My major is Justice Studies, with a minor in Business. I am a Junior, although it is my 6th year in college, and will graduate December '10.
I was interested in this coarse for several reasons:
- My work will reimburse me for the coarse
- This is a justice coarse that will effect true life situations
- I have seen women treated differently in the work place
- I have had and have female supervisors and subordinates
I feel like I have a very good understanding of justice theories. I think this major pushes us to think about every individual who is effected by policies, laws, stereotypes, etc. The topic of women and gender in the work place has many different aspects that I am interested in digging deeper on. Throughout my previous justice courses, I am always evaluating where we were, where we are now, and where we are going as a society. I certainly think our history and present demonstrate many injustices and stereotypes in the work place against women. I do think that we have and are presently making progress. Justice Studies has shown me that change doesn't happen over night, it is extremely progressive.
One thing I have been called out for in the past is that I feel strongly about meritocracy. Meritocracy is basically the most qualified person for the job, position, reward, etc. should receive it without any influence of race, gender, religion, etc. Whoever is the most qualified, or will do the best job, should be the beneficiary of the opportunity. One thing I have learned about this though, is that it is often referred to as the myth of meritocracy, because it is nearly impossible for our society to ignore the stereotypes and norms that are engraved in our culture.
Another area that I usually receive criticism for is that I argue that we have over compensated for some of our injustices. All of the progress our society has made towards injustices is inconsistent. Some organizations still segregate and treat women unjust. Some have empowered women so much that men are now sometimes the victims. Many companies have quotas for gender, race, sex, etc., and I have seen situations where an individual that received the opportunity was likely not the best candidate for the job. I have also seen situations where women or other diverse individuals were the best candidate, but were passed up because of there differences, and likely would have been the best candidate.
My goals for this coarse are to better understand the injustices that women still face in our society's work place, and what we can do as future leaders and members of the workforce to impact these issues in a positive manner.
