Public Administration Commons^™

Managing Up: Managing Diversity In Challenging Times, Helen Levine

Commonwealth Compact

Commonwealth Compact is an organization formed to help make Massachusetts a location of choice for people of color and women in the belief that their contributions are vital to the region’s social and economic future. The need for an initiative such as Commonwealth Compact stems from a number of factors. As racial and ethnic diversity increases across the nation, business and civic leaders agree that it is critical to reverse the reputation that Massachusetts and Greater Boston, in particular, have not been seen as a welcoming, diverse place to live and work for people of color. Without a better reputation …

Tolerance As Civility In Contemporary Workplace Diversity Initiatives, C. W. Von Bergen, George Collier

Administrative Issues Journal

Valuing diversity emphasizes the awareness, recognition, understanding, and appreciation of human differences and revolves around creating an inclusive environment in which everyone feels esteemed. This generally takes place through a series of management education and training programs that attempt to improve interpersonal relationships among workers by asking participants to become more tolerant—generally understood today as an approval and acceptance of others’ practices, opinions, and beliefs. Because tolerance is such a highly desirable quality in U.S. society, and seemingly one of its few non-controversial values, rarely is its significance questioned. Nevertheless, contemporary interpretations of tolerance may be problematic for multicultural programs. …

Effects Of Reading Strategies And The Writing Process With Written Recasts On Second Language Achievement, Helen Ramirez, Don Jones

Administrative Issues Journal

This study examined the effectiveness of teaching methods used with a second language reading and writing unit. This investigation addressed discrepancies between assessment scores in the four communicative language skill areas of students in beginning-level Spanish classes at a suburban middle school. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to explore how literacy-based practices that included teaching strategies used with reading, teaching use of the writing process with a writing assignment, and teacher employment of written recasts affect second language achievement. The theoretical base of the study consisted of second language theories and hypotheses that explained how second language learning …

Diversity, Networks And Performance: An Empirical Analysis Of Metropolitan Planning Organizations In The United States, Yujin Choi

Public Administration - Dissertations

Achieving network performance is a vital goal in response to the increase of inter-organizational networks public organizations involve. The primary aim of this research is to examine the factors that predict performance in public management networks by disentangling the idea that collaboration requires both diversity and unity. Drawing upon diversity theories, social capital theory and management literature as theoretical lenses, this dissertation serves to investigate the following questions:

1. What is the collaborative decision-making process in inter-organizational networks?

2. How does social capital mediate the relationship between network member diversity and performance?

3. How does network management strategy moderate the …

Workforce Diversity Management In Ontario Municipalities, Jennifer Lajoie

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines why some municipalities have implemented workforce diversity management plans and policies, while others have not. A case study analysis of nine mid-sized Ontario municipalities – Chatham-Kent, Sudbury, Guelph, Kitchener, Lambton, London, St. Catharines, Thunder Bay, and Windsor – was conducted. The findings reveal that common patterns for the existence of workforce diversity management policies include: a wake-up call that helps trigger change; the creation of organizational buy-in; the existence of a champion for diversity; and a consideration of local environmental forces.

The Role Of Medical Training Background In Patient Satisfaction, Mariam Zia Qureshi

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The number of international medical graduates (IMG) is increasing and their ability to satisfy patients has never been studied. The purpose of this study is to examine if there is a difference between the patient satisfaction scores of US medical graduates (USMGs) and IMGs. This is a retrospective study in which 2627 returned patient experience surveys of 55 physicians working in Medical Practice in South Western Mayo Health System were evaluated. These surveys were returned from August 2009 to August 2010. An independent t-test and t-inverse test was conducted with significance level of 0.05. The results of t-test lead to …

Municipal Voter Turn-Out In Ontario: An Analysis Of Community Theories And Their Application To A Prescription For Higher Voter Turn-Out In Municipal Elections, Stephen Chait

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines voter turnout as a proxy for civic engagement by applying the analytical lenses of Robert Putnam’s social capital theory and Richard Florida’s creative capital theory to test critical assumptions regarding the impact of size (population), diversity (immigration), creativity (education and employment), and mobility (length of residency) on voter turnout. A sample of 30 Ontario urban municipalities was analyzed based on data from the 2006 Census. The findings reveal that there is a negative correlation between voter turnout and population size and density; a negative correlation between voter turnout and non-official mother tongue and immigrant status; a negative …

Coping With Diversity: Municipal Actions In Response Of Increased Immigrant Diversity In The Cities Of Hamilton And Markham In Ontario, Erika Hegedues

MPA Major Research Papers

This paper examines the methods for coping with increased diversity and its consequences at the local level based on a literature review, case studies of the selected municipalities – Hamilton and Markham – and interviews with experts from these municipalities. The findings reveal that financial support from both the provincial and federal government is necessary to support the integration of immigrants, especially in large urban areas, in addition to the prioritization of certain policy areas and the municipal development and enhancement of their own services.