Diversity, equity, and inclusion are concepts that have been embraced by organizations in the past years. More and more, companies understand the need to leverage diversity, equity and inclusion in their workforce, and a group of professionals have emerged to support them to achieve this goal: the DEI teams. These workers play a role in advising organizations about the best talent management practices that support a DEI friendly work environment.   The Information Systems (IS) field has also studied how organizational structures interact with information systems and how they impact each other. Therefore, it is also necessary to learn about the DEI professional’s perspective on how their work in the organizations interact with information systems and technologies.   Moreover, the DEI concepts and the work of DEI professionals have become popular in Canada in the past years, however, there has not been enough research in the IS field on how information systems impact diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce. For this reason, this research aims to contribute to the IS field by adding some piece of knowledge regarding the interaction between the work of the DEI professionals and information systems.   Following a qualitative research approach, some interview was conducted with eleven DEI professionals from different organizations and job positions in Toronto, Canada. The interviews focused on their experience and perception of how information systems can support or impact their efforts to leverage diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations’ workforce. The data collected during the interview was analysed which led to seven main concepts.   The results have shown a positive perception of the DEI professionals in Canada regarding the use of network or social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook in helping organizations to leverage DEI in their workforce. The DEI professionals’ focus on targeted recruitment also has shaped their interactions with the information systems. However, the participants shared some concerns regarding the quality of the data collected from self-identification forms as well as the use of the automated cv screening tools.

Abstract Date:                         2023-05-30 Level:                        Master Thesis in Business Administration, 15 HP Institution:                School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University  Authors:                    Omar Khalafallah, Semhar Weldesylasie  Title:                          The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility Diversity Equity and Inclusion efforts on Brand Image. Supervisor:                Rana Mostaghel Keywords:                  CSR, corporate social responsibility, diversity, equity and inclusion, trust, commitment, brand image.  Research Questions:  To what extent are Swedish companies' CSR DEI efforts impacting brand image?What is the relationship between CSR DEI efforts and the trust of the brand? What is the relationship between CSR DEI efforts and commitment to the brand? Purpose:                     The purpose of this study is to understand to what extent Swedish multinationals corporate social responsibility efforts related to diversity, equity and inclusion impact brand image. Secondarily the study aims to also measure to what    extent do those diversity equity and inclusion efforts affect commitment to, and trust of the brand.   Method:                      The study is based on mixed method research, with a primary focus on the quantitative approach. Secondary data has been used as complementary qualitative data.   Conclusion:                 The results of the study has shown that companies CSR DEI efforts are an effective contributor to positive brand image. Consumers are increasingly more aware of social issues and have shown a preference to those brands that have corporate social responsibility measures. Furthermore, the study shows that CSR DEI initiatives have a positive impact on consumers' trust. However, the study found that commitment has no significant impact on brand image.

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion are concepts that have been embraced by organizations in the past years. More and more, companies understand the need to leverage diversity, equity and inclusion in their workforce, and a group of professionals have emerged to support them to achieve this goal: the DEI teams. These workers play a role in advising organizations about the best talent management practices that support a DEI friendly work environment.   The Information Systems (IS) field has also studied how organizational structures interact with information systems and how they impact each other. Therefore, it is also necessary to learn about the DEI professional’s perspective on how their work in the organizations interact with information systems and technologies.   Moreover, the DEI concepts and the work of DEI professionals have become popular in Canada in the past years, however, there has not been enough research in the IS field on how information systems impact diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workforce. For this reason, this research aims to contribute to the IS field by adding some piece of knowledge regarding the interaction between the work of the DEI professionals and information systems.   Following a qualitative research approach, some interview was conducted with eleven DEI professionals from different organizations and job positions in Toronto, Canada. The interviews focused on their experience and perception of how information systems can support or impact their efforts to leverage diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations’ workforce. The data collected during the interview was analysed which led to seven main concepts.   The results have shown a positive perception of the DEI professionals in Canada regarding the use of network or social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook in helping organizations to leverage DEI in their workforce. The DEI professionals’ focus on targeted recruitment also has shaped their interactions with the information systems. However, the participants shared some concerns regarding the quality of the data collected from self-identification forms as well as the use of the automated cv screening tools.

Thesis advisor: Christopher Higgins / The heightened use of “safe space” in educational settings has been the subject of polarizing contemporary controversy and protested by conservative and progressive camps alike, raising concerns about whether “safe space” remains an educationally viable concept. In response to claims that safety is conflated with “coddling” students, censoring unpopular speech, or reinforcing privilege, this dissertation argues that safe spaces signify enduring pursuits of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education that are too important to be abandoned. Instead, this interdisciplinary, mixed methods project considers how safe spaces can be rehabilitated to best serve subaltern undergraduate students. Informed by the experiences of six of my former students, I investigate how predominantly White institutions (PWI), like Boston College, can be rehabilitated as places where risky, transformative education is possible. By integrating situated educational philosophy and participatory design research (PDR) that features artistic and embodied methods of relationality (self-portraits, walks, and interactive workshops), I offer a spatial turn in the safe space debates that reveals the ideologically laden ‘normative geography’ of university campuses. Attuning to safe space controversies as spatial struggles uncovers who and what is positioned as “in place” or “out of place” on campus, as well as subaltern students’ transgressive acts of place-making—the quotidian tactics of making a hostile place more habitable for themselves. My dissertation therefore culminates by proposing a risky model of higher education, inspired by Judith Butler’s proposal of ethical formation, that insists on a collective responsibility for inclusive campus place-making. In this iterative framework, safety serves not as a barrier to risk, but as a crucial, co-constructed threshold condition that makes educative risk-taking possible for all students. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2024. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teaching, Curriculum, and Society.

The purpose of this study is to explore the beliefs, attitudes, and practices of principals with regard to equity and inclusion specific to hiring teachers from diverse backgrounds. A qualitative design and narrative analysis guided this study. Twelve principals and vice-principals from six high schools in one school district in Ontario participated in the study by answering questions on a self-completion web questionnaire. The findings were analyzed using four categories with regard to hiring diverse teachers: 1) current understanding of diversity in the school community; 2) current practices for diversity hiring; 3) beliefs and attitudes for diversity hiring and existing barriers; 4) solutions and future learning opportunities. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The overall themes that emerged from the data were: a) valuing the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion; b) not valuing diversity and providing rationale for not considering diversity and equity. The findings revealed that principals were able to define diversity in their own words. However, principals did not always value diversity in teacher candidates in their hiring practices. The questions used by principals to interview teachers – based on those recommended by the school board’s interview questions – did not include questions that would elicit and support responses from teacher candidates with regard to teaching diverse students or that reveal the value of their own diversity. The findings revealed that there are various barriers due to biases, hiring attitudes and current practices. Finally, the findings revealed that some principals are resistant to additional learning and professional development activities, saying they see no barriers for diverse teacher candidates being hired. However, some principals are open to more training and learning opportunities and see professional development as a catalyst in bringing positive change with respect to hiring practices and valuing diversity. A discussion of the findings with reference to current literature is provided. In conclusion, questions and approaches for further studies are identified.

While there are many women (and others of non-male genders) as well as people of color who compose for concert bands, they are often not given equitable recognition or representation. Over the past several decades, pushes for diversity within the classical music realm and higher education have sparked numerous discussions surrounding current practices (Bond 2017, 154; Bowman 2020, 10; Cumberledge and Williams 2022, 4; Peters 2016, 22): who are we inviting into our programs, whose music are we playing, and who are we representing? Despite these concerns, there has been very little research to provide answers to these questions within collegiate wind bands. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap in knowledge and discover whether college and university bands are in fact increasing the diversity of programmed composers in their repertoire. This study also identifies trends in the frequency of programming certain demographics of composers and examines whether particular institutional factors have any effect on this diversity. To identify these trends, I gathered concert programs from colleges and universities across the United States for the 2000-2001 through 2020-2021 academic years. This information was catalogued into spreadsheets, along with demographic information about each composer, and were later statistically analyzed to determine (a) the level of diversity in collegiate band concert programming, (b) whether programming has become more diverse over the last two decades, (c) if the institution’s region, size, or affiliation affected how diverse the programmed repertoire was, and (d) the diversity of the composer base from which we draw our repertoire. This study provides a lens into the level of diversity in programmed collegiate wind band concert literature and where that level should be moving forward.

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<p> There has been substantial growth in recent decades in the variety and popularity of roles for dogs assisting humans in professional therapeutic partnerships. Simultaneously, increasingly rigorous research has repeatedly demonstrated the effects of professional human-canine partnerships in remedying important issues of public health among several at-risk populations. Yet, despite these areas of growth, mechanisms of action and predictors of efficacy in the field of human-animal interaction (HAI) remain poorly understood, and the role of human diversity has been rarely discussed. Thus, the present dissertation examines potential mechanisms and diverse predictors in two distinct samples of professional human-canine partnerships, while building the impetus to explore diversity in the HAI field as a whole. For the first three studies (Chapters 2-4), the selected samples of professional human-canine partnerships include military veterans working with psychiatric service dogs to mediate their symptoms of PTSD and healthcare professionals in pediatric hospitals working with facility dogs to benefit their patients. Following the introduction in Chapter 1, the objective of Chapters 2-3 was to examine primary human outcomes in the selected professional canine partnerships. In a crosssectional study of N=198 military veterans with PTSD, Chapter 2 compared PTSD symptom severity between n=112 veterans with service dogs and n=86 veterans on the waitlist to receive service dogs in the future. Next, in a cross-sectional study of N=130 healthcare professionals in pediatric hospitals, Chapter 3 compared job-related well-being and mental health of n=65 professionals working with facility dogs to n=65 working without. Findings suggested benefits to the mental health and well-being of both military veterans with PTSD and pediatric healthcare professionals, which were significantly associated with their professional canine partnerships. Subsequently, the objective of Chapter 4 was to explore how variances within a specific professional canine partnership may suggest predictors and potential mechanisms for the observed human outcomes. Thus, in a longitudinal study of N=82 veterans with PTSD and their service dogs, Chapter 4 explored associations of veterans’ outcomes with veteran-service dog demographics and interactions. Results suggested components of the human-canine partnership which might explain observed human outcomes, including social connections, a calming influence, and strong humananimal bonds. </p>

<p>The attached document contains the dissertation of Clare Jensen, including descriptions of all procedures used in the associated research studies.</p>