Confronting Systemic Racism in Organizational Settings: A Reflective Account
Introduction
The essay reviews ethical and critical behaviours in organizational settings originating from a reflective account associated with a crucial incident during the author's placement at Instinct Au. Following Fook's critical reflection model, this study brings to light the event - induced transformational thinking and practicing process. After looking at the background of the incident, in addition to the author's experience and lessons learned, the purpose is bringing attention to implications for professional practice in challenging organizational contexts. Au, a licensed NDIS and neurodivergent affirming behaviour assistance provider, offers the framework for a vital skill set ripped apart by racism and discrimination. This standard wasn't met in the lived experience despite the organization's declared inclusion policy. Jointly with another Black student the author encountered subtle exclusions and prejudices from managerial quarters. Disproportionally delegated simple activities and skipped from crucial professional functions, the incident exposed structural racism and favouritism throughout the organisation. Initially awash with sensation of despair and helplessness, the writer became disillusioned with the event. But as critical thinking became central, these emotions came under razor-sharp scrutiny. Original assumptions were deconstructed, and a far more nuanced account of systemic racism's impact became apparent. The event had been a chance to experience uncomfortable truths about privilege and power in workplaces.
Main Body
Description of the critical incident
I encountered prevalent discrimination and racism throughout my placement at Instinct Au, a NDIS registered and neurodivergent affirming behaviour support provider. Instinct Au is an autistic-led organisation with a diverse group of practitioners concentrating on understanding and assisting clients in need. It seeks to promote emotional regulation, interpersonal skills development and customer group integration for staff and clients. However, my placement exhibited a sharp contrast between these ideals and also the reality of working life, particularly towards the conclusion of my placement. Throughout my assignment my buddy (who is going to call Nyalah) and I - both Black students - began to see a pattern of favouritism from our supervisor and manager. This particular racial favouritism was especially strong for coworkers that were our boss's ethnicity or heritage. Unlike our I, Nyalah, and peers were expected to understand everything with little training. Whereas other individuals received typical instruction and demonstrations from their direct supervisors, we were frequently forced to navigate duties by ourselves. This particular training & help gap was demoralising and reflected the unequal treatment we got as a race (Waller, Harris, & Quinn, 2022).
Probably the most apparent instance of this particular discrimination was task division. Nyalah and I had been continually given excessive tasks such as cooking and cleaning for customers - chores which were labour intensive and undervalued when compared to what our colleagues did. These duties occupied most of our time and kept us from experiencing more significant relations with customers and personal advancement. Some other students had been joining daily report periods with the managers to discuss their day and offer feedback. Nyalah and I weren't included in these sessions, and it just reinforced our perception of being undervalued and dismissed. This unequal assignment of duties and rewards resulted in hostile and demotivating work conditions. We weren't backed and acknowledged by our superiors and felt insignificant. We performed our jobs faithfully but being told we weren't treated just impacted our experience and morale at the organisation. Favouritism and discrimination weren't individual events but a pattern which characterised our positioning and made these problems systemic to the business. This discriminatory conduct had an extended professional reach. It impacted our psychological and emotional health, making us angry, helpless and frustrated. It had been exhausting having to prove ourselves in a world which appeared to reject our contributions based strictly on race. The disappointment of discovering such discrimination in a welcoming society was overpowering (Greenwald et al., 2022). It was particularly dissatisfying to see this behaviour by experts in a career which emphasises equity, justice and advocacy.
This particular crucial incident was selected as it resonated with my concepts of justice, equity and inclusion. Having been discriminated against at the workplace made me feel ethically responsible and motivated me to attempt to change these systemic injustices. To resolve this particular event is vital to a far more just and inclusive workplace and keeping social work ethics. It makes me face uncomfortable truths about discrimination and racism and causes me to question the dynamics of power and structural inequalities which fuel injustice. Emotions related to this particular incident are anger, frustration and resolve. The psychological cost of going through and seeing discrimination makes advocacy for change imperative (Igras et al., 2021). Understand the effect of that behaviour on people and communities and commit to repairing structural problems which allow discrimination to continue. Feelings of powerlessness and frustration are reminders of the work to be done building genuinely inclusive and fair workplaces. NDIS registered and neurodivergent affirming behaviour assistance provider - turned out to be the setting for a 'shocking' racist & discriminatory event. The organization is known for an inclusive atmosphere but fell short in practice. As Black students including my colleague Nyalah we went through subtle exclusion and prejudices from our supervisor and manager. We were provided disproportionately tiresome work and also excluded from professional conferences, that exposed systematic racism and privileged status.
Analysis
Deconstruction of the Incident
Deconstructing this crucial incident entails separating the components to find the assumptions, structural problems and power dynamics at play. To start with I was frustrated and powerless since the manager and supervisor discriminated against me. This particular imbalance in power was apparent in task assignment & support (Jayatilake & Ganegoda, 2021). Whereas other students have been counselled and learned in expert discussions, Nyalah and I were assigned low priority tasks and dismissed in crucial interactions - an assumption that we have been no more suitable and less worthy of professional advancement. A crucial evaluation of these power dynamics reveals a modernist conception of power as a commodity, in which some people control and balance power over others. This particular perspective reflects conventional hierarchical structures, where control and power are concentrated at the top. Our managers, through their positional authority, created our duties and roles without considering our entitlements to reasonable treatment and help. This particular circumstance marginalized us and also created a system of racial exclusion and privileged status. This particular event left me feeling frustrated and helpless in the beginning. These feelings were fuelled by perceptions in my skills and worth generated via social racial inferiority stories. However, closer inspection made me doubt these assumptions and admit there might be systemic racism. The incident questioned my meritocracy and brought awkward truths about possibilities and authority in work.
The favouritism shown to colleagues which shared the exact same ethnicity as our supervisor further highlighted problems of systemic racism inside the business. This form of favouritism inevitably suggests a subordinate bias towards people who the in-group (from perceived racial or cultural homologies) seems to favour. Such biases might be kind of preferential treatment, professional prospects or resource access. In our circumstance, bias was apparent in unequal tasks allocation and in the shortage of support to us as compared to our peers (Pot, Kieusseyan & Prainsack, 2021). This discriminatory behaviour additionally mirrors wider social structural racism and inequality. A suitable lens to analyse these dynamics is critical race theory (CRT). CRT considers racism to not be a kind of persuasion or bias but rather a institutional issue within social structures and institutions. Nyalah and I at Instinct Au are illustrative of these systemic dynamics of racial discrimination where institutional behaviours and policies encourage racially unequal treatment. Racial stereotypes diminish our capabilities and contributions base us in thinking that we require less training and that we might perform everyday jobs ad lobbing with no assistance. Moreover, the exclusion from expert discussions and feedback sessions means that our experiences and knowledge weren't valued (Knowles et al., 2023). This exclusion enhances invisible visibility and reinforces distancing from minority professionals.
Reconstruction of the Incident
Rebuilding this particular event calls for taking a transformative and critical view of the circumstances. This entails challenging early assumptions and dynamics of power and envisioning a far more inclusive professional practice model. A significant transformation in my thinking was going out of a modernist notion of power to a postmodernist one. Instead of viewing power as an investment held by individuals in positions of power, I today view power as fluid and contextual, produced through interactions and relationships. Engaging with postmodern conceptions of power advocates a far more nuanced view which acknowledges the chance for agency and change even in apparently powerless positions (Collien, 2021). This particular viewpoint is influenced by the theories of Foucault along with other post structural theorists that declare that power isn't regional but transnational, spreading in social networks and methods. Accepting this fluidity reveals spaces and moments wherein resistance and transformation can be achieved.
This particular understanding shift has consequences for my training. Recognizing fluidity of power would mean I can look for and make space for change and agency. For instance, rather than accepting inequitable job allocation I can demand much more fair duty sharing and attempt to include underrepresented voices in professional discourse. This particular advocacy might be formal via complaints to senior management or modifications to organisational policies or casual through mentoring and support of various other marginalised colleagues. Another part of the reconstruction process must deal with the systemic dynamics of discrimination and racism (Banaji, Fiske & Massey, 2021). By utilising critical race theory, I can find and test institutional methods which promote inequalities. This includes addressing blatant discrimination and also looking at and modifying embedded policies and cultural norms which encourage inequalities.
Another crucial structuring in this particular reconstruction procedure is intersectionality. Kimberle Crenshaw's work this concept demonstrates how types of oppression race, gender, race compound and interact. Nevertheless, understanding intersectionality enables a more comprehensive reaction to discrimination while acknowledging that marginalization scenarios are complex and nuanced. A far more intersectional lens could direct me to recognize particular tensions of several identities at intersections and encourage inclusive practices which recognize these tensions. Actually, this restoration comprises several concrete steps. For starters, inclusive and open communications all through the organisation are important. This can be achieved through forums and channels where all employees - across backgrounds and responsibilities - might exchange experiences and knowledge. Urged feedback and dialogue might highlight issues earlier and promote collective accountability (Mar et al., 2023).
Mentorship and support programs for marginalised staff members can offer the help and opportunity I wasn't provided during my placement. Such programmes can close the training support gap and provide professional development for all staff. Moreover, marginalised workers can be represented in decision making procedures and also have their views recognized in company culture and policies. A culture of learning and of critical reflection is crucial for maintaining change in the long run. Encouragement of personnel to engage in continuous learning and analysis relating to power, privilege and systemic oppression can help a far more just organisational culture. This could be dependent on ongoing development and training of workshops and reflective methods that challenge staff members to challenge their biases and assumptions and focus on their actions towards a far more just and fairer workplace (Carter, Onyeador & Lewis Jr, 2020).
Learning from the critical reflection process
Vital reflection has informed my awareness of the interplay of power, oppression and privilege in professional settings, especially in human service organisations. From this process I've learned about discrimination and racism and how to promote inclusion and equity at the workplace. Most significant lesson learned is recognising implicit assumptions and biases. I didn't originally recognize how much these biases impacted the actions of my managers and organisational culture. The process of critical reflection uncovered exactly how widespread such biases are and just how they underpin systemic prejudice. By dissecting the event I managed to discover how preconceptions regarding race and capacity informed unequal treatment that my friend Nyalah and I endured. This awareness is essential for a more crucial and reflective practice since it enables me to question and challenge assumptions in the future professional context (Faller, Lundgren & Marsick, 2020).
A crucial lesson is that power is contextual and fluid. My first encounter with the power dynamics was restricted by the modernist idea of power as a finite commodity held by individuals in positions of authority. I've come to realise power as it circulates and may be negotiated in social relationships and interactions through critical reflection. This particular change in perspective provides me agency and possibility for change even if I'm initially powerless. Recognizing fluidity of power enables me to find out the moments and spaces where resistance may happen and push for much more inclusive approaches in organisations. Critical race theory (CRT) and intersectionality have even more influenced my knowledge of systemic oppression. CRT's emphasis on racism as a systemic issue within social systems made me see that discrimination isn't an individual issue but a systemic issue which requires institutional change (Jones, 2023). Kimberle Crenshaw's work Intersectionality has stressed that oppression is multifaceted: various identities collide to create various marginalisation stories. The intersectional principle facilitates a far more comprehensive approach to discrimination and also ensures answers are responsive and nuanced to all impacted individuals.
This particular learning has some consequences for my upcoming professional practice. To begin with it emphasises the necessity for advocacy & protesting injustices. Confidence and fear of retribution drove my silence around discrimination during my placement. However critical reflection has taught me to be advocates for myself and others no matter if it's tough. This advocacy is vital for more fair workplaces and treating everybody with dignity. The reflection process has discovered the necessity for supportive and inclusive methods in companies. This entails equal training and professional advancement for all staff no matter race and background. Access to information and help for everybody is crucial to building an inclusive workplace (Kuknor & Bhattacharya, 2022). Creating mentoring programs, encouraging open communication and also including underrepresented workers in decision making are tangible measures which could contribute to this particular objective. A culture of critical reflection and learning is crucial for sustained improvement. Encouraging staff to take part in constant learning and reflection on power, privilege and systemic oppression is able to foster an inclusive organisational culture.
Implications for professional practice
The lessons I learned from critically looking at discrimination and racism in my placement at Instinct Au are applicable to my practice in human service organisations. These implications are grounded in the need to attain social, inclusion, and equity justice within society. Applying the learnings from the deconstruction and reconstruction of the incident to my professional life and leadership. Among the consequences is the need to confront systematic institutional discrimination and biases at the workplace. This means committing to recognize & challenge implicit biases within myself and other individuals. As a practitioner we should develop a climate in which all types of discrimination are acknowledged and reacted to (Filut, Alvarez & Carnes, 2020). This includes supporting anti-discrimination policies & procedures, training on diversity and ensuring these initiatives aren't simply tokens but really generate change towards an inclusive workplace.
In practice, that entails concrete measures to make sure that employees no matter background or race get equal access to training, professional development and support. For me throughout placement the absence of direction & support for myself and Nyalah was starkly opposite to what our fellow students felt. To be able to stay away from such differences it's essential to have structured mentoring and support programs which are adapted to all staff members - particularly those from underrepresented groups. This kind of program can fill the training void and make sure that all are ready for success. The second significant takeaway is the importance of open communication and dialog within the organisation. Important are forums for staff to talk about frustrations and experiences with no fear of retribution (Yosep et al., 2022). A culture of feedback and reflection might identify problems earlier on and promote collective responsibility for change. Leading by facilitating conversations and check-ins regarding workplace dynamics can ensure all voices are heard and appreciated. This method fits with inclusive leadership values of cooperation, empathy and active listening.
The reflection procedure has revealed that crucial theoretical frameworks including critical race theory and intersectionality must be practiced. These frameworks offer helpful models for examining systemic oppression. For instance, an intersectional lens could possibly uncover which several types of discrimination intersect and weave to produce certain issues for people located at intersections of identities. I hope utilizing these frameworks in my work can help me build a lot more nuanced and responsive approaches for social justice and equity. Along with theoretical frameworks, a strengths-based approach is crucial. Recognising and valuing all staff, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds could lessen the consequences of prejudice. This emphasizes capacities and potential rather than perceived failures. Businesses can foster a far more inclusive and motivated workplace by exhibiting & leveraging team members from various backgrounds. Reflection and continued learning are crucial as a practitioner. I have to continuously think about my assumptions and biases (Storm et al., 2023). This includes seeking feedback, going to professional development seminars and remaining up on issues pertaining inclusion, equity, and diversity. By investing in continuous learning, I stay flexible to the demands of my communities and contribute to far more inclusive organisational methods. In practice, these insights be action plans for inclusion and equity. For instance, diversity education and forums for open dialogue can deal with implicit biases and foster understanding among different people. Moreover, the processes of learning and reflection in continuous change are crucial.
Conclusion
This particular experience has evidenced systemic racism as a genuine epidemic and the need to face biases and myths in the workplace. This has shifted her thinking by Fook's critical thinking & how she today sees equality, social justice and inclusion as crucial. This includes affecting anti-discrimination laws, encouraging open dialogue and facilitating reflective learning. With guiding theoretical frameworks including critical race theory and intersectionality, the writer creates nuanced and more productive methods for confronting systemic oppression. This reflective journey illustrates the advantages of continuing self-awareness and professional practice change.
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