Dr. Lorna Hermosura is the principal and Project Director of Step Up Texas and is an assistant professor of instruction in the College of Education at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches restorative practices to future teachers.
Dr. Lorna holds a Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy, a master's degree in counseling, and a bachelor's degree in psychology. Prior to earning her Ph.D., Dr. Lorna administrated federal grant-funded educational programs to support college access, college success, and dropout prevention among low-income, first-generation, and multicultural students.
Dr. Lorna's early work with foster children and youth fogged her perspective that schools can serve as a protective factor that offsets difficult lived experiences.
Dr. Lorna's research interests are restorative practices, trauma-informed practices, and implementation. Her dissertation research was on the school-to-prison pipeline. When not working, Lorna enjoys exploring baking and spending quality time with her husband, pets, family, and friends.
In this episode Dr. Gaye Lang and Dr. Lorna Hermosura discuss:
The difference that diversity makes
Why diversity makes sense
How companies can show diversity
Embracing diversity
Key Takeaways:
Research says that people in diverse workplaces are happier, they want to stay at their jobs, and they feel pretty good about being there.
Diversity makes logical sense for corporations. Turnover is costly in terms of having to refill that position, but also in the sense of not being able to retain organizational insight and momentum. Also, consumers feel it if workers at a company are happy with their job.
A lot of companies claim that they are diverse, but they need to walk their talk and make people feel it. The environment of people should be filled with diversity. Products should be designed with variations that fit many types of physical differences.
Attracting employees and retaining them will be an insurmountable challenge for employers who do not embrace diversity. The world's trend is already moving towards a better place which is valuing every piece of humanity, companies and people who do not embrace the value of diversity will be left behind.
"Having products that embrace the differences of diverse people, it's a welcoming gesture, and I think it also would be profitable." - Dr. Lorna Hermosura
Connect with Dr. Lorna Hermosura:
Email: lorna@utexas.edu
Connect with Dr. Gaye Lang:
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KEY WORDS:
Diversity, inclusion, equity, tolerance, racism, bias, implicit bias, and explicit bias.
Show notes by Podcastologist: Justine Talla
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
