SWP 538 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Organizational Culture

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Social Work
• Course: SWP 538
• Professor: Purnima George

Document Summary

Working definition of systemic discrimination= consists of patterns of behaviour that are part of social & administrative structures of workplace. Create position of disadvantage for some groups & privilege for others. Systemic discrimination= considering interacting & cumulative impacts of discrimination on multiple grounds. Identifying systemic race discrimination in human rights cases: documenting job barriers contained in organizational policies. Evidence came from insider knowledge of employment practices provided by advocacy organization that represented complainants and employees. Core requirement= employer to scrutinize its own practices & uncover own job barriers. Encompasses shared patterns of informal behaviour: communication, decision making, & social interaction. Observable evidence of deeply held & largely unconscious values, assumptions, & norms. Prevailing organizational values are socially constructed by dominant groups: typically reflect white, male, heterosexual, & able-bodied members. Evidence of discrimination usually comes from individual testimony & occasionally from corporate documents & employee surveys.