In my opinion, as the only Latino student in my undergraduate program in OHS Administration & Fire Science at Mercy College; the only Latino in my NYU graduate program in
OS&H (Ergo); only Latino Safety Professional in the IBM Corporation at the time (1979); only Latino Administrator at Nassau Community College, etc...from my perspective these are the issues we face:
1) Not many minorities were interested in the hard sciences (e.g. Math, Biology, Physics, Physical Sciences, Chemistry), and would rather go into Liberal Arts. Many lacked
a solid foundation or education in these subjects so they avoided professions that required this knowledge. In order to address this issue and attract a more diverse workforce, mentoring needs to begin early in the educational process (Middle School and High
School) to ensure these students are encouraged and supported through extra curricular activities and tutoring programs to take math and science courses.
2) The few minorities that do go into the field often encounter dead end jobs with no possibility of promotions, often encounter a hostile working environment due to their
ethnicity, language barriers, or having an accent that's interpreted as lacking the knowledge or authority to carry out their jobs, especially when it comes to giving directives or requiring compliance. Many of their counterparts interpret these differences
as a lack of intelligence or lacking the support of upper management to execute their duties, and often lack the backing of their immediate supervisor.
Unlike other professions that can be tweaked to make accommodations (e.g. police, firefighters, sanitation) where qualifying requirements were
changed to allow women and other minorities to meet minimum qualifications, chemistry, industrial hygiene and safety engineering professions are exact sciences where an error in calculations and professional judgement can result in severe injuries and drastic
consequences. So in order to attract a more diverse workforce our efforts need to focus on providing a solid education in the sciences, and provide mentoring programs and opportunities for personal development and advancement. Workplace sensitivity training
can be a valuable tool to promote respect for individual cultural, language and racial differences, and to create a supportive and accepting working environment where diversity is welcomed and appreciated.
Dr. Carlos Rentas Jr., DrPH, MSPH, MA, BCIC, BCSP, BCHMM-Emeritus
Board Certified Epidemiologist, Consultant in Occupational & Environmental Health and Safety
Pipers Glen Estates - Westchester Country Club
Boynton Beach, FL 33437-4119
?
Good Morning All,
We recently had a discussion about this - and it got me to thinking. We have talked about diversity before and we have even had several symposia over the years focusing on
diversity issues, such as how to manage cultural differences in the teaching laboratories, i.e. the appreciation and level of safety of our student populations, dealing with cultural differences with regard to attire, managing reproductive health issues, etc.
But we really have tackled the question about how to increase our diversity in the profession. My initial thoughts are that we do have an issue about how people enter the
profession in the first place.
And, I would like to hear from folks on this topic as it is a great conversation to be having.
I listened this morning to an interview by a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff talking about issues in the military, and he made a profound statement - if you look at the
current Joint Chiefs - you see the same demographic, but there is a commonality as to their career paths, and when you look at those career paths, you see that there is a lack of diversity, even though the diversity has increased throughout the military.
(We have historically seen that as well in many career paths.) He indicated that we have to do better recruiting in those career paths that lead to what is seen as successful, i.e. start from the bottom up.
We have historically seen this - and we are seeing change - but it is slow - what can we do to help foster this change?
Frankie Wood-Black, Ph.D., REM, MBA
Principal - Sophic Pursuits
NOTE - ADDRESS CHANGE - Mailing Address - PO Box 433, Tonkawa, OK 74653
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