Deck 10: Communicating Difference at Work

Question 1

Which of Jablin's stages of socialization best describes the stage in which workers adjusts her expectations,resolves organizational conflicts,and develops her own individual job role?

A)Anticipatory socialization
B)Assimiliation
C)Exit
D)Metamorphosis

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Which of the following can best help us to understand why some white-skinned ethicn groups where categorized as "non-white"?

A)The ways that some races typically find success in particular political,economic,and historical contexts.
B)Paying attention to natural divisions among racial groups helps us to understand the ways in which race has significance in different contexts.
C)The construction of racial categories is based on political,economic,and historical contexts.
D)Noticing inherent biological distinctions is what helps us distinguished among racial groups.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

We can best describe sexual harassment as a communicative construction because:

A)Sexual harassment constructs organizational contexts in which people can communicate openly about their feelings.
B)Sexual harassment is largely communicative,as long as people talk about it after it happens.
C)Sexual harassment depends on interpretation and talking about it relies on people's communicative resources.
D)Sexual harassment is a topic of conversation at workshops,where people are taught communicative practices to avoid.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Of the following racial and ethnic groups,which have been considered "nonwhite?"

A)Irish
B)Italians
C)Hungarians
D)All of the above

Question 5

A small non-profit educational enrichment program encourages dating among its staff.The hours are long and the work is exhausting - many of the senior staff (with non-colleague partners)have relationship troubles during the busy summer season because their partners "just don't understand." If the staff dates,the senior staff assumes,they'll be happier at work and will experience less work-related relationship conflict.Perfect! Which of the following best describes the senior staff's views?

A)Instrumental sexuality
B)Sexual harassment
C)Emancipatory sexuality
D)All of the above

Question 6

Steven noticed that a the phrase "non-white" was sometimes used as a "politically correct" way of describing persons of color.This started to bug him,because it seemed like what mattered was that the people weren't white,rather than anything in particular about their racial or ethnic group.(And there are myriad "non-white" races and ethnic groups - it seemed so strange to lump them all into one category!)Which of the following markers of difference best applies to this situation?

A)Difference is connected to power - those in power construct differences.
B)All differences are not created equal - binary systems of difference are characterized by dominant poles.
C)Difference contrasts with and complements what is defined as "normal."
D)Difference is communicatively constructed.

Question 7

Eventually,TD and his partner decide that they will attend a school picnic together,essentially "outing" themselves to the staff and the students and families all at once.Everything goes pretty well.Over the next several weeks,however,TD notices that his female colleagues who used to leave him in relative peace are approaching him to ask questions about fashion and to inquire into his sex life.How could we best describe what's happening?

A)The teachers are punishing TD for being gay by expecting him to act in certain ways.
B)The teachers are policing his behavior because they think that he is probably distracted because of his sexuality.
C)The teachers in are worried about hearing too many details of TD's home life,so they distract him by talking about theirs.
D)The teachers view TD as exotic and a token and project their stereotypes of gay men onto him now that they know he is gay.

Question 8

TD is a middle school teacher,one of the few men in the building.He is also in a long-term committed relationship with a man (they are not permitted to marry in the state where they live,otherwise,they would have been married long ago. )Five years into his teaching career,he finally shares this information with one trusted colleague,who is surprised to learn this information.Upon further reflection,however,this colleague realizes that TD has long deflected questions about himself and his home life when they touch base on Monday mornings,allowing her to speak and goading her question questions.Of the following passing strategies,which best describes TD's behavior?

A)Denial
B)Dissociating
C)Dodging
D)Deceiving

Question 9

Which of the following terms best describes the argument that organizations ultimately hurt their bottom line if they are not drawing upon the full set of skills offered them by the working population?

A)Homosocial reproduction
B)Managing diversity
C)Business case for diversity
D)Affirmative action

Question 10

Amanda is white and attends a multiracial church.When pointing out people to others,she used to describe white people by their hair color and their clothing (e.g."The blonde woman in the blue button-down"),and people of color by their clothing and their race or ethnic group (e.g."The black woman wearing the green dress and turquoise jewelry).She was not trying to be racist at all,but felt as though those that her variance in descriptions marked difference between people of different races more than she intended.Which of the following markers of difference best applies to this situation?

A)Difference is connected to power - those in power construct differences.
B)All differences are not created equal - binary systems of difference are characterized by dominant poles.
C)Difference contrasts with and complements what is defined as "normal."
D)Difference is communicatively constructed.

Question 11

Why would "professionalism" be a particular concern for homosexual workers,homosexual men,in particular?

A)Gay male bodies,much like female bodies,can be at risk of being interpreted as sites of sexual excess.
B)Many gay men perceive being too "camp" in the workplace "reads" as unprofessional.
C)Professionalism still,essentially,hinges on the assumption of the rational,heterosexual male.
D)All of the above.

Question 12

Which of the following best exemplifies the meaning of the phrase,"differences that make a difference?"

A)The biological differences between men and women,and people with black and white skin are where we derive the significance of gender,sexuality,and race.
B)The distinctions between sexual preferences and partners are where we derive the significance of sexuality and interactions that sometimes lead to sexual harassment.
C)Differences between people are natural,and we blow them out of proportion by talking about them too much or with too much significance.
D)Some differences are structured into society as important,while others are overlooked and thought unimportant.

Question 13

Which of the following is a communicative element of "passing?"

A)Hyper-attentive listening
B)Redirecting conversations away from "dangerous" topics
C)Relying on others' words to make sense of oneself
D)All of the above

Question 14

When TD reveals his sexuality to his colleague,she suggests that he speak to Linda,another teacher in the building who is also gay.Though TD likes Linda,he refuses to talk to her about anything not strictly curricula- or student-related.Which passing strategy best describes TD's behavior?

A)Denial
B)Dissociating
C)Dodging
D)Deceiving

Question 15

Which of the following is NOT a critique of much of the research done on race and organization?

A)Research tended to normalize a white worldview.
B)Research tended to construct blackness as over-determining the individual worker.
C)Research tended to focus on workers of color in "dirty work" jobs.
D)Research tended to look at race as interpersonal difference and cultural insensitivities.

Question 16

Whose standpoint does Jablin's stages of socialization most frequently represent?

A)Women of color
B)White men
C)White women
D)Men of color

Question 17

The study of whiteness is best described as:

A)Understanding better the views of white people who are relatively uneducated and express racist views toward persons of color.
B)Interrogating the intersections of power and privilege that mark whiteness as a "norm" in organizations and culture.
C)Explaining the ways in which affirmative action has harmed white priviledge.
D)All of the above.

Question 18

Managing diversity most often refers to:

A)The process of making sure organizational diversity does not distract from work.
B)Effectively implementing affirmative action.
C)Building workplaces that reflect the demography of the population.
D)Studying the links between power,management,and race.

Question 19

Ford's Sociological Department and its emphasis on "clean living" (and careful elimination of jazz music among the employees it checked up on)is an example of the organization of race because:

A)Many of the Ford workers came from the South,and northern employees were skeptical of Southerners' habits of cleanliness and morality (questioning the politics and influences of the Civil War).
B)Henry Ford was deeply religious and thought that jazz music corroded the souls of the workers who listened to it (encouraging workers to adopt white Protestantism).
C)Jazz music was long associated with slave traditions and African-American musical roots,and seen as threatening (perceiving a threat to the white social order through widespread jazz).
D)All of the above.

Question 20

Which of the following describes an approach to sexuality through which workers might use their sexuality to resist organizational control?

A)Instrumental sexuality
B)Sexual harassment
C)Emancipatory sexuality
D)All of the above

Question 21

According to Duneier's study on homeless men,homeless men actually provide a great _________________ to the neighborhoods in which they lived.

Question 22

Organizations try to exploit human sexuality to increase _____________.

Question 23

Now that 50% of adults between ages 21 and 32 have at least one tattoo or piercing beyond the standard ear piercing,tattoos are generally an accepted part of a professional image.

Question 24

Differences such as race,class,gender,and sexuality and the meanings attributed to these differences are naturally occurring and easily maintained.

Question 25

Studying whiteness enables us to see the ways in which whiteness is the often unspoken "____________________" of organizational life.

Question 26

From the 1950s to the 1980s,corporations and organizations were relatively _________________________ about sexual expression.

Question 27

Sometimes organizational members who experience sexual harassment frame it,discursively,as ________________________.

Question 28

_________________________________________ is the term used to describe the implicit assumption that heterosexuality is the ideal or standard against which other forms of sexuality are measured.

Question 29

Homosexuality and heterosexuality are ____________________ constructed through the everyday interactions of gay and straight members of organizations.

Question 30

A critical perspective on "difference" tends to look at difference as sets of individual characteristics and as something that exists "within" organizations..

Question 31

_____________________________________ describes the set of communicative strategies that a person may use to be identified as a straight woman at work,despite her homosexuality.

Question 32

As long as an organization deals with any instances of overt racism,issues of race in organizations become relatively invisible.

Question 33

The primary way in which organizations deal with (or need to deal with)race is by managing it effectively.

Question 34

People generally agree that sexual harassment in the workplace is unacceptable and have generally agreed-upon standards for what constitutes sexual harassment.

Question 35

Organizational communication research that focuses primarily on corporate settings has overlooked many of the nuances and experiences of the ways in which race and organizing intersect.

Question 36

One important way of addressing race as an everyday,routine feature of organizational life is to look at _____________________.

Question 37

White people don't have any privileges or practices that protect them from every day injustices.

Question 38

The most frequent instances of racism in our everyday lives occur when uneducated individuals who hold racist beliefs express themselves.

Question 39

White-skinned immigrants from Ireland and Italy were once considered "___________________"

Question 40

Once an organization becomes "gay friendly," all forms of sexuality-based discrimination will disappear.