Assignment 1

26 April 2018

SOC240 World Cultures

What Is Your Own Culture?

I grew up as the fourth of six children in a middle-class, Caucasian family in North Carolina. I’ve been raised as part of a minority Christian belief, and still consider myself a part of that group, albeit not to the degree of my parents. In both personality and taste, I am very much a nerd. I primarily read science fiction and fantasy, I play lots of video games, and I am a sucker for films involving robots, advanced technology, and other science fiction elements. I try to expand my horizons through film and other media to avoid becoming too comfortable in my niche. Classic films like Lawrence of Arabia, modern films like the works of Quentin Tarantino, and speeches such as I, Racist and Letters from a Birmingham Jail are cultivated interests of mine. All in all, I come from a well-defined, conservative culture, but I do try to expand my sphere of influence to avoid becoming prejudiced because of my background.

According to the CQ Test, I have a high cultural intelligence (Common Purpose, 2018). Taking the test made me think about how my life experiences have led to better cultural understanding and how I can improve. I would have scored poorly on this test had I taken it back in high school. I was friends with people of other cultures as far back as middle school, but I didn’t take an active interest in learning about the various cultures of my friends and associates until I served for two years as a volunteer in a Latino community. Initially, my interest was selfish- I found that I garnered more interest from the local Hispanic community if I expressed an interest in and knowledge of their culture. Over time, I gained a genuine appreciation for and interest in the Latino culture. This interest helped me get a job later as a recruiting manager for a subcontractor. Because I understood the Latino culture, I could help recruit and keep on staff people within the Latino community. I eventually left the company because the owner took advantage of the Latino community, and I couldn’t stand to be a part of it. Looking back, I wish I had stood up and tried to explain to my boss why I felt what she was doing was wrong. In the future, I hope to have enough of an appreciation for other cultures and minorities to stand up for them when they are taken advantage of.

According to the Implicit Association Test, I have no racial bias, but I do have a strong bias for men in the workplace and women in the home (Plous, 2018). I will need to be careful in the workplace to avoid being biased against women. I have caught myself at times assuming a female coworker was not as knowledgeable in our field as I am, and I have already been trying to improve. This test reaffirms to me the importance of breaking this predisposition. If I am aware of this bias, I can catch myself and improve. Doing so will help in my work with my coworkers.

This assignment taught me to be proud of my efforts to learn about different people and to pay attention to my interactions with women. I want to reach the point where I treat women the same as I treat men in the workplace. If I am successful, I will be doubling the number of people I can turn to for advice or help in projects, because I will no longer be treating women as though they are less than me. This would vastly improve my efficiency in the workplace.

References Plous, S. (2018, April 26). UnderstandingPrejudice.org: Implicit Association Test. Retrieved from UnderstandingPrejudice.org: http://www.understandingprejudice.org/iat/ Purpose, C. (2018, April 26). CQ Test | Knowledge Hub | Common Purpose. Retrieved from Common Purpose: Cross-Boundary Leadership: https://commonpurpose.org/knowledge-hub/all-articles/what-is-cultural-intelligence/cq-test