Ashley Lira

August 4, 2021

OGL 350

Dr. Ellsworth

Module 5 Paper

Within this module I unlocked a new perspective on conflicts within groups and how

diversity can cause conflict. It was a real eye opener, because I love the thought of diversity.

Because of that love, I often can find it hard that it can bring conflict. I also never thought that I

had experienced conflict due to diversity, but when I was able to reflect after all my readings, I

realized I have been in multiple scenarios. Conflicts can be an awkward situation, but that is why

it is essential to be educated on how to notice, prevent, and solve them.

I really loved the first reading of “The Giraffe and the Elephant.” I believed that it

portrayed the issues of conflicts in an easy-to-understand way. In this reading I learned that a lot

of people struggle with letting go of their mindset of “their way is the only way” (Roosevelt,

1996, pg.5). I have been in that situation before. I lived in Hawaii for about six months. While

there I gained a lot of friends from different backgrounds. In one instance I was asking for what I

call a “chongo”, which is a hair tie. My friends were all very confused and I was confused why I

had to ask five times for a chongo. Once they saw me starting to put my hair up, it clicked that I

meant hair tie. Now it is something we joke about, but I remember being a little embarrassed and

shocked that not everyone calls a hair tie a chongo.

 It was not until then that I realized that the world is much bigger than I thought. I did

grow up in a small town, where I have been with the same classmates since preschool. In my

town it is majority Hispanic and Latinx culture there. Everyone back home knew what a chongo

is, so why not people here in Hawaii? It took me a while to still not to use my Spanish slang,

unless I explained what it meant, but it was hard for me to get out of the mindset that everyone

knows what I am talking about.

Another point I loved in the first reading is that diversity changes. With how connected

the world is now a days, there is always more diversity to be discovered. Diversity is something

that is complex (Roosevelt,1996, pg. 5). This is important because diversity is not what it used to

be back in the day. The public expects more than what they used to from organizations and

because we can really watch them under a microscope, there is very little room for error. The

public really wants to see change within the organization.

In my second reading, “Conflict, Perceptions of Justice, Privilege, and Diversity” I

learned that conflict comes in many different varieties. They also present themselves in different

way as well. We must take the risk of conflicts because we need more diversity work groups in

organizations. If we are educated on how to prevent conflict, we can minimize the risk of ever

encountering them.

In my personal experience I have engaged in social identity impression management

(Thomas, 2014, pg. 113). I feel like when I first started working at my current workplace, I put

up a mask of someone who was not me. Although I did this because I wanted to stay

professional, I also did this because I did not want anyone to think of me as ghetto. I thought this
because when I was being interviewed for the job they said, “Oh you’re from Superior, isn’t

there a lot of drugs there?” I remember being taken back because there are drugs everywhere and

is this what everyone thinks of everyone from Superior? After I got out of the interview, I got

the job, but I remember being ashamed of where I was from. Once I got new manager he asked if

I was Hispanic, I responded with yes and he quickly replied with “and you’re not pregnant?” He

thought it was funny, but I remember thinking I can not be open about where I am from or what

my race is now? This is when I started experiencing intraindividual conflict.

In my las reading “Diversity as a Disagreement the Role of Group Conflict” I learned that

group conflict can be detrimental to a group’s productivity. There are two major conflicts, one

being task oriented and the other being relationship oriented (Jehn & Greer, 2013, pg. 180). The

following example of a group conflict I have experienced, I think it a good mix of both task and

relationship-oriented conflict.

As I stated earlier, I had initially thought I had not experienced conflict due to diversity.

After reflecting through the possible triggers of diversity conflicts, I was surprised to

acknowledge that I have experienced many conflicts. Diversity comes in many different aspects,

such as race, gender, education level, etc. In my pharmacy we have a lot of different levels of

education. A manager came up to me and gave me a task that the other technician could have

handled. The tech came up to me asking if she upset the manager. I stated that she did not, but I

will check with the manager. Well, the manager told me “Well you are better educated than her,

that is why I picked you.” I then responded saying we started at the same time, so we are equal,

but the manager then said, “I mean in education, not experience.” I was conflicted because I did

not know if I should tell my coworker. In the end, the cat got out of the bag and the tech had a lot
of conflict, and sometimes still does, with that manager. This has also caused a lot of competition

between the tech and me. According to Thomas, competition is one of the triggers of conflict.

Going on to the future, I will always remember the diversity maturity. This is something

that always needs to be practiced and worked on. I will also try to always keep an open mind as I

go on to my professional life. I will also keep an eye out for any possible conflicts so I can work

to get them resolved as quickly as I can.

In this module, I was able to take a diversity maturity index test. I was pleasantly

surprised when I got my results. I scored an eighty-six, which barely puts me at a high diversity

maturity index, but non the less, still high. When I was taking this test, I referred to my readings

quite often. What I could connect between the test and the reading, is that every situation is

different and requires a different approach. I really considered the different scenarios to choose

the best answer.

In conclusion, this module opened my eyes to a new perspective on diversity conflict.

Although diversity is important, it does not mean that it does not come with conflicts. Therefore,

it is important to not only educate future leaders, but everyone so we can have a more diverse

world. It is also essential to learn how to deal with conflict, so we can manage and minimize it. I

am excited to take what I have learned in this module and apply it to real life.