every time this wonderful piece of literature is read no one can decide exactly on who is blame? Is it really Juliets fault for falling in love and taking chances? Is it their parent’s faults for fighting in the first place? Yes, but no. Friar LawrenceRead MoreAnalysis of Friar Lawrence and the Nurse1075 Words   |  5 Pagesthe Nurse and Friar Laurence as mentors to the young people in the play. Do these two people do the â€Å"right thing† by Romeo and Juliet? The nurse and Friar are sophisticated characters that act as parental figures within the prolix and truculent play. The timeless classic Romeo and Juliet (RJ) by William Shakespeare revolves around the notion of determinism, death, love and deception. Despite Romeo and Juliet having warring parents who pay little regard to them, the Nurse and Friar act as parentalRead MoreThe Role of Friar Lawrence in Romeo and Juliet609 Words   |  2 Pages Friar Lawrence plays a religious role in the play thus making him trustworthy to Romeo and Juliet. He is the only one they trust and the only one they seek advice from. Friar Lawrence plays a major role in Romeo and Juliets love. First he unites them together in holy matrimony For this alliance may so happy prove to turn your households rancour to pure love. (2.3.91-92). Friar Lawrence unites them both together not only because of their true love for one another but in hopes that the comingRead MoreWhy Is Friar Lawrence Responsible For Romeo An d Juliet901 Words   |  4 PagesFriar Lawrence plays a major role in Shakespeares play, Romeo and Juliet. Through his lack of organization and judgment, Friar Laurence is highly responsible for the deaths of both Romeo and Juliet. He is a member of a group of wise priests that only want good in the world but, at the end of the play, you realize that Friar Lawrence makes many mistakes throughout the story. There are three major points that lead to the thats of both Romeo, Juliet, and even Mercutio. The first was the marriageRead MoreFriar Lawrence Is Responsible for the Deaths of Romeo and Juliet704 Words   |  3 Pagesthe Shakespearean tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, Friar Lawrence was a monk, and a counselor, who came up with intricate plots and concocted a seemingly magical elixir in order to solve problems that the lovers encountered. Friar Lawrence had a profound impact on the outcome of this Shakespearean play; however, in a way that led to catastrophe. There are many factors that caused the deaths of the lovers, but two of the most important were how Friar Lawrence disregarded his own logic, and how he missedRead MoreA Comparison: Friar Lawrence vs the Nurse Essay835 Words   |  4 PagesA Comparison: Friar Lawrence VS The Nurse Thesis: Both Friar Lawrence and The Nurse are loyal to Romeo and Juliet (respectively), they have defended, protected and have helped upkeep their well being, but do not always make decisions in their best interests, which in fact lead to both of their demises. In Romeo and Juliet, a story where two lovers are destined to be together, but their heritage prevents them, Friar Lawrence and The Nurse are similar to fathers and mothers, wise guardians,Read MoreRomeo and Juliet - Importance of Friar Lawrence Essay743 Words   |  3 Pagesplan and the deaths. In all three of these parts Friar Lawrence played a vital role. His attempts to make the marriage of Romeo and Juliet was very admirable but were poorly planned. It these attempts that make his role the most significant one in the play. This is why Friar Lawrence is the most powerful character in the play. The tragedy of their deaths could not have happened if Romeo had received the message in time. This is due to Friar Lawrence not planning how he was going to fake Juliets

The Most Forgotten Fact About Esl Argumentative Essay Topics Revealed

The Most Forgotten Fact About Esl Argumentative Essay Topics Revealed To provide a sound design you'll require no less than three supporting facts to back this up. People in demand of case study research should rush to delight in our assistance. Students lead busy lives and frequently forget about an approaching deadline. The Appeal of Esl Argumentative Essay Topics The above-mentioned topic selection may give you a crystal clear comprehension of what things to write about. So, the choice of the topic is most important. It is possible to observe a list of 25 topics you can pick from the one which best fits your assignment. Once can surf the internet to come across a few examples of argumentative essay topics, however, there are websites which help to locate topics depending on the keywords. The topic also needs to be the one which provides the students sufficient to write on. This topic is an instance of an outstanding argumentative paper topic. Don't use any false or exaggerated details about your topic in the essay. Click this URL to visit the 102 argumentative essay topics. New Step by Step Roadmap for Esl Argumentative Essay Topics If it comes to write engineering essay for those students that are studying in electrical engineering school becomes confused since they are engineers and not the writers. Choosing great essay topics for middle school must be a careful procedure, where a balance must be struck between topics that could be too simplistic, more acceptable for the key school, and choosing argumentative essay topics that might be too intricate or controversial. Once students become acquainted with a particular type of organizer, they may discover different uses for it which you haven't even considered. In planning for the end of the essay, the studen ts should choose the chance to reaffirm their position. Esl Argumentative Essay Topics - Overview When it has to do with writing an argumentative essay, the most significant issue to do is to select a topic and an argument that you may really get behind. One of the greatest strategies to select your topic is to find one which you get a strong opinion about. A great topic will allow it to be simpler to pursue the purpose of an argumentative essay, which is, apparently, the whole investigation of the problem you speak about. When you are requested to select a great topic for your argument, start with something you're familiarized with. Essays are ordinarily not very long, therefore it's not surprising that teachers would assign a whole lot of them to write. Some people believe getting a degree from university is the ideal approach to guarantee a superior job, others think it would be better to go straight into work and get experience instead. You should participate in far-re aching investigating to cover all parts of the subject and all point of views by different individuals. Discussion Essay Tips Some individuals believe environmental problems should be solved on an international scale while some believe it is preferable to address them nationally. An argumentative essay is a certain kind of academic writing. Argumentative essay topics cover a wide selection of subjects, and can be quite persuasive if an excellent essay represents them. Moral argumentative essay topics are a few of the simplest to get carried away with. There are several argumentative essay topics. You don't wish to lose grades because of incorrect essay format. If you think that you won't have the ability to finish your essay by the deadline, you don't understand much regarding the essay subject or you just do not like this type of assignments, you should turn to professional writers for aid. Use the following ideas to help you write short essays utilizing persuasive writing. You don't need to acquire super technical with legal argumentative essays, but remember to do your homework on what the present laws about your preferred topic actually say. In an argumentative essay you're supposed to present arguments about either side and please so take note of important events and court rulings about the topics you're speaking about. At this stage, you may just be thinking that you're finished with your essay, but you're not. You are able to also restate the ideas which you have discussed in the body paragraphs in order to make your point valid. It's important to select debatab le argumentative essay topics as you need opposing points you can counter to your own points. There are a few thumb rules for argumentative essay subjects to prevent clashes, yet earning a point at precisely the same time. Your facts ought to be truthful. You have to come across good evidence to back up your ideas along with examples to illustrate the evidence. To write an excellent argumentative essay the students first must investigate several sides of the argument, which permits them to make an educated stance. Esl Argumentative Essay Topics at a Glance Your introductory paragraph ought to be clear and concise just enjoy the example. An argumentative essay is a kind of academic papers that students write in the center school. Your thesis ought to be relevant so the short article can use a structure that's flexible in order to fit in the shoes of the readers. 1 technique that's particularly helpful in essay writing is repetition.

A Helping Hand free essay sample

Upon entering my freshman year of high school, I received the standard advice that every wide-eyed ninth-grader receives: to become involved.To join a club, a sports team, the band, student council, or anything where I should feel comfortable and be able to pursue my interests. In the chaos of club week, my classmates seemed to join random clubs with no rhyme or reason, gravitating toward whichever table was handing out free cookies or candy to new members. I, however, knew exactly how I was going to fulfill those wise words of advice; how I was going to become involved.Guided by my longstanding passion for helping individuals with special needs, I couldn’t have been more excited to join my school’s chapter of Best Buddies. My passion for helping others arose at quite an early age, as I grew up in a household that revolved around being charitable.My parents have always prioritized volunteering, and have made sure that they inspired this concept to me at a young age. We will write a custom essay sample on A Helping Hand or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page For over ten years, they have been heavily involved in The Woodlands Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to improve quality of life for children and adults with disabilities and chronic illness. With specialized programs and opportunities for individuals with special needs, I found The Woodlands to be a truly a remarkable place.I can remember attending events at The Woodlands when I was as young as seven years old and still being able to understand what a positive impact my parents had.The people around us were so grateful, and I knew that I wanted to be able to make a difference just as my parents were. As a senior in high school,I can say that I have spent the past four years doing what I love. From when I joined Best Buddies as a freshman, I have formed friendships with some of the most inspiring people I have ever met.I have since been chosen as a club officer, and I have helped Best Buddies grow to become the single largest club in our school.The special education department has also selected me to be a Peer Helper, an honor which I graciously accepted.Each day for a class period I serve as a peer aid for students with special needs.The students that I work with continue to amaze me with their positivity, and each day they remind me why I am so passionate about what I do. From my early childhood, I learned to always be open to helping others.Working with individuals with special needs has been a part of family for years, and has undoubtedly been one of the strongest factors in shaping who I am today.My parents exposed me to a culture that required my utmost patience, compassion, and most importantly, altruism, values that I have carried with me for years and will hold for the course of my lifetime. Through my experiences, I have gained insight into some of the daily challenges people face that are taken for granted by much of society.I have learned the value of building relationships with others, and have seen firsthand how one small gesture can make the biggest difference.I feel fortunate to have discovered something so rewarding at such an early age, and know that I will continue to grow from each experience that awaits.

The success of a marketing strategy

Marketing remains one of the key determinants of any business’ success. Consumers get to know about the existence of a product through marketing. The success of a marketing strategy depends on the approach taken by the business. All marketers must consider several issues about the targeted market(s) in order to meet the set sales goals (Hisrich, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The success of a marketing strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Target Market In demographic considerations, marketers should choose to market their products in countries with big populations. Countries that have a high number of citizens provide more market for products than those with small populations (Hisrich, 2010). Statistics of the year 2013 show that Germany has a population of about eighty one million. England boasts of fifty six million citizens while the USA has about three hundred and fifteen million inhabitan ts. This means that the USA could offer the best market for any product in the country. As for Germany and England, marketers should prioritize selling in Germany than England because the former has a bigger population than the latter (World Bank, 2012). Cultural Issues When marketing internationally, marketers should consider the language of the country that they intend to market their products. Different countries have different languages that they use to communicate. Products meant for Germans should have labels in German language, and the marketers must be fluent in German. This helps in breaking the language barrier that may arise in the process of marketing. Language does not affect marketing in the United States of America. Even though separate American states have distinctive dialects, it does not create a communication barrier between American marketers and customers (Knoblock, 2007). Americans’ lifestyles are also distinct from those of nationals of other countries. Marketers should consider the fact that some products consumed in America may not do well in foreign markets when supplied in their original forms. For example, there is a sharp decrease in the rate of birth in Germany. This is mainly because of their lifestyle, which does not like giving birth. This means that there are fewer children in Germany than in the United States of America or England. Marketers should not consider going to market lunch boxes in Germany because there are minimal chances of selling the product there than in the USA or England. Instead, they should market bait boxes. Bait boxes can be useful to Germany’s aged population, especially when they go for activities like fishing (Knoblock, 2007).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Most meat cooking appliances from United States of America may sell poorly in Germany than England. The rate of meat consump tion in Germany is high. When marketers from the United States of America want to provide kitchen appliances, like cooking devices, they should consider the cultural methods of cooking that the Germans employ. For instance, the Germans use the pot-roasting method to prepare their meat. They also utilize pans to fry meat, which they consider as the best methods for meat preparation. It may be an exercise in futility for marketers from the United States of America to supply improved ovens to the Germans as one of the appliances for preparing their meat. This product will not perform well, given the cultural methods used to prepare meat in Germany. However, improved ovens may do well in England markets because they use ovens more often to prepare their meat (Knoblock, 2007). Patent Laws and Personal Views Previous patent laws only protected individuals or businesses that had already developed a product and introduced to the market. Ideas that were still under development did not have p rotection from the previous USA’s patent laws. Contravention of these laws brought many challenges to the international market because a business could have had an idea for a product, but the thought ended up stolen by another business. The business that stole the idea could have been faster in developing the product than the original owner. This culminated in the product reaching the market as a brand of the second business. The moment the original owner of the innovation developed the product and supplied it to the local or international market, the business that stole the idea had already strengthened its customer base in the international market. The product then appeared as counterfeit (Hisrich, 2010). The international patent laws do not issue patent rights to anyone or business. They only help in searching for patent rights from different countries to find out the possibility of similar rights being held by a second person. They offer little help to innovators. This le aves individual countries with the authority to issue patent rights. The USA patent laws that President Barrack Obama signed in the year 2011 require inventors to ensure that their ideas of inventions reach the market as fast as possible. These regulations help inventors to protect the products they invent because the law requires them to register their ideas as soon as they develop them, and not the product. However, the laws are not being advantageous to small businesses because registration and issuance of patent rights are expensive. Big businesses may take advantage of this by registering invention ideas that belong to small businesses under their name because smaller businesses cannot afford the registration fees (Hisrich, 2010). In conclusion, marketing is a challenging task for businesses. The successful marketing strategy depends on the cultural beliefs and the population of the market. It also depends on the existing patent laws. Minority populations provide poor customer bases for products while big ones act as the best markets for products. Patent laws should be advantageous to both small and large businesses. This will enable all of them to benefit from their innovations.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The success of a marketing strategy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More References Hisrich, R. D. (2010). International Entrepreneurship: Starting, Developing, and Managing a Global Venture. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications Inc. Knoblock, K. (2007). Primary Source Fluency Activities: World Cultures Through Time. Huntington Beach: Shell Education. The World Bank. (2012). World Development Report 2013: Jobs. Washington D.C: World Bank Publications. This essay on The success of a marketing strategy was written and submitted by user Sean Smith to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The Internal and External Environment of Business Essays

The Internal and External Environment of Business Essays The Internal and External Environment of Business Paper The Internal and External Environment of Business Paper In an effort to achieve all this, a business entity has to interact with its internal as well as its external environments. According to Janis, Teheran and T reran (201 0), business environment refers to those aspects of the surroundings of business enterprise which have influence on the functioning of business. The world is dynamic and at times it undergoes through some changes which the business entity should be able to read so as to adapt well to these changes and hence be in a position to be able to continue its operations. It true that the managers cannot always regulate or control their environments, so it is always better to be aware of any changes that occur or that may occur, simply because these changes ultimately affect their daily day actions and decisions. For example, media reforms in Zanzibar that led to the opening up of airwaves in broadcasting to other players has had an impact on the operations of the Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporations radio and television channels. Also, related to this, was the coming on board of the free to air satellite dishes, which have made it possible for people in Zanzibar to have access to other channels other than the CB channels. Thus, for the managers of those existing channels, it was not at all possible to ignore the increased service and competition brought about by the coming on board of competitors. It is therefore a fact that, If managers do not respond to competition in appropriate time, then this will turn lethal for their organization. A business can never be profitable if it is ignoring the dynamic internal and external environment. By examining the internal and external environment, an organization develops its long term objectives and then it chooses a particular strategic pathway to achieve those objectives. But this entire recess can be completed only after a careful analysis Of internal and external environment. According to objectifications. Com, the internal environment of business are the conditions, entities, events and factors within an organization that influence its activities and choices, particularly the behavior of the employees. An organizations internal environment is actually, composed of multiple elements existing within the organization, including management, current employees and most importantly corporate culture, which ultimately defines the employee behavior. Teheran et al (2010) concur with this when hey state that, internal environment includes internal factors of the business which can be controlled by the business. It refers to environment within the organization. It includes objectives of the business, managerial policies, different departments of the organization, management and employees of the organization, labor management relationships, brand image and corporate images, physical resources including infrastructure available within the business, vision and thinking of top management, research and development activities of the organization, working conditions in the organization, morale and commitment of human resources and so on. The components of internal environment are usually within the control of business. Quality of human resources, a component of internal environment is largely responsible for success or failure of the business entity. If employees of an organization are skilful and committed, then they can take the business entity to great heights. However, on the other hand, if they are disgruntled, to an extent that they can even go on an industrial action, the activities of the organization can be jeopardized. If directors of an organization have broad vision and creative thinking, they can foresee changes that may affect the organization. As a matter of fact, they can then craft appropriate policies to deal with such changes on time. To some extent, the National Railways of Zanzibar can be cited as an example of an entity that failed to adapt to changes in the transport business environment and as a result it is struggling to survive. Marketing activities, which include research and development, are also part of the internal environment of a business unit. If the company is good at research and marketing activities, it can take an edge over competitors and can get larger market share. Connect Wireless can be given as an example of a many that has a strength in its research and development, whereupon after realizing that people were being charged exorbitant rates for transactions in the banking sector, it came up with a facility to transfer money using phones. Available physical and financial resources are also part of the internal environment. If the business enjoys sufficient financial resources, it can afford to spend more on research and promotional activities. Such activities aim at getting to know more information of the market and its needs and it is based on such a strength that new, appropriate products can be developed. For example, the need for people in Zanzibar to have access to internet in their homes led to availability of USB modems to people from mobile service providers such as African, Powerful, Telltale, Connect and others. Working conditions in an organization is another factor that can be looked at when the internal environment of an organization is being looked into. Where working conditions are unfavorable, employees will not stay long in the organization. As a result, there will be high labor turnover in the organization which in turn will result in poor service delivery by the organization. Dilemma (2012) in his research on the impact of high labor turnover on the service delivery of Mutual Rural District Council found out that excessive turnover had been costly and harmful to the operations of the entity. Gain et al (2010) define the external environment of a business as, the set of external factors such as the economic factors, socio-cultural factors, government and legal factors, demographic factors, ego-physical factors which are uncontrollable in nature and affect business decisions of a firm or company. Reinforce and Schools, cited by Gain et al (201 0), The environment of equines consists of all those things to which it is exposed and by which it may be influenced directly or indirectly. The external environment factors of a business can be categorized into: l) Micro/operating environment, which includes suppliers, customers, market intermediaries, competitors and public as well as ii) Macro/General environment, which encompasses economic environment, political environment, socio-cultural environment, technological environment, natural environment, demographic environment and international environment. This presentation will explain customers, public, economic environment, genealogical environment as well as demographic environment. Customers are a central point of any business organization. Success of a business organization depends upon identifying customers needs and then making efforts to produce products that will satisfy such needs. Because of many players in several sectors of the economy it has become challenging for some business entities to satisfy the needs of customers. As a result, those that fail to adhere to customers needs will lose Customers to competitors. An example is that of Intone, a mobile service operator that has lost a lot of customers to Connect Wireless. According to Gain et al (201 0), public is any group that has actual or potential interest in the business. To achieve this interest, it has its impact on the business. An example of public is media. This includes newspapers, magazines, or journals which may publish favorable or adverse remarks about the company. Both types of remarks in media have effect on the reputation of the company. For example, negative reporting about the Zanzibar Open University in 2011 led to a sharp drop in the enrolment statistics of that institution. The economic environment refers to those economic factors which have impact on the working of business, that is, economic system, economic policy, nature of economy, trade cycles, economic resources, level of income, distribution of income and wealth and so on. For instance, the level of income of the working class determines the disposable income of those employed. As a matter of fact, the more disposable income workers have the more products they would buy. For example, if a lot of people have significant disposable incomes it means that for a business entity that is into car selling, more cars may be bought. Technological environment comes about as a result of systematic application f scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks. The past fifty years or so has seen a substantial development of technology, enabling man to save lives, generate and distribute energy, discover new materials and substitutes as well as introduction of machinery in place of manpower. Some developments resulting from technological innovations have been seen to wonders while some are destructive. For example, knowledge that was developed leading to SUCCessfUl operations of hearts and transplantation Of kidneys have been seen as wonders whilst the production of hydrogen bombs have proved to be a horror. Demographic environment is the study of features of population such as its size, growth rate, age composition, sex composition, education level, income level, family structures and so on.

Where Does Your Writing Reside

Where Does Your Writing Reside Is it time for you to apply to that writers residency? Do it. Apply to half a dozen of them. Theres a huge number of options out there, from a week in Colorado to a month in Spain. A few of the best resources are: artistcommunities.org resartis.org/en/residencies/ http://ratemyartistresidency.com A good portion of residencies are for visual artists. But writers, and musicians, too, are usually included in the definition of artist. As well we should be, so keep an eye open. And know this: as a writer you want to go to a residency with artists and musicians, and vice versa. We are all navigating the vast oceans of creativity, and roping our rafts and dinghies and barges together is the best way to sail, if only for a while. This is where inspiration can come from, a gathering of unique and passionate people making friends, making tea, making art. There is serendipitous collision, complimentary growth, and unexpected collaboration. Not surprisingly, the top residencies are free. You pay your travel costs, possibly your food, and sometimes nothing more. If you can get accepted to the Vermont Arts Center, good on you! But the smaller residencies that require a fee are still going to give you the chance to be somewhere unique for far less than the cost of a vacation. You can find financial assistance all over the web, in addition to crowdfunding. creative-capital.org transartists.org/funding Oftentimes, the residency itself will help you find grants or benefactors to pay your fees. Whats more, most residencies are not only thrilled but determined to facilitate public readings, radio interviews, and mixed media openings that will help you promote and sell your work during your residency period. At the same time, you will be cohabiting with and working alongside the most incredible human beings you will ever meet. They will be interested in what you are creating, and your network will grow in fun, fulfilling, life-altering ways. Quite possibly, you will find yourself engaged in elaborate late night conversations about anything from smoked eggplant to abstract painting to

Why I want to be a Cardiovascular Technologist Essay

Why I want to be a Cardiovascular Technologist - Essay Example Nutrients, waste, and other cells are carried by the blood pumped by the heart. The heart is so important and strong, first aid courses teach individuals to apply pressure in order to stop bleeding as the first action to be undertaken at an accident scene. Humans cannot survive without a heart. I have the ability to become a Cardiovascular Technologist. I am prepared to study to work under a physicians directions in order to diagnose heart (cardiac) and blood vessel (peripheral vascular) problems. I feel that being a Cardiovascular Technologist will allow me to have a chance for greater interaction with patients. I have not yet decided which of the three Cardiovascular Technologist specialties, cardiology, enchocardiography, or vascular technology, to focus on. I know that I would make an excellent Cardiovascular Technologist. Cardiovascular medicine fascinates me. Since the heart interest me, helping people with heart problems will come naturally to me. I am very personable and compassionate. Oral instructions are not a problem for me. I am also inquisitive and a fast thinker. All of these traits will help me become a Cardiovascular Technologist. The last reason I want to become a Cardiovascular Technologist is financial and job security. Since medicine relating to the heart will always be necessary, a Cardiovascular Technologist will always be in demand. This is especially true for one that has the correct training and education. With job security comes financial security. Cardiovascular Technologist make a good living, the average being $38,000 a year. This is better than minimum wage. It would be a dream come true to work at a job I love and get paid for it. I find the heart interesting and fascinating. The need to further my education is important to me, especially education in the cardiovascular field. I am determined to become a Cardiovascular Technologist. My determination, eagerness, compassion, intelligence, and interest

Literature review on profession Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words

Literature review on profession - Essay Example Torgersen (1972) and Abbott (1988) further emphasize on the need to monopolize duties for the achievement of professionalism. Andrews & Waerness (2011) suggest that de-professionalization may occur if there is a reduction on the area of responsibility or certain occupation’s jurisdiction. In general this involves where there is less specialization of occupational duties. Professions in the society are interests groups thus there positions are determined by the structural elements. Ascribing to the characteristics of interest groups they safeguard their advantages by means of social closure (Philip O’regan 2008). Therefore professionalism aims to regulate entry into an occupation so as to maintain its market value (Parkin, 1979). According to interactions’ perspective professions provides services to the society and defend the interests of their members as well as the interest group at large. Critical perspectives have been taken attributed to studies on professio nalization in the context of state-profession dynamics and collective social mobility within a set of power relations. In regard to this professions create professional monopoly by closure and exclusion to defend the interests of their members practice (Sian, 2006; Uche, 2002; Walker, 2004; Willmott, 1986; Yapa, 1999). †¦. 3. Accountancy and Professionalism †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 4. ... et al., 2012). According to AICPA, 2006; Gammie, Herbohn, & Whiting, 2010; Hopman & Lord, 2009; ICPAS, 2009 they provide that public accounting firms have under-representation of women in the partnership ranks despite them constituting at least half of all entry-level employees. Women have a higher turnover than men thus failing to progress in ranks. It is not clear if the underlying turn over factor having resulted into gender parity in the context of partnership promotions (Almera,E. et al., 2012). In USA statistics shows that post-senior manager positions have been established in most firms. Women are disproportionately represented unlike equity partner promotions (AICPA, 2005; Dambrin& Lambert, 2008; ICPAS, 2009). The rise in the post-senior manager positions is the need for terminal destination provision focussed on experienced senior managers who practice in the traditional accounting and tax areas but don’t have the skills or desire for equity ownership† (IPA, 200 5). Partnership career paths within the firms are preferred those [senior employees] who may not be willing or able to do whatever is necessary to become a partner† (Alter, 1991, p. 55), and they posses talents and knowledge important for the firm (Coolidge and D’Angelo, 1994; Hooks &Cheramy, 1994). With the need and pressure for women representation in higher professional positions categorically women careers, the accounting research literature do not provide any evidence that women with â€Å"greater choice and flexibility in career progression† as asserted by Hooks et al. (1997). The creation of these positions does not specifically focus in the fulfilment of employee of firms needs. There are no considerations on the implications of these positions incorporating gender

A Crash Course on Racism and Contemporary Society Essay Example for Free

A Crash Course on Racism and Contemporary Society Essay When you see the word crash, it always summons to mind an unfortunate event that has to deal with vehicles. Someone even told me that it is prohibited to say this word when you are boarded on an airplane because you might cause panic among another passengers. Planes, cars and even computers crash. Crash basically means collision. Similarly, the title of Paul Haggis recent movie is Crash (2005). However, viewers will see not only collisions involving cars, but collisions involving race, culture and classes. The movie †Crash† tackles the cross-cultural panorama of Los Angeles urban life, involving people interconnected to each other in vestiges of crime, racism, corruption, obligation, indignation and chance over a two-day period. The storyline superimposes the complexity of the multifaceted narratives of their lives entwined under the numerous social and psychological issues usually hidden inside the closet of the American consciousness. The Plot: Crash or Clash The story revolves around two cops, one senior and the other junior. The other jaded and abusive, the other one is a novice and willing to learn the ropes. These cops are played by Matt Dillon and Ryan Philippe respectively. One day, when they were assigned in their beat site, they pull over and eventually harass a black couple (Terrence Howard and Thandie Newton) because the SUV theyre driving vaguely fits the description of a carjacked vehicle that was reported. More complications swiftly supersede within 24 hours, these characters all cross paths again in separate incidents of incredibly high tension that challenge both the prejudices that have formed between them and the assumptions we draw out from their different perspectives about race and culture as a whole. It turned out that Christine (Thandie Newton) was surprised that she encounters Sgt. Ryan (Matt Dillon), the racist cop who sexually molested her during a traffic stop the previous night, the officer on the scene who pulls her from the burning car. To further intricately muddle the conflicts, characters encounter and reencounter one another in highly convenient ways. For example, a young African-American criminal Peter (Lanrez Tate) is murdered. Fortunately, he has a brother, Graham (Don Cheadle), an LAPD detective, who discovers Peters dead body in the desert. Prior to learning of his brothers death, Graham is thwarted by the district attorney’s office into suppressing evidence that may partially absolve a white police officer charged with killing a black cop. Incidentally, the district attorney (Brendan Fraser) is looking for a conviction that would help him gather enough support from the black community, since he is trying to manage a potential media scandal. He and his wife (Sandra Bullock) were carjacked in Sherman Oaks by two young black men. Moreover, more table-turning events are revealed in the lives of the characters because actual carjackers is Peter and his friend (Larenz Tate and rapper Ludacris). Surprisingly, the carjackers and their victims – these four are, in turn, connected through other events to a young Hispanic locksmith (Michael Pena) desperately trying to make a better life for his 5-year-old daughter after moving out of a crime-ridden neighborhood, and to a struggling Iranian shopkeeper (Shaun Toub) desperately seeking to lay blame for the vandalization of his convenience store, and to a pair of internal affairs detectives (Don Cheadle and Jennifer Esposito), whose lives and jobs are complicated by politics, tested principles and personal secrets. As film involves various crashes and clashes, forcefully it does not just invoke commonly hackneyed racially charged confrontations found in some films, but it almost subliminally showcases how passive prejudice and pre-conceived notions are often prevalent in simple day-to-day life. Thus, people could just collide and all these complications happen within a blink of an eye, unaware that they are villains and victims all at the same time of the milieu they are placed in. Although the dominant illusion that Crash could perpetuate among its viewers about its own narrative is that each character does something virtuous in one situation, and something unconscionably racist in another. Entirely, this is not the case because some characters could be deemed as purely good people. The Latino locksmith Daniel exists solely to incur racist threats and insults from other characters, then to belie their opinions through his role as the most upstanding of family men. Unfortunately, other characters display no redeeming traits, like the DA’s wife, Jean Cabot (Bullock) is depicted as a self-involved rich and uptight woman who is there to speak the unspeakable truth when justifying her fear of black men. Eventually, she stops just short of calling Daniel a wetback, and undergoes a quite insincere transformation that resulted from her inability to understand that her housekeeper Maria (Yomi Perry) is nice to her when she fell down some steps and fractured her leg, and nobody else has given her sympathy. She had no choice, but be nice to the person who helped her (Sicinski, 2005). Craig Detweiler (December, 2005) analyzed that Haggis portrays the film as a depiction a fine interconnectedness of realistic portrait of pertinent issues with a subliminal touch of magic realism. The movie offers a range of familiar types, attempting to prick his viewers consciences without being overbearingly preachy or nearly jingoistic. As the film kicks off, tempers are already surging as invectives and epithets are blurted out without batting an eyelash. Prejudices are looking for confirmation. I am angiy all the time, and I dont know why, laments a frustrated housewife. The first half of the film whips up the melting pot of complications, with racist assumptions spilling out of the characters ears. Viewers relish a platter of racism and crime, seasoned with sexual harassment, a broken health-care system and the purchase of firearms. In the softer second half, Detweiler explains that the isolated moments suggest a possibility of redemption for the characters. A motorist hassled by the cops for driving while black turns out to be a conflict-avoiding Buddhist for Christs sake. But that doesnt dissuade the police from violating his humanity and that of his wife. A statue of St. Christopher shows up at surprising times, but it ultimately proves ineffectual. A protective icon inspires a random act of violence. As Christmas unfolds in the movie, we see images of the nativity that could only summon unrealized prayers for peace on earth (Detweiler, 2005). Circumscribing the â€Å"circle† that goes around the film’s plot, a realization could smack its viewers that in the small world we are living in, we are connected to each other, like it or not. Conclusion Racism is a topic well-tackled among discussions. We are aware that it is generally loathed by people and we heard calls of putting a stop to it. We have seen the fall of Apartheid, we have seen those protests voicing out equality, but people still commit racism unconsciously as they encounter each other in their daily lives. Is prejudice primarily a question of color? How do differences of language and culture play into our misunderstandings? What must be done to bridge understanding and permanently inculcate the ugly face of prejudice regarding our differences? The film Crash does not present the ultimate panacea to racism and prejudice. But certainly, it is a mirror of what American society has become. It is presenting a consciousness about the interconnectedness of people and the situations that made them come up with their own realizations. Thus, the film invites its viewers to come up with their own realizations about the contemporary cross-section of American society and provide a space about perspectives on how to deal with their own prejudices. Works Cited Detweiler, Craig. Cultural Collisions. Sojourners Magazine. Washington, (December 2005), 34 (11): 45-46. Sicinski, Michael. Crash, Film Review. Cineaste. New York, (Fall 2005), 30 (4): 51-54.

Water Shortage in the Middle East Essay -- Environmental Science Ecolo

Water is the main source of life on the Earth. It is vital for normal existence and functioning of organisms. Earth is sometimes called â€Å"water planet.† But, in fact, the number of freshwater is limited. â€Å"Only about 2 percent of the planet's water is fresh.† (How much water is there on Earth?) This water is not enough even to meet daily needs of mankind. According to World Health Organization, â€Å"a lack of water to meet daily needs is a reality today for one in three people around the world.† (2009) In the Middle East the situation is especially hard. This region is thought to be one of the droughtiest places in the world, most of it’s territory is deserted. Freshwater accounts to 1 percent of the world’s supplies, while the population comes to 5 percent. (Baroudy 2005, 15) And this problem seems to become worse day after day. From the middle of the XX century demand on freshwater has increased three times. And this statistics will continue to grow with population rise and industrial development. Water scarcity is a huge problem, because it may have a number of economical, social and political consequences. Bad harvest and famine are one of them (Brown 2008, 16). Also lack of water for elementary daily needs will lead to insanitariness. This will increase risk of spreading such diseases as typhoid, cholera and dysentery (10 facts about water scarcity 2009). Also disastrous water shortage in the Middle East may change existent struggle into regional conflict. It is evident that this problem needs to be immediately solved. There are few possible solutions and some of them are already applied by this time. All of them have some advantages and disadvantages. The target of humanity is to find the best one. Firstly, one possible solut... ...ana/ (accessed November 20, 2010) Brown, D. 2007. Few alternatives in the Middle East. The Times. 13 April, 22. Newspaper Source. http://web.ebscohost.com/ (accessed November 20, 2010) Brown, L.R. 2008. Draining our future: The growing shortage of freshwater. The Futurist 42 (3): 16-22. Academic Search Premier. http://web.ebscohost.com/ (accessed November 20, 2010) Conway, M. 2008. The desalination solution. The Futurist (42) 3: 23-24. Academic Search Premier. . http://web.ebscohost.com/ (accessed November 20, 2010) Davidson, S. 2005. Making water – hold the salt. ECOS (124): 23-36. Academic Search Premier. http://web.ebscohost.com/ (accessed November 20, 2010) How much water is there on Earth? n.d. http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/ (accessed November 20, 2010) Middle East Water Shortage. n.d. http://hydrology1.nmsu.edu/hydrology/wastewater/

Case Study and Implementing Diversity Policies

Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles A guide for ITEC and other engineering businesses who want to benefit from employing a diverse workforce Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles A guide for ITEC and other engineering businesses who want to benefit from employing a diverse workforce Christina Evans, Judith Glover, Yvonne Guerrier and Cornelia Wilson School of Business and Social Sciences Roehampton University 80 Roehampton Lane London SW15 5SL Tel: +44 (0)20 8392 3000 www. roehampton. ac. uk For correspondence about this report please email mailto: c. [email  protected] ac. uk September 2007  © The Royal Academy of Engineering ISBN: 1-903496-37-3 Content Foreword Acknowledgements List of figures Executive summary 1. Introduction 1. 1 Why the need for a set of Guiding Principles for embedding diversity in the ITEC sector 1. 2 How the Guiding Principles have been derived 1. 3 Summary of the Guiding Principles 1. 4 Schema of the Guiding Principles Sugge stions on how organisations might use these Guiding Principles Guiding Principles 3. 1 Vision and leadership 3. 2 Well-defined business case 3. Company wide policies to mainstream diversity 3. 4 Education, training and knowledge building 3. 5 Supportive work practices and organisational culture 3. 6 Open and transparent recruitment and career development practices 3. 7 Partnering with external bodies 3. 8 Targeted outreach and widening the recruitment net 3. 9 Management of suppliers 3. 10 Monitor, improve and celebrate success 3. 11 Matrix of key supporting organisational case studies Conclusions Resources to help with your diversity journey Notes 3 4 5 6 9 9 10 11 12 14 2. 3. 15 15 20 23 29 36 40 45 49 53 56 60 62 63 66 . 5. 6. Appendices I. List of acronyms 68 2 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles Foreword I am delighted to welcome this new report – Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles – funded by The R oyal Academy of Engineering and produced in partnership with Equalitec. Equalitec, funded in part by the European Social Fund, under the Equal Programme, is a broad-ranging partnership of organisations committed to promoting and supporting women’s advancement in Information Technology, Electronics and Computing (ITEC).ITEC is a key driver of change in the global knowledge economy and a key contributor to the productivity and competitiveness of the European economy. But growth is being affected in some areas by a shortage of skilled ITEC workers. To meet the continuing growth in ITEC we need to encourage more individuals with diverse backgrounds and skills, particularly women, to consider a career in ITEC and ITEC related businesses.It is now well recognised that there are many business and social benefits from encouraging greater diversity within the workplace. Yet women are currently under-represented in the ITEC sector, especially in more senior roles. This report provides some practical guidelines on how to build an organisational culture where women and others from diverse backgrounds with business critical ITEC skills are encouraged to participate and reach their full potential. It contains many examples of good practice drawn from a range of ITEC employers.I would encourage you to use this report with a range of people in your organisation to help stimulate debate and change polices and practices to encourage greater diversity. Dr Rosalie Zobel Director Directorate G/Components and Systems Information Society and Media Directorate General European Commission The Royal Academy of Engineering 3 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the many organisations and individuals that have made this report possible.In particular we would like to thank The Royal Academy of Engineering for sponsoring the project; Professor Wendy Hall, CBE FREng, Senior Vice President of The Royal Academy of Engineering, for chairing each of the Equalitec Diversity Fo rums; Dr Elizabeth Pollitzer, Director, Equalitec, for the initial inspiration for this report, as well as her continuing support, and all of the Equalitec partners and other participating organisations that have contributed to the ideas and case examples contained within this report.A list of Equalitec partners and contributing organisations can be found on the back cover of this report. 4 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles List of figuresFigure 1 Summary of the Guiding Principles Figure 2 Schema of the Guiding Principles Figure 3 Diversity – Balanced Business Scorecard Figure 4 Development options to help managers manage a flexible workforce Figure 5 Recruitment strategies to assist entry and re-entry of women into ITEC Figure 6 Equalitec Career Model (reproduced with permission from Portia Ltd) Figure 7 REC – Diversity Pledge for Recruiters (reproduced with permission from REC) Figure 8 Intellect’s Women in IT Forum Survey – ‘Perceptions of Equal Pay’ (reproduced with permission from Intellect) 11 12 20 31 40 41 54 57The Royal Academy of Engineering 5 Executive summary This report draws together key learning from earlier Equalitec Diversity Forums and reports, as well as other research on implementing diversity, in the form of ten Guiding Principles that can be applied in organisations that want to build a more diverse workforce. It is intended to act as a practical guide for managers and diversity practitioners in Information Technology, Electronics and Computing (ITEC) businesses, and other organisations. ITEC is now a major driver of change in many businesses, particularly in the service sector.But a shortage of skilled workers is making it difficult for some firms to compete successfully in the global economy. Despite this skills shortage, fewer than one in five ITEC professionals and managers are women and the number of women employed in ITEC is declining in most industrialised countries. With organisations chasing fewer and fewer skilled workers, there is a strong business case for increasing the proportion of women in ITEC. Within the UK it has been estimated that removing barriers to women’s employment and increasing their labour market participation could be worth between ? 5 billion and ? 23 billion. This is equivalent to 1. 3 – 2. 0% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Women and Work Commission’s report – Shaping a Fairer Future [1]. Yet many ITEC companies find it difficult to attract and retain women. One reason may be that IT continues to have a macho male image that can put women off. In addition many women and young girls are not aware of the diverse roles on offer in the ITEC sector and so do not see a match between their career aspirations and what is on offer.Building a diverse workforce is not easy. It requires on-going commitment from senior leaders to bring about cultural change, un derpinned by investment to develop a cohesive set of employment policies and practices. Furthermore, a concern raised at the November 2006 Equalitec Diversity Forum [2] is that the growing trend of global sourcing in IT is affecting the diversity and inclusion agenda in the UK. Where organisations can easily ‘buy in’ labour from other countries there is less of a business imperative to invest in growing its own workforce.So why does this matter? Is diversity, particularly gender diversity, more difficult to achieve in the ITEC sector? Wider research suggests that women in Science, Engineering and Technology workplaces face difficulties over and above those experienced by women in other occupations, as these workplaces have traditionally been male dominated [3]. Industry commentators also acknowledge that the sector does create additional pressures for employees something that can make it more difficult for women and others with caring responsibilities.First, there is of ten a need to deliver projects to specific deadlines, involving working long hours. Second, individuals need to spend significant amounts of time keeping abreast of the latest developments in the field and maintaining their skill levels; for women with caring responsibilities this can be especially problematic as updating of skills is costly and time consuming. Many women working in ITEC are concerned that maternity leave and career breaks accelerate skills obsolescence.Although funding is allocated to training graduates (new entrants) this is generally not the case for women returners [4]. In addition women, and indeed men, who choose to work part-time often find their commitment questioned. 6 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles Whilst the equality duties (race, disability and gender) have created a ‘burning platform for change’ in public sector organisations, this same burning platform does not currently apply to privat e sector companies.But changes in the public sector tendering process, to ensure compliance with the general duties, are beginning to influence practice in private sector companies who bid for public sector contracts; this change forms a key component of the business case for some private sector companies as this set of Guiding Principles shows. Equalitec, originally supported by funding from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and latterly the European Social Fund (ESF), was established to promote and support women’s employment in ITEC.Over the six years that Equalitec has been running it has worked with over 50 organisations to help build and disseminate good practice for employing and retaining women in ITEC. The Guiding Principles covered within this report, and listed below, are supported with many examples of good practice drawn from a range of ITEC employers. Many of these employers are working in partnership with Equalitec. Adopting the good practices containe d within this report will help build workplaces that benefit all workers, not just women.Guiding Principles for embedding diversity in ITEC and other related businesses 1 Vision and leadership 2 Well defined business case 3 Company wide policies to mainstream diversity 4 Education, training and knowledge building 5 Supportive work practices and organisational culture 6 Transparent recruitment and career development practices 7 Partnering with external bodies 8 Targeted outreach and widening the recruitment net 9 Management of suppliers 10 Monitor, improve and share success Recommendations for taking these Guiding Principles forward Business leaders  ¦ Use this Guiding Principles report creatively to help raise debates and develop policies and practices in your own organisation. Some initial suggestions on how to do this can be found later on in the report. A key policy to review is your career and succession planning, making these more open and transparent. This will help address the needs of individuals at different life-stages and with different needs and aspirations, thus encouraging them to join your organisation. Revisit data monitoring policies and practices to find ways of enabling greater availability and transparency of data. Where firms are reticent about making specific data public they could perhaps share techniques of data gathering.This would help the measurement of progress both within and between organisations and help establish industry-wide benchmarks, against which broader change could be measured, particularly in relation to the gender pay gap.  ¦ The Royal Academy of Engineering 7  ¦ Consider partnering with a range of educational and professional bodies to ensure that the skills needed to work in the sector meet changing employers’ needs. One possible way of achieving this is to work in partnership with HE institutions, professional bodies, and other employers, to create an ITEC Academy, something similar to the Power Academy recently established to address the shortage of skilled power engineers. This would help continue the excellent work started by Equalitec.Equalitec partners have found the Equalitec brand, underpinned by the European Social Fund and support from the DTI, has created a legitimacy for the various activities that they are engaged in to bring about change. Without a similar body going forward there is a concern that change will not happen at the pace that is needed. Central government and other policy makers  ¦ Provide more resources for educational institutions as well as the careers service to promote the diverse career opportunities available within ITEC.  ¦ Review policies to help women returners, especially occupational returners (i. e. returners to the industry after an extended career break), who are an under-utilised pool of talent.A key policy area for change is education, where there is an opportunity to develop conversion courses for people with a degree in a discipline other than computer science, enabling them to take up an ITEC role. This would not only help women returners, but other people who may want to move into ITEC at a later stage in their career. e-skills UK: work more closely with businesses to develop skills frameworks and progression pathways for ITEC professionals working in different business sectors.  ¦ Professional bodies  ¦ Work closely with educational partners to change the general perception of the ITEC sector and encourage more people to seek employment in the sector. Encourage and assist ITEC employers to introduce and develop good employment development practices. This could be achieved by gathering data on the gender balance among members, promoting cultural change, and brokering learning networks. Develop the range and accessibility of professional development programmes, qualifications and networks, that address the development needs of women on maternity leave, as well as men and women who want to take a career bre ak. Apply these Guiding Principles within their own professions and organisations.  ¦  ¦ 8 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles 1. Introduction 1. 1 Why the need for a set of diversity guiding principles for ITEC organisations?In today’s global knowledge economy the innovative use of ITEC technologies is fundamental to business survival in an ever complex and competitive business world. The ITEC sector continues to be a growth sector. Ten percent of the GDP in the UK comes from the ITEC sector, according to Intellect, the Trade Association for the UK high-tech industry. Furthermore 34% of the worldwide GDP comes from the ICT market according to the Public Technology Association [5]. With this amount of investment and growth in ITEC it is not surprising that the demand for skilled ITEC workers is outstripping supply. This is the case in all businesses, not just amongst the major ITEC producers.Despite this increasing demand, the number of women employed in ITEC roles remains much lower than women’s participation in the workforce more generally and is declining in most industrialised countries. In the UK fewer than one in five ITEC professionals and managers are female and this figure is even lower in IT strategy and software development roles [11]. With 40% of business requirements being for skills at advanced levels, the gender imbalance in the IT workforce creates a continuing challenge for businesses according to Karen Price, CEO, e-skills [6]. What these figures indicate is evidence of horizontal and vertical segregation [8] in a sector that was optimistically viewed in the 1960s and 1970s as a golden era for women’s employment.As a relatively new sector it was anticipated that some of the traditional barriers experienced by women in the workplace would be removed, and that women would be able to participate on a more equal basis with men. Sadly the reality has not matched this optimis m. A concern voiced at one Equalitec Diversity Forum is that the growing trend of global outsourcing in IT is affecting the diversity and inclusion agenda [2] . Where organisations can easily ‘buy in’ labour from other countries, there is less of an imperative for firms to invest in developing its own workforce. However having IT systems developed and serviced by third parties does have skills implications for organisations’ internal workforce. In practical terms this means a growing need for IT literate staff who understand the business and know how to use IT to drive the business forward [7].With organisations struggling to attract and retain skilled knowledge workers, it does not make business sense to under-utilise diverse pools of talent, including women. Speaking at the November 2006 Equalitec Diversity Forum, Meg Munn MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Women and Equality) endorsed this view: â€Å"If the UK is to further develop and sustain a fle xible, highly skilled workforce – one that is able to cope with the twin challenges of globalisation and rapid demographic change – then we have to ensure that all our talented people are involved. † The Royal Academy of Engineering 9 Yet the reasons for the lack of participation of women in ITEC roles are complex.Sector image, as well as organisational culture, has a role to play here. ITEC work is still perceived as a place for ‘geeks’ and ‘anoraks’, working long hours and with little interaction with others. However as other Equalitec publications have shown this image does not reflect the reality of ITEC work, or the diversity of employment opportunities [8]. The changing nature of ITEC work, particularly as offshoring and outsourcing has become more commonplace, has led to an increased demand for ‘hybrid’ workers. These are workers who can demonstrate both technical and behavioural skills, such as team working, communic ation, relationship management, flexibility and innovation, and project management.Behavioural skills are viewed as those that women are able to contribute, drawing on these from their multiple roles inside and outside the workplace. But if businesses want to capitalise on these behavioural skills they need to find more creative ways of attracting and retaining women. 1. 2 How these Guiding Principles have been derived Working with a diversity agenda is challenging. There is no single simple solution. Organisations have to ensure a common understanding of diversity and the link with Equal Opportunities (EO). Whereas EO is concerned with difference at the social group level, diversity management is focused on individuals, with organisations striving to recruit and retain individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences [9].In addition, the diversity agenda is heavily contextualised: economic, political, legal and social forces each impact on business priorities and internal organ isational practices. Despite these broader forces there do seem to be a number of key practices that organisations can focus on if they want to mainstream diversity. Developing an organisational culture that is supportive of diversity and where women are encouraged to reach their full potential is not easy. The nature of some ITEC roles can make it difficult for women, and others with caring responsibilities, to combine their work and family lives. Yet as other Equalitec projects have identified, some organisations are actively trying to change their culture so that people from diverse backgrounds, and with diverse talents, feel included.These Guiding Principles draw together some of the good practices developed in a range of private and public sector organisations. They have been derived from categories drawn from various sources: Equalitec Diversity Forum reports; the DTI and Equalitec sponsored report – Successful Recruitment Strategies and Practices; Times Top 50 ‘W orkforce Diversity’ index; BCS Women in IT awards; Aurora’s ‘Where Women Want to Work’ awards; US National Academy of Engineering – Diversity in Engineering report, as well as the National School of Government’s Diversity Excellence model and the Civil Service diversity performance indicators. The supporting case examples are drawn largely from Equalitec publications.They have been tested out with Equalitec partners, and other organisations closely involved with Equalitec’s work, to ensure that they cover the key areas that ITEC and other organisations need to focus on to build a diverse workforce. 10 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles 1. 3 Summary of the Guiding Principles From the background sources outlined above we have identified 10 Guiding Principles. These are shown in Figure 1. 1 Vision and leadership: senior leaders demonstrate an on-going commitment to mainstreaming diversity by ensuring that the relevant policies, practices, metrics and action plans are in place. Ongoing commitment is also demonstrated through frequent and consistent communication, internally and externally, about the organisation’s achievements against its published action plans.Well defined business case: the diversity agenda forms an integral part of the strategic business planning agenda – not something that is a ‘nice to have’, perhaps especially for private sector firms that are bidding for contracts within the public sector. In the public sector the ’effectiveness argument’ i. e. ensuring the diversity of the workforce matches the diversity of service users, is perhaps more of a key driver. Company wide policies to mainstream diversity: overall diversity policy is supported by changes to other organisational policies e. g. recruitment, reward, flexible working and work-life-balance, performance management, career management and retention p olicies. Education, training and knowledge building: on-going commitment to education and training for all employees in order to change behaviours and develop organisational practices.Supportive work practices and organisational culture: a workplace that is open and welcoming of people from diverse backgrounds and which can demonstrate good examples of implementing different forms of flexible work arrangements. Transparent recruitment and career development practices: commitment to changing the recruitment and promotion practices so that women and others from diverse backgrounds are able to develop satisfying careers. Partnering with external bodies: relationships are developed with a range of partnering institutions to advance the diversity agenda, using this as a way of further developing internal knowledge and capabilities.Targeted outreach and widening of the recruitment net: resources (time, energy and money) are invested in developing awareness of the changing nature and oppor tunities within the ITEC sector and encouraging young girls and women of all ages to develop a career in ITEC. Management of suppliers: current and future suppliers understand the organisation’s diversity agenda and the organisation ensures that suppliers adapt their practices appropriately. Monitor, improve and celebrate success: demonstrates a commitment to gathering quantitative and qualitative data to monitor progress on the diversity journey, using this as a way of further refining policies and procedures. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Figure 1: Summary of the Guiding Principles The Royal Academy of Engineering 11 1. Schema of the Guiding Principles Mainstreaming diversity is not a simple linear process. There are a number of inter-related areas that require working on simultaneously. The schema in Figure 2 is intended to illustrate the dynamic relationship amongst the Guiding Principles defined earlier. Depending on the organisational context, change may be initiated from any one of these areas at a given point in time. In some organisations, for example, data on female attrition rates, or lack of diversity in the recruitment pipeline, may act as a catalyst for change. In others a change in leadership, such as the appointment of a new CEO, may act as the catalyst. At different times in the business life cycle organisations may eed to focus on developing policies and practices that have more of an internal focus and at other times they may need to work on policies and practices that have more of an external focus. Vision & leadership Well-defined business case Company wide policies to mainstream diversity Internal focus External focus Education, training & knowledge building Supportive work practices/ culture Open and transparent recruitment & career development practices Partnering with external bodies Targe ted ou treach & widening the recruitment net Management of suppliers Monitor, improve and celebrate success Figure 2: Schema of the Guiding Principles 1 2 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding PrinciplesWhat is clear from the background research carried out to produce this report is that implementing polices and practices to mainstream diversity is not easy, given the complexities that we are dealing with. Other reports on diversity have likened this to the complexities of the software engineering process itself, highlighted in the book The Mythical Man Month by Fred Brookes, formally of IBM: â€Å"There is no silver bullet, no magic potion that can fix things. Things only get fixed if you take the problem personally, and you want to make a difference. It is that simple. If you care enough about it to put your money where your mouth is, and you put somebody in a eadership position to do something about it, you can make a difference. † [10] It is not surprising therefore to find leadership at the top of these Guiding Principles. The Royal Academy of Engineering 13 2. Suggestions on how organ isations might use these Guiding Principles One of the key aims of Equalitec is to share and disseminate good practice in the employment and progression of women in ITEC. This report draws together much of the good practice gathered through Equalitec projects. Whilst many organisations have made great progress on increasing the representation of women in ITEC roles, most would agree that they still have more to do.It is hoped that this set of guiding principles will support change in organisations, thus helping to stem the current decline in the number of women in ITEC. Some suggested ways that organisations could use this report include:  ¦ Using this report in your diversity training programmes for line managers, helping to raise awareness of the issues and stimulate debate for change. The questions at the end of each section would provide a start point. Recognising that successful change involves a top-down and bottom-up approach, consider using specific sections of the report with different employee groups/forums to help stimulate a dialogue about change. You could perhaps start with the section ‘Monitor, improve and celebrate success’ with a group of senior managers.This could prompt a review of the diversity data that are currently available, as well as where the gaps are. Using the section on ‘Supportive work practices and organisational culture’ with different employee groups could generate further ideas for change. Making the report available to all staff as part of your e-learning resources. This could help those aspiring to leadership roles broaden their awareness of the diversity agenda. Using the report as a basis for reviewing existing policies and practices.  ¦  ¦  ¦ 14 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles 3. Guiding principles â€Å"having the genuine support of senior leaders sends a powerful message to the rest of the organisation that diversity matters. † 3. Vision and leadership Effective leadership is crucial in all culture change programmes and developing an organisational culture that embraces diversity is no exception. When testing out these guiding principles with experienced managers there was general consensus that vision and leadership needs to be the number one guiding principle. It needs to be number one for a very simple reason – having the genuine support of senior leaders sends a powerful message to the rest of the organisation that diversity matters. Without this, as many Equalitec partners will testify, diversity does not happen. So what type of leadership is required?  ¦ Leaders with a personal commitment to diversity Effective management of diversity requires ongoing commitment from the CEO and other senior leaders.This commitment can be demonstrated in many ways: setting a clear vision for diversity, linked to the business case; making sure that others understand the business case in the context of their organisations; modelling the behaviours needed to build a diverse workforce; making sure that the appropriate structure and polices are in place, as well as ensuring that all employees are aware of their responsibilities and where they fit into the diversity agenda: â€Å"Chuck Prince, who is our chairman, aims to make sure that we are not only the largest financial services organisation but also that we are the most respected. All of us, as employees, have to attest to our shared responsibilities.Those are our responsibilities to the organisations, the franchise through to our clients and also to each other, to make sure we recognise and respect diversity – which includes gender diversity. † Sharon Pagram, Recruitment Manager, Europe Middle East and Asia (EMEA), Citi [2]. Many organisations have introduced Diversity Councils as one of their supporting structures. These can help build insights and knowledge to support the change agenda. A case example of this from Sym antec appears at the end of this sub-section.  ¦ Leaders who demonstrate ‘mindset flexibility’ A key skill referred to time and time again is that of ‘mindset flexibility’, particularly amongst those in leadership roles: â€Å"I think there is something about having men with the right attitude.I don’t know quite how you articulate this, but it is to do with having a diversity of thinking and approach in the senior executive team. Having men who are different from each other and function well in a flexible remote culture. Men who encourage interaction at all levels and really believe that difference is a good thing. I really do believe that if you have a culture which encourages bright, creative individual men to stay at senior levels, women will benefit too. † Rebecca George, Partner, Deloitte [11]. Mindset flexibility is seen as being important to help rethink jobs and how best to resource these: The Royal Academy of Engineering 15 What you are looking for [when recruiting] is a set of outcomes and you try to be more flexible about the people who might be able to provide those outcomes for you. You’re much less prescriptive about the inputs. † Steve Palmer, London Borough of Hillingdon [12]. It is also important when considering flexible work options to ensure that all options are considered: â€Å"We have just gone through a reorganisation at Citigroup Technology Infrastructure (CTI) and we now have two very senior members who are direct reports to the head of EMEA for CTI †¦ One of these will be working remotely, using flexi-working as well as other means. She will be working from Scotland whilst playing a major role in the CTI organisation.She is working flexi-hours and she is working remotely and that has enabled her to take on a position of the size that she has. † Sharon Pagram, Recruitment Manager, EMEA, Citi [2]. HR and diversity practitioners in particular need to demonstrate effectiv e leadership by challenging line managers who are reluctant to try out different flexible work options.  ¦ Leaders who listen to and communicate openly with their staff Open and honest communication is crucial if employees from diverse backgrounds, and with diverse needs, are to feel fully included: â€Å"I believe that communication is very important †¦ ensuring that there are adequate team briefings, newsletters, bulletins and staff gatherings. There are one-to-one meetings, for example for all staff.I think that this mix ensures that there is the opportunity to accommodate individuals and that those for example who are on flexible working, or those who are part-time are kept fully informed and up-to-date just as much as the staff who are there full-time. † Angela Clements, Head of ICT and Business Development, West Dunbartonshire Council [2]. As the Microsoft example below indicates, senior leaders can send out a powerful message if they are personally involved in f inding out what women are looking for in the industry: â€Å"Simon Brown is the general manager for Developer and Partner Evangelism and he is looking to attract more females into technical evangelist roles. He has been helping by investing time and thinking about what it is that women want in the industry, and what they want at Microsoft at different levels. † Helen Duguid, Partner to Microsoft EMEA [2].It is just as important for female leaders to listen to the needs of their junior female colleagues, rather than make assumptions that they all have the same needs: â€Å"†¦ so many of the women who are at the top, they don’t have families, or else they might have had them, but it’s been with a totally supportive background, or they haven’t needed to be the carer in the family †¦ but you wouldn’t necessarily get from somebody at the top who didn’t have that empathy, let’s hear about you and what’s it like for you? Yo u don’t get enough of that. † [13]. 16 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles  ¦ Leaders who act as role models and who champion change The importance of senior leaders acting as role models during organisational change is well documented.But as so much change involves top down and bottom up thinking it is important that organisations mobilise and nurture leaders at all levels to support the change journey. An innovative practice identified from a non-ITEC sector organisation, but one that could be adapted, is illustrated in the case example below. Case: Recruiting internal diversity champions at Wigan & Leigh College [14] The college has 23,000 students located across six different sites. The college recognised that although it had achieved the disability element of the diversity agenda it needed to do more on the other strands. To support its philosophy of inclusion, the college introduced a leadership and management pro gramme to help change behaviours amongst its senior managers.This programme highlighted a need to do more to create a genuine culture of inclusion across the whole of the college. Following an equality and diversity ‘health check’ the college went on to recruit internal equality and diversity champions to help promote their diversity agenda. The role was open to individuals at all levels and in different areas: management, administration and academic staff. All applicants went through a structured selection process. The rationale for such a rigorous process was to ensure that those selected could act as role models, as well as have the skills to help deliver the organisation’s diversity learning programme.Staff recruited into the Diversity Champion roles, were then given additional training to ensure that they were able to perform effectively in their new role. Having a diversity of role models could help junior staff feel a greater sense of belonging, as well as develop a sense of where they might aspire to: â€Å"I like the idea of people from throughout the organisation at all levels, who are happy to be kind of champion †¦not just the high-flyers. If you have people where you are, or the next level up, where you are aspiring to be, its doable and you can relate. † [13].  ¦ Leaders who are willing and able to change Developing an organisational culture that is committed to diversity requires leaders who are willing and able to change.A key point made by Terry Marsh, from the Women into Science, Engineering and Construction (WISE) Campaign: â€Å"We talk a good deal about changing culture but actually the culture that we have to change is one that does not cope with change in many cases. You do not have to change the culture but you have to change people's ability to want to change, or their ability to cope with change †¦ We therefore have to look at whether there is a culture, in certain companies and certain sectors, that cannot cope with change at all. † [2].  ¦ Leaders who reinforce the diversity message Given that change takes time, leaders need to find different ways of promoting and praising those who are helping the organisation achieve its diversity goals:The Royal Academy of Engineering 17 â€Å"One of the practices that we have in place is that whenever a requisition is posted in our system the hiring manager receives a letter, signed personally by our senior VP for the EMEA region, talking about why a diverse workforce is important to the future of HP, for innovation, again referencing the business case. It reminds them that we have hiring goals and encourages them to work with the recruiter for a diverse source pool. † Lisa Kepinski, Diversity & Inclusion Director, HP [13]. Case: Supporting structures to mainstream diversity in Symantec Symantec Corporation is the fourth-largest independent software company in the world.It is the world leader in IT security, providing security and storage products solutions and services, to virtually the entire Fortune 1000 companies. One of Symantec’s best known products is the Norton consumer security solutions. The organisation employs just over 18,000 employees in 40 countries. Deborah Davis, Vice President, Enterprise Support Services, EMEA and India, explained how commitment to diversity within Symantec comes from the top. The group president, Tom Kendra, is the global leader and executive sponsor of the diversity and inclusion initiative within the organisation and Chief Technology Officer, Mark Bregman, is the executive sponsor of the organisation’s global women’s initiative.The organisation has established five goals for increasing the representation of women: a) increase the percentage of women in leadership positions to reflect the overall female demographic and management hierarchy; b) increase the percentage of women at the high end of the technical track in engineering; c) incre ase the number of women in sales; d) increase the number of women across all of our technical fields, not just software development areas; and e) build a work environment that supports and encourages women in their career aspirations. As well as executive commitment to ensure that goals and metrics are in place, the organisation has created a number of structures to sustain its diversity and inclusion initiative, as shown below. Supporting Structure Global Structure Global Diversity & Inclusion Steering Committee †¢ Executive D Steering Committee meets quarterly †¢ 16 Diversity & Inclusion Councils established †¢ D Office – – – – Global Diversity & Inclusion Office 16 Diversity & Inclusion Councils – – 18 SWAN Champions – –Act as a link between SWAN and Executive Leadership Seek support for SWAN recommendations Identify, share and implement best practices Build Symantec brand as an employer of choice for women Id entify external women’s organizations and build long term partnerships Establish Metrics and Reporting Build collateral to support activity of SWAN Champions Conduct quarterly conference calls with SWAN Champions 1 18 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles There is an overall Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee as well as a network of 16 Diversity and Inclusion Councils, a figure that is expanding across the globe.In addition the organisation has a Symantec Women’s Action Network (SWAN). SWAN champions attend external women’s conferences and organisations, acting as a spokespeople for the company, and build the Symantec brand as the employer of choice for women. There is also a dedicated diversity and inclusion office that acts as a link between the SWAN networks, the Councils and the executive leadership, to ensure that information and knowledge from the various fora and groups are shared. Source: Equalitec D iversity Forum, June 2007 [13]. Points to discuss in your organisation  ¦  ¦  ¦  ¦ Do staff believe that the leadership is really committed to the diversity agenda? What do they believe that they are committed to?How is this monitored, communicated and acted upon? How diverse are the role models in your organisation? How is personal commitment to the diversity agenda monitored in your organisation? Is it something that current and aspiring leaders need to demonstrate in order to gain promotion? How is ‘mindset flexibility’ developed in your organisation? The Royal Academy of Engineering 19 3. 2 Well-defined business case There are several drivers for implementing diversity policies and practices: ethical and social justice, regulatory, economic, and business case. In private sector companies it is the business case argument that provides the main driver for change.There are many dimensions to this. It can help organisations tap into new markets, as well as appea l to a broader customer base. In an increasingly diverse society the importance of the demographics of the workforce mirroring that of clients and customers is also a powerful business case argument. Access to wider pools of labour can be a powerful argument particularly where critical talent is in short supply, as in the case of ITEC. Increasingly organisations are adopting a balanced scorecard approach to the business case for diversity, as indicated in Figure 3. †¢ Enhanced understanding of new and emerging markets Marketplace †¢ ‘Mirroring of clients’ – Customers Winning new business †¢ Products and services that meet the needs of diverse customer base demographics of client base reflected in the workforce †¢ Better understanding of needs of diverse customers †¢ Access to wider customer base †¢ Leveraging diversity of suppliers and other partnerships †¢ Enhanced reputation and profile amongst clients and other stakeholders W orkplace Access to wider pools of talent †¢ †¢ Better staff retention – lower recruitment costs Productivity/effectiveness Enhanced creativity, innovation and problem solving †¢ †¢ Enhanced employer image/reputation †¢ Richer business processes †¢ Greater organisational flexibility and responsiveness to change Employer of choice †¢ Inclusive work environment where all employees are fully †¢ Better utilisation of diverse/scarce engaged and performing talents optimally Figure 3: Diversity – Balanced Business Scorecard Although it is important for those working in change agent roles to have a broader awareness of the business benefits of diversity, it is crucial that they are able to focus on the key business benefit for their organisation, as this is what gets the attention of the senior leadership team: â€Å"For us in Pfizer, the diversity business case rests on the values of creativity and innovation because we want to bring ne w medicines to patients. † Trish Lawrence, Diversity Initiatives Manager, Pfizer PGRD [15]. 20 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles The Value Proposition Profitability and Business Success Invention and High Performance The Business Advantage Creativity and Productivity Diversity and Inclusion 14 August 2007Having got the attention of senior leaders, those working in change agent roles also need to find ways of communicating the business case in a form that line managers identify with: â€Å"One of the things we have learned is that to get the attention of line managers, we need to make the business case much more explicit. In our early efforts, we had a business case but we did not publicise the financial implications enough. † [16]. One way of doing this is to link cost/benefit data directly to line managers’ budgets: â€Å"If it's someone you know, who was a good employee, who wants to come back and they need ? 2,000 of training, but you're not paying for an agency to recruit them, it's a no-brainer from a business case viewpoint. † [23]. A continuing challenge for those working in diversity roles is being able to make direct linkages between diversity policies and enhanced operating performance and bottom line results.As Stephen Alford, HR Manager at Fujitsu Services, pointed out at the first Equalitec Diversity Forum [15] this problem arises as often a range of policy interventions are needed to address a specific diversity issue. The following case study from Fujitsu Services provides further guidance on how diversity champions can build a sound business case for diversity. Case: Building the Business Case at Fujitsu Services Fujitsu Services design, build and operate IT systems and services for customers in the financial services, telecom, retail, utilities and government markets. It employs 21,000 people worldwide. Around 12,000 of those are located in the UK working for a wide range of Public and Private sector organisations.At the 2006 Diversity Forum Stephen Alford, HR Manager, pointed out that one of the key arguments he uses to get senior business leaders to focus on diversity is to link back to the goal of ‘winning new business’. As an IT services company a key business driver is winning new contracts, something that as Stephen explained is now influenced by the changing legislation especially when tendering for public sector contracts. The Race Relations Act 2001, Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the Equality Act 2006 mean that public sector organisations have a statutory duty to The Royal Academy of Engineering 21 promote equality in these three areas in their own organisation. In addition they have a responsibility to audit their suppliers to ensure that they too have equality schemes in place.Some of the arguments that Stephen draws on to convince managers about diversity include: Legal drivers – focusing on the pre-tend er bid situation where questions are asked about whether there have been any cases taken against the organisation and whether any have been lost. In particular pointing out how the discrimination legislation which underpins equal opportunities is uncapped and how claims can hit the bottom line significantly if the organisation gets it wrong. Raising the profile of Fujitsu – using the strapline – ‘Why focus on diversity inclusion? ’ – to point out how as an organisation Fujitsu wants to be employer of choice in the IT service sector and partner of choice for winning business.As an organisation they are now monitoring their workforce more closely, so that they have the facts to be able to manage the business more effectively. Recruiting and retaining the best talent – pointing out how with changing demographics you may not always be able to recruit the talent from the same place as you have always recruited from. In addition women, and those fr om ethnic minorities, are more likely to join an organisation where there are role models and where they feel that they can get on. Having attracted the best talent then the organisation needs to focus on retention. Losing key talent is expensive. At Fujitsu Services mothers returning to work after maternity leave return on 120% of their salary until their child is 15 months old.The more senior the women then the more this costs the organisation, but as Marjan Kuyken, Practice Manager, Programme and Project Manager points out â€Å"†¦ with that seniority comes more knowledge of the organisation and more expensive skills†. Clearly these are knowledge and skills that the organisation would not want to lose. Limitations of a lack of diversity on performance – diversity practitioners need to be able to provide a number of case examples to show how other organisations have made productivity gains from building a more diverse workforce, as well as examples of where thin gs can go when there is a lack of diversity in the decision-making teams. Sources: Equalitec Diversity Forum, May 2006 [17]; Effective Recruitment Strategies and Practices Report [12].Questions to stimulate debate in your organisation:  ¦  ¦  ¦  ¦ Do you have key data to support your business case? Are they in a format that line managers can easily understand? Do you have a range of case examples, internal and external, that you can use to support the business case? How do you communicate the business case for diversity in your organisation? Do line managers have easy access to the data on changing demographics so that they can make informed recruitment and retention decisions? 22 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles 3. 3 Company wide policies to mainstream diversity Building an organisational culture that supports diversity and inclusion is not easy.As Juliet Webster, Involvement and Participation Association (IPA), points out organisations need to go beyond value statements and develop a coherent set of policies to ensure that they attract, develop and retain employees from diverse backgrounds: â€Å"The most ‘women-friendly’ ITEC organisations are, not surprisingly, those which have clear, coherent and thoroughgoing equality and diversity frameworks encompassing their employment policies and practices. These frameworks underpin and support a variety of practical initiatives which help organisations to attract, promote and retain women †¦ some of the strongest examples of good equality practice are not always labelled as such, but what distinguishes them is a coherence of approach to staff development and progression and the express inclusion of all employee groups. † [8].Many organisations, large and small, have realised the importance of planning for diversity from the outset when developing their policies and practices, especially when the company is growing, or plans to grow in size: â€Å"If you find yourself with 15 engineers, none of whom are women, you’re suddenly in a bad position for trying to hire your first woman. As you build up from zero, you’ve actually got to be especially careful in the early days. There is something about thinking early on, when we’re working in a field that is by its nature male heavy, to think carefully about those early hires. † Doug Fraley, Head of People Programmes for EMEA, Google [12]. So what key policies and practices should organisations focus on? †¢ Recruitment and selection The Effective Recruitment Strategies and Practices research [12] highlighted how the ITEC sector has developed a reputation for informal ‘grapevine’ recruitment, where job openings are transmitted via established networks.Employee referral schemes, which have become increasingly popular with organisations, operate on a similar principle of tapping into employees’ existing networks. Howeve r there is a concern that practices like these can make it more difficult for women, especially returners, to gain entry into ITEC organisations. Where organisations want to attract a more diverse workforce it is important that they use a number of recruitment methods to signpost their vacancies and employment opportunities – we say more about this in the section on ‘Targeted outreach and widening the recruitment net’. Selection methods should also be clear and consistent, as we explain in the section on ‘Open and transparent recruitment and career development practices’. †¢Induction In some organisations, such as Fujitsu Services, the induction process is used to ensure that all new staff are aware of the organisation’s position on diversity and the actions that the organisation is taking to build a diverse and inclusive work environment. Performance management Wider research suggests that a key policy that needs to be revised in organis ations committed to diversity is performance management. According The Royal Academy of Engineering 23 †¢ to the Corporate Leadership Council, organisations that are the most successful in building a diverse workforce are those that have developed their performance management systems so that managers in particular are held accountable for achieving the organisation’s diversity objectives. In the US, some organisations link Executive bonuses to the achievement of diversity goals [18].In other organisations performance ratings are based on the ’How’ as well as the ‘What’ and a specific case example of this occurs at the end of this subsection. A range of tools can be used to gather feedback on whether management behaviours support organisations’ diversity goals: 360 degree feedback, peer review, and employee attitude surveys [19]. However, ORC, a US based consultancy suggest that organisations should be cautious about linking diversity goa ls to managerial performance, as it might distort behaviours. An additional strategy could be to publicise a list of managers that have met the goals for increasing the diversity of their unit [20]. †¢Flexible working and work-life-balance policies Wider research suggests that offering flexible work arrangements, including high quality part-time work, is part of the ‘new business case’ argument [9]. Flexible work arrangements can help women sustain their career through the child rearing phase. The benefit to organisations is better retention of skilled female employees, thus lowering overall recruitment costs. Whilst a policy on flexible working is important, as it signals the organisation’s intent, making flexible working work in practice is more problematic. This requires line managers who are committed to the principle, as well as having the necessary skills to manage flexible working. This point will be covered in more detail under ‘Supportive work practices and climate’ later in this subsection. †¢Pay and reward The government’s survey on earnings (Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2006) shows that women’s mean full-time hourly pay in computing and related jobs is 79. 6% of men’s [12]. Thus there is gender pay gap in the sector of just over 20%. This is larger pay gap than the overall UK one [20]. The main reason for the greater pay gap in ITEC is the tendency for women to be concentrated in lower paid jobs. If organisations want to attract more women to work in the sector then the gender pay gap needs to be addressed through the use of equal pay audits and job evaluation schemes. Intellect’s annual survey – ‘Perceptions of Equal Pay May 2006’ [22] – identified that only a small number of firms had carried out an equal pay audit.Yet as the survey also showed; perceptions of unequal pay can affect recruitment. †¢ Talent management and succession planning Having attracted more women into the organisation it is important that they then have every opportunity to progress. Several organisations seem to be developing their succession planning policies to ensure greater diversity amongst their leadership population. A good example of this is shown in the IBM case study at the end of this section. Michael Chivers, Vice President, Human Resources for Sales and Marketing at Sony Ericsson spoke of the importance of organisations moving away from the 24 The Royal Academy of EngineeringImplementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles ‘rear view mirror’ approach to succession planning [11]. By this he meant that instead of appointing leaders that are clones of the current leadership there is a need to think more about the leadership qualities that will take the organisation to where it wants to be in the future. Ensuring that women are given early responsibility in their career so that they build up their reputation and visibility was raised as a good strategy by several participating Equalitec organisations. This is something that will be discussed in more detail in the section on ‘Open and transparent recruitment and career development’. †¢Restructuring and downsizing As part of the background research for this report we had several illuminating conversations with HR managers about what happens to diversity when organisations are restructuring or downsizing. Some interesting perspectives emerged. One was that where organisations have made significant investment in their diversity policies and practice they need to make sure that all of that good work is preserved in the new structure. A further perspective was that restructuring could create opportunities to bring in people with different experience because that is what the business needs. In addition to the key policies discussed above there are many other policies that may need revising, or developing, to build a diverse and i nclusive workplace, as the following case from HP indicates.Case: HP Policies and Practices Supporting Diversity and Inclusion Within HP there are three main areas of focus for diversity: attracting diverse talent, promoting and developing diverse talent, and retention of diverse talent. The term ‘diverse talent’ is used within HP as it is broad and allencompassing. The organisation also has a number of policies and practices to support its diversity and inclusion strategy. These include: Non-discrimination policy Electronic job posting Diversity Hiring Goals VP’s message to hiring managers Harassment-free work environment Degree education program Domestic partner benefits Employee resource groups Development opportunities Open door policy Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) Open communication Management by objective Work-Life-Policies and Resources Common Thread’ diversity newsletter A key policy lever is the ‘Diversity Hiring Goals’, which r eflects the philosophy that having a metric in place gives diversity a business grounding and helps the business get to where it wants to get to – a rich, gender diverse workforce -faster. As Lisa Kepinski, Diversity and Inclusion Director, EMEA Region points out â€Å"Having a metric creates a focus for the The Royal Academy of Engineering 25 business and it encourages a partnership between the business and HR, as it is the business that sets the metric, not HR. † A practice that reinforces the ‘Diversity Hiring Goals’ policy is the – ‘VP’s message to hiring managers’.Each time a new recruit is taken on the hiring manager receives a personal letter from the senior VP for the EMEA region, pointing out why a diverse workforce is important to the future of HP, thus reinforcing the business case. Lisa acknowledges that organisations need to watch out for the impact that metrics might have on the focus of their work – â€Å"I f you only have metrics in place for hiring and ignore promotion, development and retention, then you could have the revolving door syndrome. † Source: Equalitec Diversity Forum, June 2007 [13] Organisations that have effective monitoring in place should use these data to develop new policies, as well as refine existing policies (see section on ‘Monitor, Improve and celebrate success’ later in this section).Policies need to be initiated with the use of statistics, but they also need statistics so that monitoring and evaluation, reconstitution and re-evaluation can happen. Finally, policies need to reflect the legislation in the country in which they are being introduced. The legislation makes it easier to introduce family-friendly polices. With an increasingly mobile workforce, opportunities for sharing different policies for attracting and retaining women in ITEC in different country contexts is something that would be most valuable. But again without appropriate data, policies can be meaningless or at worst pointless; this relates as much to individual companies as to countries.Case: Managing the female talent pipeline at IBM IBM is a global company that invents, develops and manufactures information technologies, including computer systems, software, storage systems and microelectronics. These technologies are used to provide professional solutions, services and consulting for businesses worldwide. It employs around 160,000 technical professionals, worldwide. Diversity is critically important to the business: having a diverse workforce is crucial for developing diverse products and services. The organisation has developed its employment policies and practices to ensure that it attracts and retains people from diverse backgrounds, including female employees.As part of the Effective Recruitment Strategies and Practices research [23], Wendy Papworth, Gender Programme Manager, EMEA Workforce Diversity, outlined some of the practices to develo p, progress and retain women. â€Å"We run regular pay audits, as part of our salary rounds. We always look very closely at the gender element of the pay rounds, to make sure there’s fairness and it’s a level playing field. But we do run specific exercises where if there’s something that maybe suggests we should have a look at it, then we do. And we dig quite deep down into the data, and, you know, on pay for graduates, when I last looked at it about two years ago, there was no discrepancy.And there are so many factors involved in the determination of pay, so it was quite a lengthy exercise, but it was really positive. 26 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles So, a couple of things we do. We have women’s leadership councils in each country, looking very closely at pipeline and progression. We’ve worked with the HR teams in each country to specifically identify the creme de la creme of the female talen t, and actively manage those women to make the next step change. That could be a move outside their business, or promotion. The women’s leadership council can assist by profiling role models, by getting women more actively involved in mentoring or networking and engaged in education programmes.We also look at our attrition rates in terms of propensity to leave, so if there’s a particular part of our structure where we’re seeing a higher increase of women likely to leave, say, for example, in the UK compared to that same position in the structure in another country, or overall in Europe, we conduct round tables with that part of the structure, and the band just below as well. It’s very important that we know how the women in the level below see, their future opportunities. So we conduct focus groups and round tables to get a feel for what will keep you with IBM. We keep an eye on where the key pressure points in our pipeline for women are.