Write a 3-4 page proposal (750-1000 words) for a new diversity training program for your real or hypothetical public or non-profit organization. The training program should incorporate some form of required reading/media for participants such as a book or podcast. Some options include How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi, So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo, The 1619 Project by the New York Times and White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo. Here is a list of some other options: Media for issues of diversity, oppression, and privilege. You may choose a text or podcast that deals with issues of diversity that is not included on this list, but it must be approved by the instructor. Your goal is to convince the organization to adopt your training program, so be sure to select media that you can advocate for as an essential tool in diversity training for your organization.
Steps in developing your proposal
Step 1: Read the Book/Listen to the Podcast
Be an active reader of the book or active listener to the podcast. Sit at a desk with pen and paper in hand. As you read/listen, stop frequently to summarize the argument, to note particularly clear statements of the book’s argument or purpose, to note how those arguments or purposes relate to a human resource management concept or practice, and to describe your own responses.
Some questions to keep in mind as you are reading:
What is the book’s/podcasts argument?
Does the book/podcast do what it says it is going to do?
Is the book/podcast well-written or well-produced?
What are the book’s/podcast’s terms and are they defined?
How accurate is the information (e.g. the footnotes, bibliography, dates)
Who would benefit from reading this book/listening to this podcast?
What HR concepts or issues come to mind when reading/listening to the text?
Step 2: Evaluate the Media
Once you have read the work, take a few days to evaluate it. Evaluate the key arguments, how effectively they were presented and supported, and if they help or fail to help readers understand workplace diversity and diversity management. How do these issues relate to other HR concepts such as recruitment and retention, constitutional protections, HR planning, etc.?
Consider the following questions
How and what does this work help us to understand about human resource management?
What types of evidence does the author draw on to support their argument?
Does the work fit in what you have learned about Public Human Resource Management throughout the semester?
Are there other types of evidence that the author fails to acknowledge or ignores?
What theoretical perspective does the author work from? How does this shape or affect their argument?
Are you convinced by the book/podcast? Why or why not?
Step 3: Writing your proposal
Introduction (One paragraph)
Open with a brief general description of topic/problem addressed in the work and the human resource management concept or issue (Note: You are proposing a diversity training, but you should demonstrate how this will help the organization accomplish other HR goals. This means you should integrate another HR concept/topic other than diversity management into your proposal)
Any relevant background about the media and/or author
Thesis
Usually toward the end, provide a succinct, clear evaluation of the book, which is the thesis of your review
What is the main argument of the book and how is it relevant for HR managers?
You evaluation of the book, such as strengths and contributions or weaknesses and shortcomings
Summary of the Primary Argument(s) (One paragraph)
Concisely summarize the book’s argument
Concisely summarize the HR concept or issue you have chosen to use for your analysis
You should assume your audience is not familiar with the media you are recommending for your training program
Evaluation/Analysis
This section should form the bulk of your proposal
Explain how you recommend to use the media in your proposed training program
What is the structure of your program?
Give examples from the media that you will use in your training program, with support from HR concepts
This could be specific writing prompts, discussion topics, or other activities for participants based on passages from the media
How will you use your program and the media to accomplish another HR goal of the organization?
What challenges do you expect during the implementation of your program? How will you minimize those challenges?
Conclusion (One paragraph)
Concluding statement summarizing your review of the media
How does it contribute to human resource management?
How will it help the organization?
Remember, the assignment is not a summary or review of the media. Your goal is to convince a decisionmaker to use this media for a diversity training program. To make an effective argument you must present the media, but also demonstrate your expertise in HR management. If the bulk of your assignment is a summary of the media, you will not do well.
Avoiding Five Common Pitfalls of Book Reviews
1. Evaluate the text, don’t just summarize it. While a succinct restatement of the text’s points is important, part of writing a book review is making a judgment. Is the book a contribution to the field? Does it add to our knowledge? Should this book be read and by whom? One needn’t be negative to evaluate; for instance, explaining how a text relates to current debates in the field is a form of evaluation.
2. Do not cover everything in the book. In other words, don’t use the table of contents as a structuring principle for your review. Try to organize your review around the book’s argument or your argument about the book, but most importantly the HR concept you are using to analyze the text.
3. Judge the book by its intentions not yours. Don’t criticize the author for failing to write the book you think that he or she should have written. As John Updike puts it, “Do not imagine yourself the caretaker of any tradition, an enforcer of any party standards, a warrior in any ideological battle, a corrections officer of any kind.”
4. Likewise, don’t spend too much time focusing on gaps. It cannot possibly address the richness of any topic. For this reason, the most common criticism in any review is that the book doesn’t address some part of the topic. If the book purports to be about ethnicity and public management and yet lacks a chapter on Latinos, by all means, mention it. Just don’t belabor the point. Another tic of reviewers is to focus too much on books the author did not cite. If you are using their bibliography just to display your own knowledge it will be obvious to the reader. Keep such criticisms brief.
5. Don’t use too many quotes from the book. It is best to paraphrase or use short telling quotes within sentences.
References
Belcher, W. L. (n.d.) How to write a book review. Retrieved from https://wendybelcher.com/writingadvice/how-to-write-book-review/
Brienza C. (2015). Writing academic book reviews. Inside Higher ED. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2015/03/27/essay-writing-academic-book-reviews .
Department of History. (2016). Online history workbook: How to write a book review. Trent University. Retrieved from https://www.trentu.ca/history/workbook/bookreviews.php (Links to an external site.).
Lee A. D., Green B. N., Johnson C. D., & Nyquist J. (2010) How to write a scholarly book review in a peer-reviewed journal: A review of the literature. The Journal of Chiropractic Education 24(1):57-69.
Rand, A. (2016). Writing a book review for an academic journal. Retrieved from https://capaacap.net/sites/default/files/basic-page/book_review_guidelines.pdf
Smith K. G. (n.d.). How to write a book review. Retrieved from http://www.sats.edu.za/userfiles/Smith,Howtodoabookreview.pdf
