discussion questions 666

As always, be sure to include paraphrased citations from the required readings, lectures, and videos.

(article) “Racial, gender wage gaps persist in U.S. despite some progress”- https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/01/r…

Ted Talk “how to make work-life balance work” – https://www.ted.com/talks/nigel_marsh_how_to_make_…

There’s More to the Shrinking Pay Gap Video

We have made it to our final week of group discussions! This week we are studying both workplace diversity and work/life balance. I often find the term “work/life balance” to be peculiar, since working is part of anyone’s life who is employed. Some of us even spend more time with our co-workers than we do with other people in our lives!

Thinking about this week’s materials, let’s discuss how we balance our working lives with the rest of our time. Here are some questions to ponder this week. (You do not need to answer all of these questions; they are just to get you thinking about the topic.)

1. How do your roles and intersections of such characteristics as race, gender, class, and the like play into your own balancing act? Use examples from your life or the experiences of others you know to discuss the concepts from Volti, the inequalities and diversity lecture, and the TED Talks this week.

2. Overwork, lack of paid vacation time, and inequalities in the workplace are just a few issues in the U.S. workplace. Thinking about those or other issues, how might we go about making positive changes for workers? How might things need to change in the future?

3. Discuss your ideas on workplace diversity and opportunities for change to the workplace structure.