The information about the organization was gathered from the four interviews. This was done to compile the most genuine and up-to-date information that may not, in some cases, be updated onto the website of an organization. Additionally, the website of the students’ union will not be used as a reference to avoid exposing the organization. Each interviewee mentioned facts about the students’ union throughout the interviews.
The purpose of the organization is to represent the students at the university, but to additionally challenge themselves and the university to make improvements in, for example, multicultural-ism. Interviewee C makes the distinction that the students’ union, being a charity, does not have the purpose of “attracting business and commerce”, but rather create an environment where all individuals are appreciated and accepted both internally and externally. On a daily basis, the students’ union represents approximately twenty thousand students originating from various countries, cultures and backgrounds around the world. Interviewee A stated that at least half of
the full-time staff are in direct contact with the students at the university. The organization consists of approximately forty permanent staff, and an estimate of one-hundred-and-thirty cas-ual student staff, as the CEO mentioned. The student staff mainly work in shops and bars part-time. The structure of the organization is as follows (Figure 4):
Figure 4. Structure of the organization.
As is presented in the figure above, the most senior position of this membership organization is the chief executive officer. However, the trustee board, consisting of volunteer students, is ul-timately in charge of the entire organization, yet also under the supervision of the CEO. There-fore, in the figure (Figure 4), one can see that the two positions are at the same level. The CEO mentioned that the organization is currently undergoing the recruitment of a new trustee board.
As is stated in the interviews, the trustee board consists of individuals from a variety of different cultures, countries, and religious beliefs. The trustee board changes every year when new sab-batical officers are voted in democratically to manage the organization. Interviewee B indicated that the complete change of the board keeps the organization enterprizing in innovation for instance.
Due to the current coronavirus pandemic, the working environment has changed from the work-place to a home office. This has also been the case in the organization of this study. In order to maintain communication between the staff of the students’ union, there are general staff meet-ings held on Teams for everyone within the organization to join if interested. The agendas for these meetings are generally major announcements, and conversations of a more general tone.
The interviewees for this study are employed in the three main job descriptions presented in figure 4. This was not initially planned but will provide a greater outlook of the topic at hand.
Furthermore, the interviews were held at a time when a new trustee board was not yet voted in.
This enabled more information and experience to be shared than it would with someone who has only recently started working as a sabbatical officer.
TRUSTEE CEO
EMPLOYEES STUDENTS’ UNION
5 RESULTS
5.1 Cultural diversity in the students’ union
The CEO defined a multicultural workforce in a similar way as Vorbach (2018), Hassan (2019) and other researchers:
“It’s just about having a number of different people represented from different cultural backgrounds – simple as that.”
Some cultures represented in the organization’s workforce range from New Zealander to Syr-ian, IndSyr-ian, South African, Sri Lankan, and Albanian in addition to other multicultural back-grounds. The interviewees, excluding the CEO, represent a variety of these differing cultural heritages, and will be described in further detail next.
One interviewee had Indian heritage, but they are essentially British. This interviewee men-tioned having travelled in Europe and even South America and Asia. This interviewee occa-sionally worked in different countries assisting friends with their businesses. Moreover, they have worked in international teams alongside people from various cultures and relishes a dif-ference in cultural backgrounds.
There was an interviewee from New Zealand, who has worked in Europe for over twenty years.
They mentioned that during that time they have grown accustomed to the British habits and attitudes. This can be seen as acculturation with the interviewee having expanded their own cultural habits to include ones from the culture they are currently surrounded by (Bordas 2012).
This New Zealand -born interviewee has worked alongside individuals from different back-grounds in the past and has found it enjoyable. They mention that they do not personally have any cultural habits or traditions concerning religion, for example, that would affect their work.
The third interviewee to have a cultural heritage differing from the UK was Middle Eastern, more specifically described as Syrian by the CEO. This interviewee mentioned having a multi-faceted work experience from various continents and regions around the world. They stated that this broad experience has offered an insight to the differences of cultures even among European countries, or generally countries in the west.
All of the interviewees mentioned above, alongside the other cultures mentioned to be repre-sented in the students’ union, contribute to the diversity of the organization. In addition to the
cultural diversity of the permanent staff, multiculturalism is apparent in the shops and bars which are run by the casual student staff. There are celebrations such as international week where the chefs, for example, are encouraged to create international dishes, which can also be bought at the shops on campus. The CEO mentions societies which are funded by the students’
union and voluntarily run by the students. These societies often concern different cultures.
The attitudes towards cultural diversity in the workforce were clearly presented in each inter-view. According to the interviewees, is vital to represent the students of the university which is why cultural diversity is one of the main values for the students’ union. The CEO and inter-viewee C also state that the organization is inclusive in the sense that if someone wishes to approach anyone within the organization with a problem, concerning diversity for instance, they will be assisted accordingly. The CEO continues to describe the employees of the students’
union:
“…there are certain kinds of people who work for a charity, we help people.”
It was additionally pointed out that it is important to understand what the people from different cultural backgrounds need from the leader, and what having a culturally diverse workforce brings to the organization. The CEO stated that this is relevant for their organization structure:
“It’s a huge advantage for us to represent [the students] but to also reflect them, and look like them, and have cultural backgrounds – that helped [them] identify to us so that they feel like they are a part of us.”
Working alongside a university, some of the interviewees have noticed that appreciating cul-tural diversity seems to be a greater value in the students’ union than it is in the university itself. Interviewee B mentions that the students’ union is extremely proactive and forward thinking in embracing diversity due to their more compact size and position in accordance with the univer-sity. They continue to say that the university should up their game in the area of cultural diver-sity. Interviewee C has also come across this when working with the university and mentions the clear difference between the two organizations where valuing cultural diversity is signifi-cantly stronger in the students’ union than the university. The CEO says that the union chal-lenges the university to improve the protocols of, for example, cultural diversity.
The diversity of the organization is described as a covert phenomenon of sorts by one inter-viewee:
“… [the organization] doesn’t appear particularly culturally diverse because there’s a high percentage of white people working in this workforce but if you scratch a little deeper, you’ll find that they’re actually from different faiths – have married into different cultures…”
However, it has been recognized in the interviews that there is an issue concerning the lack of cultural diversity in the makeup of the organization. Interviewee C, for example, states that only one eighth of the organization is non-white. The trustee board is currently representative of different countries, cultures, and religious beliefs according to interviewee B. However, when it comes to the diversity of the entire organization, there is much to be improved in the makeup of the organization:
“…in my current job I suppose it’s not as diverse as previous jobs when it comes to my work colleagues…”
“…the one that I’m currently in – diversity is an issue for us: as an organization we’re not diverse in our makeup.”
Moreover, interviewee C stated that the lack of diversity is not only the case in this organization but in the United Kingdom generally: across companies, sectors, and roles. The interviewee continues with discussing the difficulty of non-white applicants to gain a senior position as opposed to white applicants. They continued to say that this will have an impact on the image of the organization: if the purpose of the organization is to reflect a complete acceptance and encouragement towards cultural diversity among the university students, then there should also be internal acceptance towards it in terms of recruitment.
Interviewee C mentions that the CEO does actively work towards including more diversity at the workplace. The CEO in their interview stated that they are constantly improving the recruit-ment process, and to this day have been lucky enough to have any diversity in, for example, the trustee board but are looking into being more systematic about including an increasing amount of diversity at the workplace:
“…one of the things that we’re working on at the moment is that should we set minimum defined criteria. So should there be a certain number of people who self-identify as – black or black-mixed heritage…lesbian, gay, bisexual for exam-ple…”
Interviewee A mentions a possible explanation for the issues concerning current recruitment.
They mark that there is an issue concerning the interests of people to apply for work at a stu-dents’ union. This means that the applicants for the stustu-dents’ union may not be culturally di-verse to begin with. The diversity of applicants could be increased by more strategic advertis-ing, as interviewee C concludes. Interviewee A mentioned that during recruitment for the stu-dents’ union there is always an attempt to advertise in as many places as possible to ensure a more diverse applicant base.
The separation between attitudes concerning the current apparency of cultural diversity in the organization creates a division of internal and external cultural entities: the internal meaning religious beliefs and different cultural attitudes, and the external being the ethnicity of a person.
This bifurcation of cultures will be analyzed in more detail in the following chapter.
5.1.1 Characteristics of cultural diversity
The diversity of cultures is visible in the way individuals approach any situation. This subject was touched on in the theoretical framework based on Bordas (2012). Interviewee B described this as culturally diverse individuals being anything but a “one size fits all” -type. Furthermore, Interviewee C stated that a work culture most often than not is a representation of the country’s cultural influences. In other words, the way a person from a certain culture behaves at work is often a representation of the culture of their home country. Cultural diversity is foregrounded by the protected characteristics in the legislation of the United Kingdom (Equality Act 2010).
These protected characteristics were presented in the theoretical framework of this thesis and were discussed with the CEO. The CEO states that it is vital to remember this legislative factor in the recruitment of diverse employees.
The two internal cultural attributes to stand out in each interview were religion and language, perhaps the most notable attributes of any given culture. Language, in most cases, may cause challenges with communication. This will be discussed later in chapter 5.1.3. Religious tradi-tions included Ramadan, the thirty-day period of fasting as an act of worship, and the celebra-tion of Eid Al-Fitr, which is the “Festival of Breaking the Fast” at the end of Ramadan (Muslim Aid 2021). Diwali was also a celebration mentioned in the interviews, and it is one of the major
festivals in, for example, Hinduism. Diwali is in essence a five-day celebration symbolizing the victory of light over darkness (Britannica 2021).
In addition to religious festivities being celebrated and acknowledged by some via an organi-zation-wide general staff meeting on Teams or a simple text message, there is also an oppor-tunity for people to implement potential religious observations in a prayer room available at the workplace. In addition, religion is taken into account in the organization in collaboration with the university, and one interviewee describes a fair that is organized for different faiths to be represented where people can learn about the variety of different religious beliefs. Interviewee A states that the conversation about religious practices and cultural differences in general are very progressive as opposed to a decade or two ago. It was, however, brought up in one of the interviews that there is a need for more awareness of different cultural practices since some-times insensitive comments are made about eating, for example, when someone is observing Ramadan and fasting.
Other cultural characteristics included, for example, a difference in attitudes towards learning difficulties. Interviewee A pointed out a certain case where a student had a learning difficulty.
This student originates from a country where it is not acceptable to have any learning difficul-ties, and where failure is generally frowned upon. In the UK, however, and especially in the students’ union, there is an acceptance and support towards any type of learning difficulty that may hinder a student’s studies. The negative attitude towards learning difficulties could be linked to a high power distance of the country where the student comes from since, as was presented by Alvey et al. (2014), a higher power distance is represented when a culture appre-ciates professionalism and expertise. Power distance is a part of Geert Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions, more specifically the equality versus inequality dimension (Amigo & Reinhold 2017). There was a mention of differences in living arrangements, where some employees in the organization live “within a family home unit” which is a “bustling environment”. This in-dicates a potentially collectivistic culture representation (Bordas 2012; Amigo & Reinhold 2017).
The external attributes of a culture such as the ethnicity of an individual has been highlighted especially in the past year as a result of George Floyd’s death, a black individual who was killed by suffocation during his arrest (BBC 2021) and the Black Lives Matter -movement, founded in 2013 after the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer (BLM 2021). The movement, accord-ing to the BLM wedpage, fights against white supremacy, and aims at creataccord-ing space for black lives. This was also discussed in the interviews. The movement has shed light on the way
ethnicity is discussed and highlighted in the students’ union and has been the motivation to recruit an increasing amount of cultural diversity at the workplace.
Following BLM, interviewee A states that it is important to make a distinction that a member of an ethnic majority cannot fully understand the issues minorities have faced in their lives.
There seems to be an understanding, or more accurately a respect towards experiences related to representing a non-white ethnicity. Following the Black Lives Matter -movement, employees within the organization would discuss the extent to which it is appropriate to relate to someone’s experiences with whom an individual does not share an ethnicity:
“… if you’ve never walked in that person’s shoes you cannot fully understand. – By acknowledging that and acknowledging that to people from diverse cultures – shows that you’re willing to learn and willing to take on different opinions.”
As the CEO states, evidently there is racism happening all around the world. Interviewee A supports this statement and reflects on the constant need of conversations concerning equality.
They are hopeful about the future that there will be a point in time where there is total ac-ceptance and a willingness to include a high amount of diversity, and the differences are not as distinctive. Interviewee B also speculates what the future will hold in relation to cultural diver-sity. The discussion concerning cultural diversity in the students’ union will be presented next in further detail.
5.1.2 Discussing cultural diversity
Cultural diversity is discussed within the organization, and in cooperation with the university.
The diversity of cultures appears to be an open topic for anyone to share their thoughts. Inter-viewee B mentioned that the HR manager is one to often discuss cultural diversity, but it is generally a fundamental topic within the organization in any case. The CEO highlights that as soon as the discussion concerns race and ethnicity there is a certain level of sensitivity to be involved.
As was stated earlier in this empirical section, Interviewee A mentions the importance to in-clude diversity in, for example, the recruitment process and there is continuous communication concerning it. The CEO also recognizes that there needs to be a more systematic approach to-wards hiring more diverse applicants.
Interviewee C states that the cultural diversity of employees is a common discussion topic when talking about the impact it has on work, but that there is room for improvement. They continue to say that the organization highlights the importance of, for example, campaigns to bring more awareness to the importance of equity and equality among the students the organization repre-sents. Interviewee B also mentions that there are various committees discussing policies and ethical stances on a range of issues. The CEO and interviewee B additionally mark the open discussion resulting from the Black Lives Matter -movement. Kickstarted by this movement, there is a committee within the organization to take action towards equal opportunities for di-verse individuals:
“…looking at– how to bring more black and Asian people into our business, and how we can make sure that that balance is looked at regarding the number of people within. We do try and keep in line with national levels of what is actually acceptable and seen as appropriate.”
The CEO mentions having set up an internal working group with the diverse volunteer members of the staff where there is constant discussion concerning the improvement of the students’
union with becoming more diverse regarding the representation of different heritages and sex-ual orientations, for example.
The CEO along with interviewee A touched on the subject of stereotypical language use. They both mentioned the term bame which, in essence, means black and minority ethnic. The CEO states that bame is commonly used in the UK to stereotype most non-white individuals from
The CEO along with interviewee A touched on the subject of stereotypical language use. They both mentioned the term bame which, in essence, means black and minority ethnic. The CEO states that bame is commonly used in the UK to stereotype most non-white individuals from