Affirmative Action at the University of Selkirk and Portrait of a Canadian Advisor Essay Example

biases their assessment of specific dimensions. In this case, the AAC formed a negative overall impression of the business department, which influenced their evaluation of the department's recommendation to hire a female faculty member. The University of Selkirk's situation illustrates the Pygmalion Effect, where men are perceived as more qualified to be professors and are thus given more opportunities to excel in their profession. As a result, male professors become particularly qualified for their job while opportunities for women are scarce because of stereotypes.

The vice-president of Academic in 1989 demonstrated reluctance in approving the proposal, expressing the belief that women were not being considered among the "best candidates." This reflects a stereotype outlined in Portrait of a Canadian Advisor, which assigns certain traits and behaviors to members of specific groups. Specifically, the stereotype suggests that Canadian advisors are typically male, between 40-50 years old, and speak English or French.

It can be concluded that both cases in which advisors were hired were influenced by external factors of the fundamental attribution error. The first advisor fitting the stereotype complies with the Pygmalion Effect, as he is expected to perform well and believes he is doing so. Meanwhile, the second advisor in Canada faces the Golem Effect as he is perceived by colleagues and counterparts to have minimal involvement with local culture and a lack of effort in learning the local language. This has lowered expectations of him, possibly leading to a lack of effort on his part to succeed in his new cultural environment. In both cases, perceptual biases were evident.

Both the University of Selkirk and Canadian advisor cases illustrated different biases, such as the Halo

Effect, stereotypes, and the Golem Effect. To address these biases, I propose a Learning Program that is identical for both cases. The program will involve selecting a new group of hiring managers with an equal representation of males and females who come from diverse age groups and ethnic backgrounds. For example, if there are six hiring managers in total, three should be males and three should be females with varying mother tongues apart from English or French. These hiring managers would collectively analyze resumes and conduct interviews for potential candidates while developing guidelines that are unbiased against age, gender or ethnic background.

Strict guidelines must be followed during the hiring process to ensure a bias-free environment. To prevent ethnic bias in the hiring of Canadian advisors, cultural awareness should be included as part of the program. This entails promoting diversity in gender and culture at both the University of Selkirk and the CIDA, which could benefit the company by fostering overseas connections. Advisors from varied backgrounds can bring fresh perspectives and contribute to organizational success through their new knowledge. The hiring managers who choose a well-rounded faculty will receive positive reinforcement, with success being measured and rewarded accordingly.

To assess the success of managers, bi-annual tests or surveys will be conducted for university staff at Selkirk and organizational staff at CIDA. The purpose is to evaluate the improvements made by new members, which can be measured by the staff's increased satisfaction and work motivation level. Positive reinforcement like rewards, bonuses, team lunches will be given if there is an improvement; otherwise, negative reinforcement like punishment or warnings will be implemented. Additionally, modeling and self-efficacy learning can be

used to observe and imitate the behavior of others to enhance learning.

The program's goal is to enhance individuals' self-efficacy by instilling belief in their ability to improve themselves and perform tasks. For example, if the business department wants to improve, they can emulate the successful actions of the finance department. Despite preconceptions at Selkirk University about women's performance, this program aims to teach individuals that women are just as capable as men in fields such as business and teaching. Through systematic training, participants will acquire skills necessary for job performance improvement.

The hiring managers must collaborate to choose the new employee, thus implementing participation as the first principle of training. Regular team meetings will entail talk about candidates, goals, and problems, and apply guidelines to the hiring process. To ensure progress, bi-annual tests or surveys will inform on the performance of CIDA organizational members or university faculty.

Conclusion: The same program could be implemented for both the University of Selkirk and Canadian advisors. At the University of Selkirk, the program could eliminate bias towards females to create a more diverse environment for faculty, consisting of both males and females. For Canadian advisors, the program could eliminate ageism, sexism, and racism in stereotypical Canadian advising and create more opportunities for individuals of different ethnicities and languages. Additionally, according to Herzberg’s 2-Factor Theory of Work Motivation, the program would motivate faculty members and hiring managers by satisfying their needs through rewards, extra pay, bonuses, etc.

If hiring managers are given rewards, it can fulfill their external needs. This can benefit both the managers and the university by creating diversity in the faculty. These rewards also satisfy the intrinsic

needs of managers, such as feelings of achievement and competence. Similarly, in Canadian CIDA-sponsored projects, hiring managers aim to create diversity among Canadian advisors.

Diversifying the workforce can support organizations in reaching their goals by introducing a broader range of employees with various experiences and knowledge from around the world. Typically, Canadian advisors are male and aged between 40 to 50, fluent in English and French. However, hiring employees with diverse backgrounds, such as someone who speaks both English and Chinese, can bring new innovative ideas and knowledge to companies like CIDA.

Intrinsic needs of Canadian advisors can be satisfied by challenging them to work with advisors from different backgrounds, thereby broadening their horizons and providing a new perspective on handling situations. Learning new things will increase their competence and motivate them in future endeavors. The University of Selkirk serves as an example of Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory, as managerial competence and job satisfaction are rewarded with bonuses, positive outcomes that motivate continued performance. According to the theory, motivation depends on the expected outcomes of effort and actions at work. Hiring managers at the University of Selkirk are motivated to properly complete their tasks, such as hiring a more diverse faculty, by the prospect of receiving desired rewards and feelings of accomplishment.

Vroom's theory posits that hiring managers will prioritize activities that they find appealing and that are likely to result in desirable outcomes, such as incentives, that they believe are attainable. This aligns with the Canadian advisors' experience, where the manager's actions align with the expectancy theory. As the advisors learn and gain competence in a more diverse workforce, they become more motivated. The

first level outcome of this theory is achieving the organizational goal, which relates to performance and is influenced by valence. If employees are incentivized to achieve this goal, their valence will be high. Once the organizational goal is met, the second level outcome of needs can be assessed.

If the level of instrumentality is high, it indicates that fulfilling the first level of organizational goal will satisfy the second level outcome of needs. When employees are motivated to attain the first level of organizational goal as it is achievable, the level of expectancy is high. The amount of effort employees put into attaining the organizational goal is a measure of force, as they are attracted to achieving the goal, implying a high valence and expectancy. To sum up, by meeting their intrinsic and extrinsic needs and considering the first and second level outcomes of Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, Herzberg’s 2-factor theory of work motivation can drive University of Selkirk's faculty members and Canadian advisors to exhibit altered behavior.