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Neighborhoods Initiative Urban Affairs Review Chicago
Politics |
Faculty Scholar Detail, 2004-2005Sharon MastracciAssistant Professor, Public Administration Program College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs Untapped Talent: The Implications of Workforce Diversity Initiatives Designed to Mitigate the Underutilization of Women in Urban Government Workplaces During her year as a GCI Faculty Scholar, Sharon Mastracci observed and examined the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s efforts to develop and implement a Workforce Diversity Plan designed to mitigate its underutilization of women in high-skilled nontraditional jobs. To determine whether their objectives were achieved, she also monitored the implementation of their Diversity Plan as targeted job openings became available to track how they recruited for job openings and who they hired. Through most of 2004 and into 2005, Mastracci worked with MMSD to shape its Workforce Diversity Plan. During Fall Semester 2004, she was able to bring this project into the classroom, teaching Managing Workplace Diversity (PA533); a course that she developed and proposed in the previous year. The class examined the metropolitan area to determine which of the factors established in the literature—immigration, rates of contingent employment, unemployment, exports, local industrial mix, unionization, minimum wages, living wages, local racial composition, population size, age of the workforce, and geographic layout—needed to be addressed in MMSD’s Diversity Plan. An Environmental Scan of the metropolitan area and MMSD was also conducted to capture a snapshot of the District’s current workforce and its larger metropolitan context. This involved not only an accounting of the numbers of women and race/ethnic minorities employed, but also, their tenure and rank. Three main deliverables were produced as a part of this project. First, an outreach program was created to allow MMSD to tap into local labor market resources and distribute information about job opportunities more formally. Second, an entry-level study guide was created by graduate students in PA533 to address a problem with the criteria that has been used to screen applicants and disproportionately weed out women and minorities who lack network ties. Third and finally, Mastracci testified before the MMSD governing board in April 2005 to report on the Workforce Diversity Plan and the changes to its implementation. MMSD has modestly increased the numbers of women and minorities in its target occupations. The Great Cities Institute Faculty Scholars Program brings UIC faculty to the institute for a year in residence to begin, further, or complete an engaged research project. Scholars are free from their formal teaching responsibilities during their term. Prospective scholars apply by submitting a proposal that is peer reviewed along three key metrics of engaged research: interdisciplinarity, partnership, and impact. GCI Faculty Scholars implement and further their own research agendas, as well as develop grant proposals, participate in the Great Cities Institute Lecture Series, and contribute to the Great Cities Institute Working Paper Series. Applications are released in the fall semester and due at the start of the spring semester. |
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