Improving Hispanic Presence in STEM Jobs

“Hispanic or Latino” is “a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race, as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.  See:

Latest labor statistics on Hispanics show both positive and negative outcomes.

Unemployment numbers for U.S. Hispanics saw a year-over-year improvement in August and held steady month to month, according to figures released by the Labor Department.
The number of unemployed Americans was little changed at 11.3 million in August, for an overall rate of 7.3 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said. The seasonally adjusted rate for U.S. Hispanics was 9.3 percent in August, down slightly from 9.4 percent in July.

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Table A-3. Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age

However, in another recent news, growth in women's share of science, technology, engineering and mathematics occupations – commonly referred to as STEM jobs – has slowed since the 1990s, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released today. Women's employment in STEM has slowed because their share in computer occupations declined to 27 percent in 2011 after reaching a high of 34 percent in 1990. Blacks and Hispanics also remain under-represented in STEM jobs.

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Thus, it is just timely that, as reported in a recent news, scores of Hispanic professionals will enlist in a role model program in New York City on Sept. 12 that will put them in middle school classrooms to inspire students to excel and go on to higher education. Read full story at: 

Also, in a very recent news article, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) announced the recipients of this year's prestigious STAR Awards, recognizing key contributors in the Hispanic community in the fields of science, technology, math and engineering (STEM).
The honorable STAR Awards are presented annually by SHPE, recognizing individuals and corporations nationally for their dedication, commitment and selfless efforts to the growth and advancement of Hispanic students and professionals pursuing STEM careers. Read more at:

It should also be noted in a 2009 lecture by John F. Alderete, professor at Washington State University, at the 2009 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers conference, he told students: In order to be a competitive Hispanic STEM student, you must be focused, completely absorbed in your coursework. The word “competitive” means that you will have what it takes to become someone special. Someone special gets accepted into graduate school. –

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Hispanics in Employment: A Growing Force to Contend With

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget currently defines “Hispanic or Latino” as “a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. See: 

The U.S. Census Bureau released in November 2012 the 2006-2010 American Community Survey Equal Employment Opportunity Tabulation which shows that the Hispanic labor force grew by 53 percent from 2000 to 2010 -- the largest increase of any segment. Compared with the 2000 Equal Employment Opportunity Tabulation, the size of the Hispanic labor force grew by 53 percent (from 14.7 million to 22.5 million), the largest increase for any major race and ethnic group category.

The tabulation — available on American FactFinder (the Census Bureau’s online statistics search tool) — is produced for the federal agencies responsible for monitoring employment practices and enforcing civil rights laws for the workforce.

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From the same tabulation above, it is reported that the largest occupation category for Hispanics was construction laborer (409,000), while at the same time, personal care aide was the fastest-growing occupation among non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics and non-Hispanic Asians. The number of personal care aides tripled over the last decade.

At nearly 23 million, people of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity represented 15 percent of the U.S. labor force in 2011. By 2020, Latinos are expected to comprise 19 percent of the U.S. labor force. (Source: U.S. Department of Labor Report) – See more Hispanic fast facts from this report

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Helping Hispanics Become Future Beacons of Hope

In a news article, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) announced the recipients of this year's prestigious STAR Awards, recognizing key contributors in the Hispanic community in the fields of science, technology, math and engineering (STEM).
The honorable STAR Awards are presented annually by SHPE, recognizing individuals and corporations nationally for their dedication, commitment and selfless efforts to the growth and advancement of Hispanic students and professionals pursuing STEM careers. Read more at:

In a lecture given by John F. Alderete, professor at Washington State University, at the 2009 Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers conference he stressed that: Higher education opens many doors. Each of us has to do something— just some small ripple— to help one another, our families, our community and our nation. See the full article: Hispanics and the Future of America by Thomas Landefeld

In another recent news, scores of Hispanic professionals will enlist in a role model program in New York City on Sept. 12 that will put them in middle school classrooms to inspire students to excel and go on to higher education. Read full story at:

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Asian Amercians: A Growing Force to Reckon With in Creative Careers

In his 2012 book "The Rise of the Creative Class, Revisited," Richard Florida, a senior editor at The Atlantic, estimates that Asians make up 6.1 percent of creative jobs in America -- a number that seems insignificant until you look at it from the reverse. "Asian-Americans are by far the most heavily represented in the creative class work," Florida writes.

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One example is shown in the article, “Jason Wu:The American Dream,” to wit, Jason Wu is the very essence of New York fashion and the incarnation of that elusive American dream. - Read in full: 

One factor could be demographics.

The U.S. Census Bureau announced Asians were the nation's fastest-growing race or ethnic group in 2012. Their population rose by 530,000, or 2.9 percent, in the preceding year, to 18.9 million, according to Census Bureau annual population estimates. More than 60 percent of this growth in the Asian population came from international migration. See

Moreover, statistics show that the unemployment rate for Asians as of August 2013 is 5.1%. See here

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Why Asian Americans Excel From Academics to Creative Arts

Despite institutional racism and discriminatory affirmative action policies, Asian students find ways to succeed. Is there some ancient cultural secret? How is it that Asian American students dominate their White, Hispanic and Black peers in nearly every subject at every grade level from the start of kindergarten to graduate school? And the word dominate is not an overstatement. Consider the results of the following tests – See:

While Asian Americans make up only 4% of the U.S. population, Asian-American students make up a much higher percentage of student bodies in top universities around the country. The percentages are astounding: 24% at Stanford, 18% at Harvard, and 25% at both Columbia and Cornell. More Asian Americans over the age of 25 have bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees than any other race or ethnic group. And after outperforming their colleagues in school, Asian Americans also bring home higher incomes than their non-Asian counterparts - almost $10,000 more annually than the rest of the population (2002 statistics). Read full article:

See more at: Truth and Consequences: Struggling with the Model Minority Myth 

Television shows, ranging from “Glee” to “Lost,” are finally responding to the burgeoning proliferation of Asian American talent, and new, endearing roles for Asians are springing up all across the networks.

From: It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s an Asian! Read more

And when the road is that much difficult,.....Asian-Americans, rather than playing the role of victim, have created their own opportunities. Case in point: The New York Times wrote an article a few months ago of how Asian-Americans are utilizing You Tube to get their music and art out there. Read more:

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The Role of Diversity in Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations

The U.S. is a diverse and ever-evolving marketplace that caters to consumers from a variety of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. As the U.S. becomes more diverse through its people, tastes, customs and beliefs, diversity companies strive to target demographics using marketing styles that are sensitive to individual attitudes and practices. The importance of diversity in marketing has grown in response to the increasing diversity of the U.S. population. According to the U.S. Census, more than 50 percent of the American population is expected to be composed of minority groups by the year 2042.

Read full story here

In the article, Diversity In The PR Industry: A Lot More Work To Be Done, the writer notes that indeed, diversity is increasingly important in the PR industry. In order to reach the consumer, those creating communications campaigns must accurately represent the consumer marketplace and be able to understand the cultural nuances within the target audience. Simply translating an ad from English to Spanish won’t suffice.

- Read more at: 

In yet another article that gives tips on how young people can be hired, the writer stresses that advertising works much harder when it provokes a ripple effect in culture, when people recognize the truth and the significance in it and pick it up as their own, share it and spread it.

Thus here she also stresses “the power of diversity.” Talent, passion, and creativity aren't found in just one type of person. Diversity comes in many forms. Companies need to be diverse across not only gender and race, but also across religious beliefs, sexual orientation, nationality, family status -- and age. We believe that diversity makes us better creators, thinkers, teammates, and client partners. It makes our work better. It makes us better. We support and celebrate diversity in everything we do, starting with the hiring process.

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Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. Donated $7.5 Million to University of Texas Arlington

Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. is the American subsidiary of Shimadzu Corporation established in Japan in 1875, which is one of the largest suppliers of analytical instrumentation, physical testing, and environmental monitoring systems in the world. Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. was established in Columbia, Maryland in 1975 to provide analytical solutions to a wide range of laboratories in North, Central, and parts of South America.

Earlier this year in March, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. donated $7.5 million to the University of Texas Arlington as part of its commitment to UT Arlington's research projects. Shimadzu, through its president, Shuzo Maruyama, said that the company is proud to donate to the University of Texas Arlington, an institution that values science and discovery the way our company’s founders did,” he. Moreover, he said “And we are honored to be recognized for this donation with the renaming of your Institute for Research Technologies.”

The Institute for Research Technologies at UT Arlington will be renamed the Shimadzu Institute for Research Technologies. Shimadzu's commitment will go toward research that will seek answers to such questions as, "What impact do contaminants have on our water and soil?" and "How can we create the most efficient fuel cells?" Science Dean Pamela Jansma said. Dean Jansma also said that Shimadzu's gift will help UT Arlington students improve their knowledge and critical thinking skills.

The Shimadzu commitment is the largest, philanthropic gift in the history of UT Arlington. “The Shimadzu Institute will be a magnet for world class students and a resource for discovery across Texas and beyond,” UT Arlington president James D. Spaniolo said.

In April 2012, Shimadzu made an in-kind gift of equipment valued at nearly $3 million to establish the Shimadzu Center for Advanced Analytical Chemistry within the UT Arlington College of Science. Later in October, the Institute for Research Technologies at UT Arlington was formed through funding worth $7.5 million allocated by the UT System Board of Regents from the Permanent University Fund. The institute is a UTA-Shimadzu collaboration.

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City of Hope: Possible Cure for Cancer and Obesity

The City of Hope, based in Duarte, California, the U.S. leading research, treatment and education center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening disease, and designated as a comprehensive cancer center, recently released a study made by its researchers, Drs. Sanjay Awasthi and Sharad Singhal, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, that may pave the way for a cure for cancer, and an end to obesity.

The study made by the two scientists discovered that deleting the gene that produces protein RLIP76 in mice kept the rodents from developing cancer and becoming overweight. This particular protein, RLIP76, is little in number in normal cells, but it is numerous in cancer cells.

Thus, the researchers got the idea to turn off the RLIP-producing gene in mice, and so far, ten types of cancer were tested on the animals. According to Dr. Awasthi, RLIP works like a fan, with an exhaust sucking out toxins from cells. He continued to say that, after turning off the RLIP-producing gene, the lab-tested mice became almost completely resistant to those types of cancer. “You can’t even take a cancer and implant it into their skin because the cancer fails to grow,” Awasthi said.

Moreover, they found out that blocking RLIP production prevented mice in the study from gaining excess weight, even when given a high-fat diet. At the same time, the two researchers stumbled upon a surprising side-effect: “Inhibiting (the gene) causes the blood sugar to drop, the cholesterol to drop and triglycerides to drop,” Dr. Awasthi said.

In addition, the team also discovered that inhibiting the growth of the gene did not have any adverse impact on all the mice they studied, for their regular cells have all the RLIP they need, which means the protein is not completely lost.

At this point, Drs. Sanjay Awasthi and Sharad Singhal said that there are some promising drugs that show the potential for blocking the protein from forming in humans. They are now in the process of submitting an application together for the Food and Drug Administration for an approval to begin human trials within the year.

Source

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City of Hope Gives 2013 Spirit of Life Award

City of Hope, the nation's leading research, treatment and education center for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatnening diseases, and recognized as a comprehensive cancer center, recently bestowed its 2013 Spirit of Life Award to an outstanding industry leader Reuben Carranza, CEO of Wella, the Salon Professional Division of P&G, North America.

The Spirit of Life Award is City of Hope's most prestigious philanthropic honor presented annually to an industry leader who has demonstrated outstanding business and altruistic achievement. Reuben Carranza has channeled his energies on raising funds for City of Hope's cutting-edge research in diabetes. He himself has seen the impact diabetes had on his mother and his aunt, both hairdressers, as they struggled to continue to work behind the chair.

Earlier in the year on January 25, Reuben Carranza led a group of guests in touring the campus of the City of Hope in order to learn more about its lifesaving mission to cure cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases. Physicians and researchers presented and discussed groundbreaking work being done at the center, as well as the excellent clinical and compassionate care offered at City of Hope.

According to Carranza, a cross-section of the group that went with him on the City of Hope campus tour were from the salon industry: from manufacturing, from school associations, media partners, and members of the Wella company. He urged them to share with him the goal of “for this year is to raise at least $1.5 for City of Hope. There are lots of non-profits who compete for our time in the salon industry but I want to tell you why I think City of Hope should be the industry’s charity of choice. There are few, if any, facilities that can go from bench to bedside in terms of what they do, that can focus on research, treatment and cures whether it is for cancer, or HIV, transplants or diabetes.”

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Bringing Gender Diversity to Top Management

Setting ambitious and public diversity targets shows that an organisation is seriously committed to gender diversity and equality; that it has senior buy-in and leadership on this issue; and that it is constantly striving to improve, rather than accept the status quo. But simply setting targets is not enough. Despite women making up nearly 50% of the labour market, there are still fewer and fewer women at the higher levels of most organisations.

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According to the Alliance for Board Diversity, white men filled more than 70 percent of the seats on the boards of Fortune 500 companies between 2010 and 2012. See:

An article published in the McKinsey Quarterly shares that “advancing women to the top may be a journey, but how to do so is no longer a mystery. New research points to four principles that can help just about any company.”  Read in full here

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Asian Americans at Work and in Employment: Challenges and Gains

Over the last several months, the Department of Labor has released a series of reports looking at the workforce picture for different populations. The latest in this series, entitled The Asian-American Labor Force in the Recovery. 

As the report highlights, Asian Americans are a diverse and growing share of the U.S. labor force. As a group, the Asian American community has often experienced better labor market outcomes than other races and ethnicities. Asians in the labor force are substantially more likely to have college degrees than whites, blacks or Hispanics. They had lower unemployment rates and higher median weekly earnings in 2010 ($855) than workers of other races and ethnicities.

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Yet, Asian-Americans suffer the highest rates of long-term unemployment of any group in the United States, according to a recent study issued by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
At the same time, the latest data show that more than half of unemployed Asian-Americans have been without work for longer than six months. That was up from 48.7 percent in 2010, according to Voice of America. In the second quarter of this year, a greater percentage of Asian-Americans remained unemployed for the long term than any other major minority group — including blacks and Hispanics, according to National Public Radio.
That's despite the fact that a higher percentage of the Asian-American population is college educated.
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In 2009, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that “This community has been facing a number of misperceptions or stereotypes, ranging from ‘hard-working’ to ‘anti-social’. While some of these stereotypes have positive characteristics, they have become the framework of barriers establishing glass or bamboo ceilings which present [Asian American and Pacific Islanders] from moving into the upper tiers of an organization.”

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On the other hand, there are some positive highlights.

Asian-Americans make up half of the Bay Area's technology workforce, and their double-digit employment gains came from jobs lost among white tech workers, according to an analysis by this newspaper of Census Bureau data released Thursday.

The dramatic shift in the changing composition of the high-tech workforce represents a new generation of homegrown and imported workers drilled in science, technology, engineering and math studies.

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The influx of Asians in fashion is hard to ignore. In recent years, the fashion industry -- once dominated by too-cool Europeans like Miuccia Prada and Karl Lagerfeld -- has been invigorated by a new crop of young designers, many of them Asian: Doo.Ri, Derek Lam, Thakoon Panichgul, Jason Wu, Phillip Lim and Richard Chai, to name a few. "There is this understanding that there is this group of Asian-American designers who are coming up in the world, and there is a sense of pride," Lam told the New York Times in 2010, in an article aptly entitled "Asian-Americans Climb Fashion Industry Ladder." Parents who may have wanted a more traditional career path for their children appear swayed by the rampant success of fashion stars like Alexander Wang, who, at the age of 28, was named the creative director of Balenciaga.

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Why Hire Mature Workers - How to Help Them in the Workplace

Equal Employment Opportunity laws prohibit specific types of job discrimination in certain workplaces. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA) protects certain applicants and employees 40 years of age and older from discrimination on the basis of age in hiring, promotion, discharge, compensation, or terms, conditions or privileges of employment. The ADEA is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

See: 

A most relevant question is why must companies hire and keep mature workers?

Why not give older workers the opportunity to contribute for as long as you employ them?

For one thing, the economy is unlikely to improve any time soon. For another, take advantage of the fact that these skilled individuals have much to offer your firm - for as long as they stay. Indeed, older workers often have a record of longevity and loyalty at companies that hire them. Consider whether your company provides a workplace culture and environment in which an experienced worker is happy and contributing. That employee might not be so excited to jump from a good ship where they are valued, for a few thousand dollars a year. Read more here

At the same time, there's a sense of urgency to the quest for workplace harmony, as baby boomers delay retirement and work side-by-side with people young enough to be their children — or grandchildren. Put people of widely different ages together — and there are bound to be differences. Baby boomers, for example, are workaholics, while younger workers may demand more of a work-life balance. The solution for a growing number of companies: generational awareness training to help foster understanding and more effective communication among its workers.

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ConAgra Foods Helps End Child Hunger

ConAgra Foods Foundation, primarily funded by ConAgra Foods, is dedicated to raising awareness of the nearly 17 million children in America who are at risk of hunger and live in food-insecure homes where they may not have enough food to live active, healthful lives. Thus, it designated May 23 of this year a National Hunger-Free Summer Day – a critical time for organizations and individuals to step up and help fill the gap of children in need. This was the 4^th summer that the foundation has run its Hunger-Free Summer Program that has given children and their families options to access food to fuel their lives, in cooperation with Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity, a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that leads the fight against hunger in the United States.

For more than 2 decades, ConAgra Foods and the ConAgra Foods Foundation have donated more than $37 million and 310 million pounds of foods to Feeding America. Half of the ConAgra Foods Foundation's $10 million commitment to Feeding America is dedicated to the Hunger-Free Summer grants. Every year, ConAgra Foods Foundation and Cause works closely with Feeding America “to evolve our Hunger-Free Summer programming to reach children in meaningful ways,” according to vice-president Kori Reed. “Whether that's by setting up picnics in which they play, planting community gardens for hands-on nutrition education activities, or delivering meals via mobile trucks to their neighborhoods, our goal is to provide kids with the energy they need to enjoy the summertime,” Reed continued to say.

The Hunger-Free Summer grants enabled29 food banks in 20 states to overcome barriers to providing meals to the children in several ways:

• Bringing meals directly to areas where families naturally gather, such as parks and libraries
• Facilitating family enrollment in government food programs
• Providing healthy foods to children in rural or low-income areas in partnerships with other organizations, such as local fire departments
• Recruiting volunteers to establish and sustain summer feeding programs
• Launching programs that provide nutrition and healthy-living classes

Moreover, ConAgra Foods Foundation also partnered with Chris O'Donnell, a film/TV actor and father of 5, who advocates this heart-breaking cause, to come up with a video to raise awareness about child hunger. For every view and share, a meal was donated.

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Shimadzu Corporation's New Aggregates Sizer Aggregation Analysis System

Shimadzu Corporation, a leader in the development of advanced technologies with a distinguished history of innovation built on the foundation of contributing to society through science and technology,

has released a new aggregates sizer aggregation analysis system for biopharmaceuticals that will enable evaluation of sub-visible particle (SVP) aggregates that are 100 nm to 10 µm in size.

This new technology allows for the evaluation of the concentration (µg/mL) of aggregates that can cause shock symptom or other side effects; thus, it is ideal for quality control and for improving the efficiency of biopharmaceutical development. The system is an improvement on Shimadzu's previous SALD series particle size analyzers, as the Aggregates sizer is over ten times more sensitive.

Moreover, Shimadzu's new system is more significantly costs-and-time-saving, for it allows samples to be evaluated for aggregation at the early stages of biopharmaceutical development. It also allows aggregation-prone proteins to be screened and eliminated in advance.

Main features of this new product are the following:

• Quantitatively evaluates SVP range aggregate concentrations
• Measures aggregates with sensitivity 10 times higher than previous particle size analyzers
• Quantitatively evaluates aggregation processes at intervals as short as one second

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AutoDesk Introduces New Cloud-Based Technology for Infrastructure

AutoDesk,Inc., a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, has unveiled its breakthrough cloud-based technology for infrastructure, the AutoDesk InfraWorks 360 Pro, which is designed to change the way infrastructure projects are planned, designed, built and maintained using the cloud, mobile and desktop.

This cloud-based platform aims to provide new visualization, simulation, and three-dimensional modeling technologies to customers in the infrastructure industry. AutoDesk InfraWorks 360 Pro gives users the option to create presentation material in the form of still images, slideshows, or animations.

AutoDesk InfraWorks 360 Pro enables users to see designs as they would appear in the real world and to perform lighting studies using realistic, dynamic sun and shadow models.

In addition to giving stakeholders a realistic view of a project, visualizing designs within InfraWorks 360 Pro also allows for the evaluation of more options in the same amount of time, according to Richard Humphrey, the senior director of infrastructure product strategy at AutoDesk.

The ability to rapidly produce proposals by creating and aggregating project information, which can then be viewed within the InfraWorks environment as it might appear in the real world, helps make AutoDesk InfraWorks 360 Pro a powerful tool for winning new business and accelerating the project approval process.

Customers can purchase InfraWorks 360 Pro for a three-month trial, or for short-term projects. The purchase on a quarterly basis includes 150 cloud credits (units of measurement to perform tasks such as rendering or a simulation in Autodesk 360). To accommodate long or short project needs, users have the flexibility to renew at the end of the quarter.

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ConAgraFoods Team Up with Food for the Heartland

ConAgra Mills and Spicetec Flavors & Seasonings (SFS), the commercial food businesses of ConAgra Foods, one of North America's largest packaged food companies, once again teamed up with Food for the Heartland in feeding 2,000 families in rural Nebraska and western Iowa. The 2 sister companies hosted their fourth annual Child Hunger Ends Here Golf Event which raised $110,000 benefitting the Mobile Pantry Program of the Food Bank for the Heartland, a traveling food pantry that distributes food in rural areas of Nebraska and western Iowa.

The money raised through this year's golf event will be used to feed approximately 2,000 families in areas where there is a high need but limited resources. According to Bill Stoufer, president of ConAgra Mills, this event continues to grow each year, and is an opportunity to share the company's passion and commitment to give back to its community with many of its customers and industry partners.

The ConAgra Mills and SFS golf event builds on a 20-year commitment by ConAgra Foods and the ConAgra Foods Foundation to end child hunger. More than $50 million have been donated by ConAgra Foods since 1993 to nonprofit organizations who are strongly seeking sustainable solutions to end child hunger. The amount also includes a 5-year, $10 million pledge to Feeding America from the ConAgra Foods Foundation, the largest donation ever made to the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief charity.

ConAgra Foods has also donated so far more than 300 million pounds of food to Feeeding America member food banks across the nation.

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Top 5 Mistakes of Corporate Recruiters When Diversity Recruiting

While it has become imperative that organizations be able to develop a more inclusive work environment and attract a more diverse workforce through various diversity recruiting tools and strategies, it is equally essential for them and/or their recruiting teams as well to be aware of some of the common pitfalls to avoid when diversity recruiting that cause them to fall behind their goals, competitors, and even lose market share.

Following are the top 5 mistakes to avoid as gathered from high-caliber HR specialists/experts:

1. Absence of an EEO Statement

Whether targeting candidates from diverse backgrounds or not, it is important that an EEO statement be included. Its absence could send a message that perhaps the organization does not value diversity.

2. Company photo diversity

The organization only considers the visible dimensions of diversity primarily race, and gender. The company photo looks good but everyone thinks the same. Differences that include sexual orientation, geographic background, thinking and communication style, work function, ability and disability, religion, and work style are not valued and are even discouraged. This is a very narrow definition of diversity and offers little or no value to the organization in terms of new ideas, creativity and innovation.

3. Diversity in Numbers

Demographics reflect the outside community but it is only at the lower levels. (Production, and unskilled labor) There is little or no diversity as you move up into management. Every year they have good “numbers”, but the people are constantly changing. Employees leave and get jobs where there is a value of diversity at all levels and they are encouraged to move up in the ranks.

4. Antiquated approaches to diversity recruiting

Less than 10% of the firms that actually set diversity goals ever reach them. The diversity tools and approaches that are routinely used were developed in another century and are ineffective at best. Most fail to apply any of the principles sales professionals have learned about selling into micro populations over the past 15 years.

5. Advertisements that may hold greater appeal to minorities who have less education, and ads with the word “qualified”

Doing so could have these potential job applicants feeling that the advertisement is stereotyping, which often leads to resentment at being targeted with these advertisements. With the new power and reach of the Internet, word can rapidly spread, and the organization could be labeled as one that is racist. Moreover, using the word “qualified” in ads suggests to the minority professionals that the organization is targeting that they are thought to be generally not qualified.

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What You Know; Who You Don't Know: Does It Matter?

Affirmative Action is a very important term in the corporate, industry and business sectors in today's increasingly global market. In essence, Affirmative Action is giving equal employment opportunity – to test, hire, promote, or retain - any qualified individual, employee or applicant, without bias to color, religion, sex, or national origin, which “federal contractors and subcontractors are legally required to adopt,” so as to “create as level a playing field as possible - but level, not tilted.”

On the other hand, there is also a subtle mechanism that is said to be at play, and is said to be neither illegal nor illegitimate: social networking in order to find a job, as in the case of job-seekers; or looking for the right candidate to hire, as in the case of prospective employers. Others term this as “favoritism.”

This practice of networking has thus given rise to the common belief that it is “not what you know, it's who you know” that matters. Several pros and cons of this practice have been pointed out, from both sides: the jobseeker and the prospective employer.

Some jobseekers/observers see this practice of networking as somehow negative:

• “I remember being startled that we were promoting a method that was clearly subjective and would tilt towards hiring based on secondary considerations...it implied to me pressure to conform.”
• “Whites believe they should have priority over other groups to economic security, political power and basic goods and services, anything that threatens that priority is considered an unfair racial preference. In tough economic times protectionism becomes the order of the day - and social networking helps to facilitate that process.
• “If an employee has a referral, regardless of whether s/he is the best candidate for the position, the referral usually gets the job. I've always found this an unfair practice.”

From the employer's/observer's point of view, there seems to be more rationilizing about it:

• “When a valued and trusted employee comes to you with the name of a colleague, perhaps someone they've worked with in the past, and vouches for them, it rightfully carries some weight.”
• “Resumes today are a mix of boiler plate and total fantasy. The private grapevine is imperfect, but based on decades of small business experience across several industries, it is wrong less often than resumes.”

While there are others that seem to evaluate the practice more objectively:

• “Unless they really think about it, probably most white people are unaware of how unconscious barriers affect other racial groups. Most wealthy people are unaware of barriers and hardships affecting the lower economic classes.”
• “The point is simply that social networks often end up amplifying inequality that already exists. It's only natural to draw on your own circle of contacts, and everyone does it. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it does have the inadvertent consequence of reinforcing and perpetuating the inequalities that exist between different groups in society.”
• “The majority of successful employed blacks hesitate to reach out and pull in other blacks fearing being scorned? attacked?...in some way being taken less seriously in the workplace for their actions. They do not network to the advantage of other blacks.”
• “Networking is not illegal but can negatively affect Black employment rates because many White people do not have Black people in their social networks and White employers frequently use their networks to fill positions.”

Yet, there seems to be also some silver lining behind the cloud of resentment or frustration that calls for challenging this practice, or the way of looking at it, to render it more beneficial for both job seeker and employer.

• “Moving to consensus on more equitable redistribution of jobs and wealth will require confronting the myth of meritocracy and the role of privilege in sustaining status.”
• “Instead of the usual progressive whine of 'unfair' how about some concrete proposal to fix the situation?”

More positive concrete actions are suggested, in support of networking:

• “One of the ways affirmative action can make an impact is by allowing blacks and other less privileged groups to enter networks that they would otherwise be excluded from. This has the potential of a very positive cascading effect for the individuals affected, allowing them to enter new networks that could drastically impact their career prospects for the rest of their lives.”
• “Sure there's favoritism against Blacks, but Blacks can emulate what Asian-Americans have done successfully -open and run millions of successful small businesses. Asian-Americans have massive sources to finance their start-ups; successful Black businesses need to create non-traditional funding sources and incubation for aspiring Black entrepreneurs.”
• “There are good job opportunities out there for African-Americans, but they need to branch out and expand their networks to find them.”

Most interestingly, these perhaps are times that call for more boldness or creativity on the part of jobseekers, whether minority or Whites, if they do indeed have the talent and skills. As one said, “If you're waiting to be hired, you're missing the boat. Hire yourself. "Getting a job" isn't the right answer any more.”

Thus, “what you know” will rightfully regain credibility and respect and become one's premium selling point: “Increasingly, your job is what you create yourself.” In this way, “who you don't know” does not truly matter anymore, for while it is true that “social networking is an important part of it, but it is not all of it. If you can't do the job, you won't last in this economy.”

On the other hand, diversity employers need to be on the lookout for more real talents out there in the marketplace, and go beyond asking their usual network of people “they know.” “Who you don't know” should become a priority for corporate diversity recruiters, as they branch out more - trying to go as far out of their way - in search of people who can do “what they can do.”

Organizations who are indeed dedicated to diversity should by all means exhaust all means and efforts to reach out to the minority population. “In the network's strong DESIRE to include minorities, do they advertise to them directly?”

 
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GE Healthcare Next Generation of Breast Tomosynthesis Solution

GEHealthcare, a division of General Electric, announced in July that it had received the CE Marking for SenoClaire*, its next generation of GE breast tomosynthesis solutions which is designed with three-dimensional imaging technology. Much later in the month, it also submitted the final module of its pre-market approval application (PMA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the new equipment. 

In the final module presented to the FDA, GE Healthcare included clinical study results as well as manufaturing data. The GE Breast Tomosynthesis Option has been designed as an add-on option for the Senographe*Essential system that will acquire multiple projection views to produce 3D Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) images, intended to be suitable for screening and diagnosis of breast cancer. 

GE Healthcare has a large Senographe Essential and Care, over 1,700, that are in clinical use in the United States today. SenoClaire*, the new generation of GE Breast Tomosynthesis solution is powered by ASiR*DBT 1, a technology that uses a low-dose short X-ray sweep around the positioned breast with nine exposures acquired with a "step-and-shoot" method, removing the potential motion from images.

Prahlad Singh, General Manager of the Women's Health Division of GE Healthcare - Detection & Guidance Solutions (DGS) commented, “We continue to innovate our portfolio and aim to help clinicians expand care to more women globally in order to help reduce breast cancer. Our goal was to pioneer an upgrade solution for both our digital mammography platforms, Senographe* Essential and Senographe Care, providing flexibility for customers to enhance their clinical offering for their clinic and patient workflow."

With SenoClaire, a single MLO view provides clinical non-inferiority compared to a 2-view digital mammography exam at half the dose, with just one compression. This solution has a potential to replace the existing digital mammography exams in screening to help radiologists detect breast cancer.

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How To Get the Most from One's Corporate Diversity Recruiting Efforts

Diversity in the recent years has become a very important value for many in the corporate, industry, and business sectors. In an article entitled, “Getting People in the Pool: Diversity Recruitment that Works,” by Patricia Digh, originally published in HR Magazine, November 2001, and also released by the ASAE Center for Association Leadership, the business rationale behind recruiting a diverse workforce is presented. More importantly, there are useful information and tools a company can implement immediately to meet that goal.

First, workforce diversity will help an organization reach new markets and develop greater intellectual capital. It has been noted that Fortune magazine's "50 Best Companies for Asians, Blacks and Hispanics" continue to outperform the S&P 500. However, to instill the value of diversity, a company needs to begin right within one's corporate culture. The diversity has to first exist. Diversity must also be practised at all levels within the organization.

Among the many steps HR professionals can do to increase workforce diversity in their organizations is to make sure that they are not just "grafting" minorities onto the organization without making appropriate internal culture changes that will enable them to thrive.

It will also do well for them to ensure that majority groups are not marginalized in the process. One practitioner of diversity said that “diversity recruitment is a balancing act; make sure people understand the business rationale for having a diverse workforce.”

These are some more steps that HR professionals can implement:

• Understand demographic changes in the workforce.
• Educate staff that "diversity" is not synonymous with "minority," while at the same time try to increase access and opportunities for people of color and other minorities.
• Build long-term relationships with minority organizations, not look for quick fixes.
• Learn how to effectively interview diverse groups.
• Become the employer of choice for a diverse workforce.
• Ensure retention by developing a diversity-friendly culture.
• Foster a culturally sensitive work environment.
• Network for strategic alliances to enable long-term diversity recruitment.
• Measure the effectiveness of their recruitment efforts.

On the other hand, it is equally important that customers see diversity throughout the organization. In this way, a diversity company attracts more customers who can feel at home because there are people within whom they can easily relate to.

To make diversity recruitment easier, an organization can follow these steps:

• Establish networks with minority colleges.
• Offer corporate internships and scholarships.
• Sponsor lob fairs in minority communities.
• Develop partnerships with minority student professional organizations.
• Develop partnerships with minority organizations, such as the National Black MBA Association.

Finally, it is helpful for an organization to understand the "cultural norms" of diverse candidates.

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