Religion, Religion And Mythology - 800 Words

If religion is a mythology, then is a mythology a religion? Well, Religion and mythology may seem like too different things, but yet they still do overlap on some aspects. Both talk about a system that has a high importance to many people. Religion is based an organized collection of beliefs, culture, and perspectives, that’s spread around the world. While, mythology is referred to a collection of â€Å"myths† which is told by a group of people. This is used to explain nature, history, or customs! Personally I believe in Islam, the religion. In Islam we believe that god (Allah) is the creator and sustainer of every living thing. We believe that god created the world, universe and the heavens, just like many other religions. Also,the founder of Islam is Muhammad; to Muslims he is Allah’s prophet. I believe that Islam is different than mythology because myths don’t have a known founder. They were just passed down through generations until someone decided to write them down. Unlike Islam, Native American mythology believes that the world was created by a crane. Natives mostly use animals as the center of their mythologies. Also, the natives believe.God made some men of mud, but they were very soft and limp and couldn t see. They could speak, but what they said didn t make sense. When they got wet they couldn t even stand up. God saw that they were of no use so he broke them up.† Muslims also believe that humans are made of clay, the devils made of fire, and th e angles out ofShow MoreRelatedThemes Of Art : Religion / Mythology And Worship1271 Words   |  6 PagesOne of the most popular reoccurring themes in art is Religion/Mythology and worship. For thousands of years, humans have used art as a tool to showcase their beliefs to the world. From an idol that can be filled with blood and used as a sacrifice to a god, to a ceiling painted with events telling the story of the Bible, humans have used art to recognize the religious beliefs they hold so dearly. Sometimes, an artist would use a religion or mythology they didn’t practice solely as the subject of theirRead MoreMythology Short Answers Essay680 Words   |  3 Pagesdefinition in your own words. The academic definition of a myth† is discovering a way of making meaning that has been part of every human society.† I believe myths are stories that are told from generation to generation. Depending on our culture, religion, beliefs and so on would determine the moral meaning behind the story. Some myths are legends. For example,† the cross of Jesus† is determined to be a legend and a myth. Depending on how the story is interpreted by the person listening to it. MythRead MoreHum 105 WORLD MYTHOLOGY Essay779 Words   |  4 Pagesï » ¿Hum 105~World Mythology Assignment One How is the word myth used popularly? For example, what does the statement, â€Å"It’s a myth† mean? In contrast, how is the word myth used in the academic context? After considering the definition in your textbooks and course materials, write a definition in your own words. The word myth is used most popularly in tales and stories. These tales and stories have been passed down from generation to generation and are based on some truth, but mostly an ideaRead MoreFoundations of Mythology Essays1378 Words   |  6 PagesFoundations of Mythology Short Answers KellyTotten HUM/105 – World Mythology Dr. Mark Vander Meer 10/12/2011 1. How is the word myth used popularly? For example, what does the statement, â€Å"It’s a myth† mean? In contrast, how is the word myth used in the academic context? After considering the definition in your textbooks and course materials, write a definition in your own words. Instinctively, the word myth brings to mind fantastical stories of good and evil and the inevitable triumphRead MoreHow Asatru Is A Religion That Has Close Ties With Norse Mythology1060 Words   |  5 PagesAsatru is a religion that has close ties with Norse mythology. The name of the religion, Asatru, is a twofold word that gets it’s meaning from Old Norse. The first half of the word, Asa, means Gods and Goddesses and the second half Tru, means to have faith or belief in. Altogether Asatru means to have faith in the gods. Asatru can be considered part of the Neo-pagan family of religion since it has to do with Norse Heathenism. The beginning of Asatru was not the start of the religion itself yet aRead MoreJapanese Mythology And Folklore Make Up An Extremely Large Portion Of The Shinto Religion1010 Words   |  5 PagesJapanese mythology and folklore make up an extremely large portion of the Shinto religion, of which approximately 2,700,001 people follow worldwide (Pew Research Center). What has kept people fastened to this religion as opposed to the larger faiths such as: Christianity, Buddhism, and Hindus? The majority of people who are researching different religions do not look at less common religions such as this one. Shinto is a series of Japanese myths and folktales that are still passed from parent toRead MoreFoundations of Mythology Essay757 Words   |  4 Pages Foundations of Mythology Hum/105 June 25, 2013 Gayla Nelson Foundations of Mythology †¢ How is the word myth used popularly? For example, what does the statement, â€Å"It’s a myth† mean? In contrast, how is the word myth used in the academic context? After considering the definition in your textbooks and course materials, write a definition in your own words. The word â€Å"myth† can be used in so many ways and it can also have so many different meaning based on the contents ofRead MoreMythology And Its Impact On Society847 Words   |  4 PagesMythology has and always will play a huge role in a people’s life. It is human nature to ask questions and want answers. This is where mythology comes in and gives people that answers. Mythology also can take form in religion which has been practiced over 300,000 years ago (Wise Geek, 2014). Belief, and knowledge that a person has, has a huge impact the choices and beliefs of mythology and religion. Even in the contemporary culture of today mythology still plays a huge role in. Myths are a wayRead MoreGreek And Roman Mythology881 Words   |  4 PagesGreek and Roman Mythology Since the dawn of time, different societies have worshiped gods, believing in their power and being afraid of their fury. People have prayed and made sacrifices in order to achieve the gods mercy and generosity. They believed that, if the gods are in good mood, they will provide people with good weather conditions for growing crops. People needed explanations for different natural phenomena, such as rain, drought, lightning, thunder and earthquake. So, ancient people believedRead MoreThe Many Deities Of Death1005 Words   |  5 PagesOctober 2014 The Many Deities of Death Have you ever wondered how other religions viewed death? Have you wondered why others celebrate it? Have you wondered which religions had which gods or goddesses assigned to certain roles in the death hierarchy? Well, as you read this essay, you will learn each of these things and more. While reading, remember that other religions are quite different from your own and they may differ into the

S Second World War the Continuation of the First World War

â€Å"Continuation† is when something begins again where it stopped. The First World War broke out at 1914. The Second World War broke out at 1939. The discontent of some countries with the Paris Peace Conference was a continuation of the First World War that paved the way to the Second World War. First, there was the discontent of Germany. Germany was a defeated country in the First World War. She was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles. She had to pay huge indemnity and give up territories. She was forbidden to station troops in a certain area in its own boundary. Germany wanted to take revenge and to restore the national glory. Second, there was the discontent of Italy. She joined the Allied Powers in the First World War because they†¦show more content†¦US imposed high tariffs on foreign goods. Free trade stopped. The Great depression spread across the world. It lead to the rise of totalitarianism. Italy was unhappy with the Paris Peace Settlement. It also faced serious economic problems after the Second World War. Yet the democratic government was unable to solve these problems. This created an opportunity for Mussolini to seize power in 1922. Once in power, Mussolini turned Italy into a totalitarian state. Germany faced serious problems after signing the Treaty of Versailles in WW1. US once lent money to Germany, but stopped doing so after the Great Depression had begun. Britain and France kept demanding Germany to pay its indemnity. As a result, Germany economy collapsed. It also faced serious economic problems after the Second World War. Yet the republican government was unable to solve these problems. This created an opportunity for Hitler to seize power. Once in power, Hitler turned Italy into a totalitarian state. When the Japanese economy was badly hit by the Great Depression, the militarists became more and more popular in the country. They followed an expansionist policy towards China and the Pacific region. In November 1937, Germany, Italy and Japan formed the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo Axis. The formation of the military alliance encouraged the Axis Powers to expand further, thus bringing the world closer to war. To conclude, the discontent ofShow MoreRelatedThe Disaster Of The World War I975 Words   |  4 Pages Surrounding me are the tremors of fear among my fellow man, the signals of looming catastrophe are knocking at my door. The Third World War is imminent and I realize the time has come to put my creation into action before the human race is annihilated through atomic weapons, bombs of mass destruction and horrors beyond the imagination. Through many years of mind wrenching labor I have put together a blueprint for an impregnable bomb shelter, one that will hold and protect twelve people for threeRead MoreWorld War I And Not A War Of Its Own1320 Words   |  6 Pagesfor internal wars. From countries trying to obtain more land to genocide Europe has seen it all. However 1914 started something new, World War One or The war to end all wars. WWI brought more death to the western world than ever before. In 1918 WWI ended and with it came an uneasy peace to Europe for twenty. The war that ranged from 1939 to 1945 became known as World War II, a sequel to WWI with and even larger death toll than before. Although they were twenty years apart, World War II can be seenRead MoreThe Second World War II1328 Words   |  6 PagesIn the second world war the majority of the countries of the world were intervention. The reasons for the second world war should searched at the end of the first world war. Germany was defeated and loser of the war, so it forced to pay off heavy amount of recompense and also unarmed. This was a war for freedom that lasted two years in Europe as well as in China after the Japanese attacked to Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The Second World War had finished in Europe with death of Hitler inRead MoreTrumans Influence On The Cold War1761 Words   |  8 PagesThe Cold War was a state of political hostility between countries characterised by threats, propaganda, and other measures short of open warfare (Oxford Dictionary of English). President Harry S. Truman had major influence on the continuation of the Cold War in relation to policy, communication and ideology. Truman became President in 1945 after the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Truman was known for his tough stance against the Soviet Union and refusal to compromise with Stalin and for his policyRead MoreOrigins of the Second World War in Europe1637 Words   |  7 PagesTo uncover the origins of the Second World War is a difficult task and to summarize it, even more so, but this is exactly what historian P.M.H. Bell does in his astounding book The Origins of the Second World War in Europe. Although Bell does a great job of providing accounts on bo th sides of the debate on the origins of the Second World War, he does have his own mindset about it. In his eyes, Bell sees the Second World War as being a thirty year war, driven by the ideology and economics of GermanyRead MoreThe Main Goals Of American Participation During World War One1315 Words   |  6 PagesDespite Wilson’s best efforts to stay neutral during World War One, he was was not able to accomplish that task. Entering the war was not going to be a fruitless endeavor, however. The main goals of American participation during World War One was to protect freedom and democracy, and to spread it to the other countries of the world, to help ensure financial stability, and to protect the ships that the German U-Boats were destroying. Wilson’s 14 points helped to reflect the goals of freedom and democracyRead MoreThe Declaration Of The Treaty Of Versailles Essay1182 Words   |  5 PagesThe outcome of the first World War led to nothing but bloodshed, global economic distress, and more tension between nations. Wilson s plan seemed to offer genuine equality to all countries including, and especially Germany. His fourteen points was an excellent and well thought out plan, however many other countries like France and Russia wanted vengeance on Germany. With great objection, Germany signed the treaty. The nation was deemed responsible for the war, leaving Germany feeling oppressedRead MoreFranklin Delano Roosevelt And The First President Of The United States Of America1351 Words   |  6 Pageswords were spoken by Franklin Delano Roosevelt who was the thirty second president of The United States of America. He served four terms as president (March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945) and was a major leader in the allied powers during World War II without him the allied powers might not have been able to win the war He helped the american people regain faith in themselves during the great depression and brought them through most of World War II. Even with his physical disabilities he managed to lead theRead MoreHarry Truman s Fair Deal1693 Words   |  7 Pagesgovernment, there were also many economical and social issues that followed along. Once the first election of the decade in 1952, the government started to factor in the Korean War, inflation, the New Deal, Harry Truman’s Fair Deal, and the major problem with John McCarthy and McCarthyism. In the background of the politics in the nation, economically things were changing. As World War II was ending and the Korean War was in its early stages, a period of inflation affected the United States. In order toRead MoreRoald Dahl1715 Words   |  7 PagesThe depression of the 1930’s was a very difficult time. With war suppressing the world and those within it, the impression this era left on society is immense (BBC). Having lived in Europe at this time, the author Roald Dahl reveals the influence which living in this time period has made. This is demonstra ted in his stories â€Å"The Wish†, â€Å"Lamb to the Slaughter† and â€Å"Man from the South†. The significant situations of this era assist in the establishment of a foundation for his work, bringing the dominant

Coast Guard Academy Acceptance Rate, SAT/ACT Scores, GPA

The United States Coast Guard Academy is a federal service academy with an acceptance rate of 19%. The USCGA is highly selective, and the application process is different from many other schools. Applicants must meet eligibility requirements including U.S. citizenship, age, and marital status. Other components of the Coast Guard Academy application include a medical exam, a fitness assessment, and if requested by the admissions committee, a personal interview. Unlike other military service academies, applicants to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy are not required to obtain a nomination from a member of Congress. Interested students who meet eligibility requirements should schedule a visit to the USCGA and contact an admissions officer. Considering applying to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy? Here are the admissions statistics you should know, including average SAT/ACT scores and GPAs of admitted students. Acceptance Rate During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy had an acceptance rate of 19%. This means that for every 100 students who applied, 19 students were admitted, making Coast Guards admissions process highly selective. Admissions Statistics (2017-18) Number of Applicants 2,045 Percent Admitted 19% Percent Admitted Who Enrolled (Yield) 71% SAT Scores and Requirements The United States Coast Guard Academy requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 77% of admitted students submitted SAT scores. SAT Range (Admitted Students) Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile ERW 615 700 Math 630 720 ERW=Evidence-Based Reading and Writing This admissions data tells us that most of the Coast Guard Academys admitted students fall within the top 20% nationally on the SAT. For the evidence-based reading and writing section, 50% of students admitted to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy scored between 615 and 700, while 25% scored below 615 and 25% scored above 700. On the math section, 50% of admitted students scored between 630 and 720, while 25% scored below 630 and 25% scored above 720. Applicants with a composite SAT score of 1420 or higher will have particularly competitive chances at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. Requirements The SAT writing section is optional for applicants to the Coast Guard Academy. Note that USCGA participates in the scorechoice program, which means that the admissions office will consider your highest score from each individual section across all SAT test dates. ACT Scores and Requirements The United States Coast Guard Academy requires that all applicants submit either SAT or ACT scores. During the 2017-18 admissions cycle, 55% of admitted students submitted ACT scores. ACT Range (Admitted Students) Section 25th Percentile 75th Percentile English 25 33 Math 26 30 Composite 25 32 This admissions data tells us that most of Coast Guards admitted students fall within the top 22% nationally on the ACT. The middle 50% of students admitted to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy received a composite ACT score between 25 and 32, while 25% scored above 32 and 25% scored below 25. Requirements The U.S. Coast Guard Academy does not require the ACT writing section. Unlike many universities, USCGA superscores ACT results; your highest subscores from multiple ACT sittings will be considered. GPA The U.S. Coast Guard Academy does not provide specific data about admitted students high school GPAs; however, the admissions office indicates that most successful applicants have average GPAs of 3.5 and above. Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph United States Coast Guard Academy Applicants Self-Reported GPA/SAT/ACT Graph. Data courtesy of Cappex. The admissions data in the graph is self-reported by applicants to the United States Coast Guard Academy. GPAs are unweighted. Find out how you compare to accepted students, see the real-time graph, and calculate your chances of getting in  with a free Cappex account. Admissions Chances The United States Coast Guard Academy is a highly selective university with a low acceptance rate and high average SAT/ACT scores. However, USCGA has a  holistic admissions  process involving other factors beyond your grades and test scores. A strong application essay and glowing letters of recommendation can strengthen your application, as can demonstration of leadership potential, meaningful extracurricular involvement, and athletic ability. The U.S. Coast Guard Academy looks at the  rigor of your high school courses in addition to your grades. In the graph above, the blue and green dots represent accepted students. You can see that the majority of successful applicants had high school grades in the A range, combined SAT scores of 1200 or higher (ERWM), and ACT composite scores of 26 or better. Tuition Costs and Benefits The U.S. Coast Guard Academy pays 100% of the tuition, room and board, and medical and dental care for Coast Guard Academy cadets. This is in return for five years of active-duty service upon graduation. First-year cadet pay is $1,087 monthly (as of 2019) before deductions for uniforms, textbooks, a personal computer, and other incidentals. Cost-reducing perks include regular active-duty benefits such as access to military commissaries and exchanges, commercial transportation, and lodging discounts. Coast Guard cadets can also fly (space available) in military aircraft around the world. If You Like Coast Guard Academy, You May Also Like These Schools Virginia Military Institute,  West Point,  the  Air Force Academy, and  The Citadel  are all potential options for those considering a college affiliated with a branch of the U.S. military. All admissions data has been sourced from the National Center for Education Statistics and the United States Coast Guard Academy Undergraduate Admissions Office.

Logistics Activities of Order Management and Customer Service Term Paper

Essays on Logistics Activities of Order Management and Customer Service Term Paper The paper "Logistics Activities of Order Management and Customer Service" is a brilliant example of coursework on management. Retailing, believed to be one of the largest sectors in the global economy, is experiencing a transition in Australia not being an exception. Traditional retailers have always tried to redefine themselves through the introduction of value-added services such as home delivery and credit. The growth in retailing has however been restricted basically to the urban market in Australia. The reasons for these are that the modern retailer in the urban market is yet to feel the saturation effect thus viewing other markets with less seriousness. Also, despite its cost-effectiveness, modern retailing trends have come to be closely associated with lifestyle. The retailers would have to identify with different lifestyles so as to appeal to all classes of society. This can thus lead to one assuming that the retailing revolution is emerging as per the economic revolution of society (Minis et al. 2010).Retailers, once seen as â€Å"downstream resellers of products†, are mostly seen as intermediaries in the manufacturers’ distribution channels, whose role is to only ensure a smooth flow of goods and services between the suppliers and the consumers. Today, retailers are indeed no longer seen as an appendix of the consumer’s supply chain but rather comprise of an independent market mainly looked up to by a large group of consumers for whom they buy (McKinnon 1989). They not only provide a readily identifiable location for consumers to make their transactions when acquiring goods and services but also provide support services of various kinds to the consumers. In fact, retailing is a significantly important economic activity that links production and consumption while affecting most of the population. According to the Financial Times (2006), retailing has been identified as the world’s eight-biggest sector of the economy (Jones, Nicolas, Carla 2007).Over the last decade, consumer awareness has increased regarding the price and quality of the products and/or services they expect. This is due to the increased literacy of Australian consumers and exposure to other developed nations through the current technological advancements. These days, consumers are more interested and are keen on the quality of the products and services they expect from the market. They have even become more and more vocal about it. It is due to this awareness that consumers always seek to identify more reliable sources for purchases. The consumers also seek to purchase their products and services from those places where their feedbacks are more valued (Sands 2008).  In order to earn customer loyalty, retailers mainly focus on providing their customers with the best quality products and services with value and innovation. Retailers thus need to be aware of the key retail trends influencing the market in recent times and in the future.

Case Study and Implementing Diversity Policies Free Essays

Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles A guide for ITEC and other engineering businesses who want to benefit from employing a diverse workforce Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles A guide for ITEC and other engineering businesses who want to benefit from employing a diverse workforce Christina Evans, Judith Glover, Yvonne Guerrier and Cornelia Wilson School of Business and Social Sciences Roehampton University 80 Roehampton Lane London SW15 5SL Tel: +44 (0)20 8392 3000 www. roehampton. ac. We will write a custom essay sample on Case Study and Implementing Diversity Policies or any similar topic only for you Order Now uk For correspondence about this report please email mailto: c. vans@roehampton. ac. uk September 2007  © The Royal Academy of Engineering ISBN: 1-903496-37-3 Content Foreword Acknowledgements List of figures Executive summary 1. Introduction 1. 1 Why the need for a set of Guiding Principles for embedding diversity in the ITEC sector 1. 2 How the Guiding Principles have been derived 1. 3 Summary of the Guiding Principles 1. 4 Schema of the Guiding Principles Suggestions on how organisations might use these Guiding Principles Guiding Principles 3. 1 Vision and leadership 3. 2 Well-defined business case 3. Company wide policies to mainstream diversity 3. 4 Education, training and knowledge building 3. 5 Supportive work practices and organisational culture 3. 6 Open and transparent recruitment and career development practices 3. 7 Partnering with external bodies 3. 8 Targeted outreach and widening the recruitment net 3. 9 Management of suppliers 3. 10 Monitor, improve and celebrate s uccess 3. 11 Matrix of key supporting organisational case studies Conclusions Resources to help with your diversity journey Notes 3 4 5 6 9 9 10 11 12 14 2. 3. 15 15 20 23 29 36 40 45 49 53 56 60 62 63 66 . 5. 6. Appendices I. List of acronyms 68 2 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles Foreword I am delighted to welcome this new report – Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles – funded by The Royal Academy of Engineering and produced in partnership with Equalitec. Equalitec, funded in part by the European Social Fund, under the Equal Programme, is a broad-ranging partnership of organisations committed to promoting and supporting women’s advancement in Information Technology, Electronics and Computing (ITEC). ITEC is a key driver of change in the global knowledge economy and a key contributor to the productivity and competitiveness of the European economy. But growth is being affected in some areas by a shortage of skilled ITEC workers. To meet the continuing growth in ITEC we need to encourage more individuals with diverse backgrounds and skills, particularly women, to consider a career in ITEC and ITEC related businesses. It is now well recognised that there are many business and social benefits from encouraging greater diversity within the workplace. Yet women are currently under-represented in the ITEC sector, especially in more senior roles. This report provides some practical guidelines on how to build an organisational culture where women and others from diverse backgrounds with business critical ITEC skills are encouraged to participate and reach their full potential. It contains many examples of good practice drawn from a range of ITEC employers. I would encourage you to use this report with a range of people in your organisation to help stimulate debate and change polices and practices to encourage greater diversity. Dr Rosalie Zobel Director Directorate G/Components and Systems Information Society and Media Directorate General European Commission The Royal Academy of Engineering 3 Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the many organisations and individuals that have made this report possible. In particular we would like to thank The Royal Academy of Engineering for sponsoring the project; Professor Wendy Hall, CBE FREng, Senior Vice President of The Royal Academy of Engineering, for chairing each of the Equalitec Diversity Forums; Dr Elizabeth Pollitzer, Director, Equalitec, for the initial inspiration for this report, as well as her continuing support, and all of the Equalitec partners and other participating organisations that have contributed to the ideas and case examples contained within this report. A list of Equalitec partners and contributing organisations can be found on the back cover of this report. 4 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles List of figures Figure 1 Summary of the Guiding Principles Figure 2 Schema of the Guiding Principles Figure 3 Diversity – Balanced Business Scorecard Figure 4 Development options to help managers manage a flexible workforce Figure 5 Recruitment strategies to assist entry and re-entry of women into ITEC Figure 6 Equalitec Career Model (reproduced with permission from Portia Ltd) Figure 7 REC – Diversity Pledge for Recruiters (reproduced with permission from REC) Figure 8 Intellect’s Women in IT Forum Survey – ‘Perceptions of Equal Pay’ (reproduced with permission from Intellect) 11 12 20 31 40 41 54 57 The Royal Academy of Engineering 5 Executive summary This report draws together key learning from earlier Equalitec Diversity Forums and reports, as well as other research on implementing diversity, in the form of ten Guiding Principles that can be applied in organisations that want to build a more diverse workforce. It is intended to act as a practical guide for managers and diversity practitioners in Information Technology, Electronics and Computing (ITEC) businesses, and other organisations. ITEC is now a major driver of change in many businesses, particularly in the service sector. But a shortage of skilled workers is making it difficult for some firms to compete successfully in the global economy. Despite this skills shortage, fewer than one in five ITEC professionals and managers are women and the number of women employed in ITEC is declining in most industrialised countries. With organisations chasing fewer and fewer skilled workers, there is a strong business case for increasing the proportion of women in ITEC. Within the UK it has been estimated that removing barriers to women’s employment and increasing their labour market participation could be worth between ? 5 billion and ? 23 billion. This is equivalent to 1. 3 – 2. 0% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Women and Work Commission’s report – Shaping a Fairer Future [1]. Yet many ITEC companies find it difficult to attract and retain women. One reason may be that IT continues to have a macho male image that can put women off. In addition many women and young gir ls are not aware of the diverse roles on offer in the ITEC sector and so do not see a match between their career aspirations and what is on offer. Building a diverse workforce is not easy. It requires on-going commitment from senior leaders to bring about cultural change, underpinned by investment to develop a cohesive set of employment policies and practices. Furthermore, a concern raised at the November 2006 Equalitec Diversity Forum [2] is that the growing trend of global sourcing in IT is affecting the diversity and inclusion agenda in the UK. Where organisations can easily ‘buy in’ labour from other countries there is less of a business imperative to invest in growing its own workforce. So why does this matter? Is diversity, particularly gender diversity, more difficult to achieve in the ITEC sector? Wider research suggests that women in Science, Engineering and Technology workplaces face difficulties over and above those experienced by women in other occupations, as these workplaces have traditionally been male dominated [3]. Industry commentators also acknowledge that the sector does create additional pressures for employees something that can make it more difficult for women and others with caring responsibilities. First, there is often a need to deliver projects to specific deadlines, involving working long hours. Second, individuals need to spend significant amounts of time keeping abreast of the latest developments in the field and maintaining their skill levels; for women with caring responsibilities this can be especially problematic as updating of skills is costly and time consuming. Many women working in ITEC are concerned that maternity leave and career breaks accelerate skills obsolescence. Although funding is allocated to training graduates (new entrants) this is generally not the case for women returners [4]. In addition women, and indeed men, who choose to work part-time often find their commitment questioned. 6 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles Whilst the equality duties (race, disability and gender) have created a ‘burning platform for change’ in public sector organisations, this same burning platform does not currently apply to private sector companies. But changes in the public sector tendering process, to ensure compliance with the general duties, are beginning to influence practice in private sector companies who bid for public sector contracts; this change forms a key component of the business case for some private sector companies as this set of Guiding Principles shows. Equalitec, originally supported by funding from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and latterly the European Social Fund (ESF), was established to promote and support women’s employment in ITEC. Over the six years that Equalitec has been running it has worked with over 50 organisations to help build and disseminate good practice for employing and retaining women in ITEC. The Guiding Principles covered within this report, and listed below, are supported with many examples of good practice drawn from a range of ITEC employers. Many of these employers are working in partnership with Equalitec. Adopting the good practices contained within this report will help build workplaces that benefit all workers, not just women. Guiding Principles for embedding diversity in ITEC and other related businesses 1 Vision and leadership 2 Well defined business case 3 Company wide policies to mainstream diversity 4 Education, training and knowledge building 5 Supportive work practices and organisational culture 6 Transparent recruitment and career development practices 7 Partnering with external bodies 8 Targeted outreach and widening the recruitment net 9 Management of suppliers 10 Monitor, improve and share success Recommendations for taking these Guiding Principles forward Business leaders  ¦ Use this Guiding Principles report creatively to help raise debates and develop policies and practices in your own organisation. Some initial suggestions on how to do this can be found later on in the report. A key policy to review is your career and succession planning, making these more open and transparent. This will help address the needs of individuals at different life-stages and with different needs and aspirations , thus encouraging them to join your organisation. Revisit data monitoring policies and practices to find ways of enabling greater availability and transparency of data. Where firms are reticent about making specific data public they could perhaps share techniques of data gathering. This would help the measurement of progress both within and between organisations and help establish industry-wide benchmarks, against which broader change could be measured, particularly in relation to the gender pay gap.  ¦ The Royal Academy of Engineering 7  ¦ Consider partnering with a range of educational and professional bodies to ensure that the skills needed to work in the sector meet changing employers’ needs. One possible way of achieving this is to work in partnership with HE institutions, professional bodies, and other employers, to create an ITEC Academy, something similar to the Power Academy recently established to address the shortage of skilled power engineers. This would help continue the excellent work started by Equalitec. Equalitec partners have found the Equalitec brand, underpinned by the European Social Fund and support from the DTI, has created a legitimacy for the various activities that they are engaged in to bring about change. Without a similar body going forward there is a concern that change will not happen at the pace that is needed. Central government and other policy makers  ¦ Provide more resources for educational institutions as well as the careers service to promote the diverse career opportunities available within ITEC.  ¦ Review policies to help women returners, especially occupational returners (i. e. returners to the industry after an extended career break), who are an under-utilised pool of talent. A key policy area for change is education, where there is an opportunity to develop conversion courses for people with a degree in a discipline other than computer science, enabling them to take up an ITEC role. This would not only help women returners, but other people who may want to move into ITEC at a later stage in their career. e-skills UK: work more closely with businesses to develop skills frameworks and progression pathways for ITEC professionals working in different business sectors.  ¦ Professional bodies  ¦ Work closely with educational partners to change the general perception of the ITEC sector and encourage more people to seek employment in the sector. Encourage and assist ITEC employers to introduce and develop good employment development practices. This could be achieved by gathering data on the gender balance among members, promoting cultural change, and brokering learning networks. Develop the range and accessibility of professional development programmes, qual ifications and networks, that address the development needs of women on maternity leave, as well as men and women who want to take a career break. Apply these Guiding Principles within their own professions and organisations.  ¦  ¦ 8 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles 1. Introduction 1. 1 Why the need for a set of diversity guiding principles for ITEC organisations? In today’s global knowledge economy the innovative use of ITEC technologies is fundamental to business survival in an ever complex and competitive business world. The ITEC sector continues to be a growth sector. Ten percent of the GDP in the UK comes from the ITEC sector, according to Intellect, the Trade Association for the UK high-tech industry. Furthermore 34% of the worldwide GDP comes from the ICT market according to the Public Technology Association [5]. With this amount of investment and growth in ITEC it is not surprising that the demand for skilled ITEC workers is outstripping supply. This is the case in all businesses, not just amongst the major ITEC producers. Despite this increasing demand, the number of women employed in ITEC roles remains much lower than women’s participation in the workforce more generally and is declining in most industrialised countries. In the UK fewer than one in five ITEC professionals and managers are female and this figure is even lower in IT strategy and software development roles [11]. With 40% of business requirements being for skills at advanced levels, the gender imbalance in the IT workforce creates a continuing challenge for businesses according to Karen Price, CEO, e-skills [6]. What these figures indicate is evidence of horizontal and vertical segregation [8] in a sector that was optimistically viewed in the 1960s and 1970s as a golden era for women’s employment. As a relatively new sector it was anticipated that some of the traditional barriers experienced by women in the workplace would be removed, and that women would be able to participate on a more equal basis with men. Sadly the reality has not matched this optimism. A concern voiced at one Equalitec Diversity Forum is that the growing trend of global outsourcing in IT is affecting the diversity and inclusion agenda [2] . Where organisations can easily ‘buy in’ labour from other countries, there is less of an imperative for firms to invest in developing its own workforce. However having IT systems developed and serviced by third parties does have skills implications for organisations’ internal workforce. In practical terms this means a growing need for IT literate staff who understand the business and know how to use IT to drive the business forward [7]. With organisations struggling to attract and retain skilled knowledge workers, it does not make business sense to under-utilise diverse pools of talent, including women. Speaking at the November 2006 Equalitec Diversity Forum, Meg Munn MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Women and Equality) endorsed this view: â€Å"If the UK is to further develop and sustain a flexible, highly skilled workforce – one that is able to cope with the twin challenges of globalisation and rapid demographic change – then we have to ensure that all our talented people are involved. † The Royal Academy of Engineering 9 Yet the reasons for the lack of participation of women in ITEC roles are complex. Sector image, as well as organisational culture, has a role to play here. ITEC work is still perceived as a place for ‘geeks’ and ‘anoraks’, working long hours and with little interaction with others. However as other Equalitec publications have shown this image does not reflect the reality of ITEC work, or the diversity of employment opportunities [8]. The changing nature of ITEC work, particularly as offshoring and outsourcing has become more commonplace, has led to an increased demand for ‘hybrid’ workers. These are workers who can demonstrate both technical and behavioural skills, such as team working, communication, relationship management, flexibility and innovation, and project management. Behavioural skills are viewed as those that women are able to contribute, drawing on these from their multiple roles inside and outside the workplace. But if businesses want to capitalise on these behavioural skills they need to find more creative ways of attracting and retaining women. 1. 2 How these Guiding Principles have been derived Working with a diversity agenda is challenging. There is no single simple solution. Organisations have to ensure a common understanding of diversity and the link with Equal Opportunities (EO). Whereas EO is concerned with difference at the social group level, diversity management is focused on individuals, with organisations striving to recruit and retain individuals with diverse backgrounds and experiences [9]. In addition, the diversity agenda is heavily contextualised: economic, political, legal and social forces each impact on business priorities and internal organisational practices. Despite these broader forces there do seem to be a number of key practices that organisations can focus on if they want to mainstream diversity. Developing an organisational culture that is supportive of diversity and where women are encouraged to reach their full potential is not easy. The nature of some ITEC roles can make it difficult for women, and others with caring responsibilities, to combine their work and family lives. Yet as other Equalitec projects have identified, some organisations are actively trying to change their culture so that people from diverse backgrounds, and with diverse talents, feel included. These Guiding Principles draw together some of the good practices developed in a range of private and public sector organisations. They have been derived from categories drawn from various sources: Equalitec Diversity Forum reports; the DTI and Equalitec sponsored report – Successful Recruitment Strategies and Practices; Times Top 50 ‘Workforce Diversity’ index; BCS Women in IT awards; Aurora’s ‘Where Women Want to Work’ awards; US National Academy of Engineering – Diversity in Engineering report, as well as the National School of Government’s Diversity Excellence model and the Civil Service diversity performance indicators. The supporting case examples are drawn largely from Equalitec publications. They have been tested out with Equalitec partners, and other organisations closely involved with Equalitec’s work, to ensure that they cover the key areas that ITEC and other organisations need to focus on to build a diverse workforce. 10 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles 1. 3 Summary of the Guiding Principles From the background sources outlined above we have identified 10 Guiding Principles. These are shown in Figure 1. 1 Vision and leadership: senior leaders demonstrate an on-going commitment to mainstreaming diversity by ensuring that the relevant policies, practices, metrics and action plans are in place. Ongoing commitment is also demonstrated through frequent and consistent communication, internally and externally, about the organisation’s achievements against its published action plans. Well defined business case: the diversity agenda forms an integral part of the strategic business planning agenda – not something that is a ‘nice to have’, perhaps especially for private sector firms that are bidding for contracts within the public sector. In the public sector the ’effectiveness argument’ i. e. ensuring the diversity of the workforce matches the diversity of service users, is perhaps more of a key driver. Company wide policies to mainstream diversity: overall diversity policy is supported by changes to other organisational policies e. g. recruitment, reward, flexible working and work-life-balance, performance management, career management and retention policies. Education, training and knowledge building: on-going commitment to education and training for all employees in order to change behaviours and develop organisational practices. Supportive work practices and organisational culture: a workplace that is open and welcoming of people from diverse backgrounds and which can demonstrate good examples of implementing different forms of flexible work arrangements. Transparent recruitment and career development practices: commitment to changing the recruitment and promotion practices so that women and others from diverse backgrounds are able to develop satisfying careers. Partnering with external bodies: relationships are developed with a range of partnering institutions to advance the diversity agenda, using this as a way of further developing internal knowledge and capabilities. Targeted outreach and widening of the recruitment net: resources (time, energy and money) are invested in developing awareness of the changing nature and opportunities within the ITEC sector and encouraging young girls and women of all ages to develop a career in ITEC. Management of suppliers: current and future suppliers understand the organisation’s diversity agenda and the organisation ensures that suppliers adapt their practices appropriately. Monitor, improve and celebrate success: demonstrates a commitment to gathering quantitative and qualitative data to monitor progress on the diversity journey, using this as a way of further refining policies and procedures. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Figure 1: Summary of the Guiding Principles The Royal Academy of Engineering 11 1. Schema of the Guiding Principles Mainstreaming diversity is not a simple linear process. There are a number of inter-related areas that require working on simultaneously. The schema in Figure 2 is intended to illu strate the dynamic relationship amongst the Guiding Principles defined earlier. Depending on the organisational context, change may be initiated from any one of these areas at a given point in time. In some organisations, for example, data on female attrition rates, or lack of diversity in the recruitment pipeline, may act as a catalyst for change. In others a change in leadership, such as the appointment of a new CEO, may act as the catalyst. At different times in the business life cycle organisations may eed to focus on developing policies and practices that have more of an internal focus and at other times they may need to work on policies and practices that have more of an external focus. Vision leadership Well-defined business case Company wide policies to mainstream diversity Internal focus External focus Education, training knowledge building Supportive work practices/ culture Open and transparent recruitment career development practices Partnering with external bodies Tar ge ted ou treach widening the recruitment net Management of suppliers Monitor, improve and celebrate success Figure 2: Schema of the Guiding Principles 12 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles What is clear from the background research carried out to produce this report is that implementing polices and practices to mainstream diversity is not easy, given the complexities that we are dealing with. Other reports on diversity have likened this to the complexities of the software engineering process itself, highlighted in the book The Mythical Man Month by Fred Brookes, formally of IBM: â€Å"There is no silver bullet, no magic potion that can fix things. Things only get fixed if you take the problem personally, and you want to make a difference. It is that simple. If you care enough about it to put your money where your mouth is, and you put somebody in a eadership position to do something about it, you can make a difference. † [10] It is not surprising therefore to find leadership at the top of these Guiding Principles. The Royal Academy of Engineering 13 2. Suggestions on how organisations might use these Guiding Principles One of the key aims of Equalitec is to shar e and disseminate good practice in the employment and progression of women in ITEC. This report draws together much of the good practice gathered through Equalitec projects. Whilst many organisations have made great progress on increasing the representation of women in ITEC roles, most would agree that they still have more to do. It is hoped that this set of guiding principles will support change in organisations, thus helping to stem the current decline in the number of women in ITEC. Some suggested ways that organisations could use this report include:  ¦ Using this report in your diversity training programmes for line managers, helping to raise awareness of the issues and stimulate debate for change. The questions at the end of each section would provide a start point. Recognising that successful change involves a top-down and bottom-up approach, consider using specific sections of the report with different employee groups/forums to help stimulate a dialogue about change. You could perhaps start with the section ‘Monitor, improve and celebrate success’ with a group of senior managers. This could prompt a review of the diversity data that are currently available, as well as where the gaps are. Using the section on ‘Supportive work practices and organisational culture’ with different employee groups could generate further ideas for change. Making the report available to all staff as part of your e-learning resources. This could help those aspiring to leadership roles broaden their awareness of the diversity agenda. Using the report as a basis for reviewing existing policies and practices.  ¦  ¦  ¦ 14 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles 3. Guiding principles â€Å"having the genuine support of senior leaders sends a powerful message to the rest of the organisation that diversity matters. † 3. Vision and leadership Effective leadership is crucial in all culture change programmes and developing an organisational culture that embraces diversity is no exception. When testing out these guiding prin ciples with experienced managers there was general consensus that vision and leadership needs to be the number one guiding principle. It needs to be number one for a very simple reason – having the genuine support of senior leaders sends a powerful message to the rest of the organisation that diversity matters. Without this, as many Equalitec partners will testify, diversity does not happen. So what type of leadership is required?  ¦ Leaders with a personal commitment to diversity Effective management of diversity requires ongoing commitment from the CEO and other senior leaders. This commitment can be demonstrated in many ways: setting a clear vision for diversity, linked to the business case; making sure that others understand the business case in the context of their organisations; modelling the behaviours needed to build a diverse workforce; making sure that the appropriate structure and polices are in place, as well as ensuring that all employees are aware of their responsibilities and where they fit into the diversity agenda: â€Å"Chuck Prince, who is our chairman, aims to make sure that we are not only the largest financial services organisation but also that we are the most respected. All of us, as employees, have to attest to our shared responsibilities. Those are our responsibilities to the organisations, the franchise through to our clients and also to each other, to make sure we recognise and respect diversity – which includes gender diversity. † Sharon Pagram, Recruitment Manager, Europe Middle East and Asia (EMEA), Citi [2]. Many organisations have introduced Diversity Councils as one of their supporting structures. These can help build insights and knowledge to support the change agenda. A case example of this from Symantec appears at the end of this sub-section.  ¦ Leaders who demonstrate ‘mindset flexibility’ A key skill referred to time and time again is that of ‘mindset flexibility’, particularly amongst those in leadership roles: â€Å"I think there is something about having men with the right attitude. I don’t know quite how you articulate this, but it is to do with having a diversity of thinking and approach in the senior executive team. Having men who are different from each other and function well in a flexible remote culture. Men who encourage interaction at all levels and really believe that difference is a good thing. I really do believe that if you have a culture which encourages bright, creative individual men to stay at senior levels, women will benefit too. † Rebecca George, Partner, Deloitte [11]. Mindset flexibility is seen as being important to help rethink jobs and how best to resource these: The Royal Academy of Engineering 15 What you are looking for [when recruiting] is a set of outcomes and you try to be more flexible about the people who might be able to provide those outcomes for you. You’re much less prescriptive about the inputs. † Steve Palmer, London Borough of Hillingdon [12]. It is also important when considering flexible work opt ions to ensure that all options are considered: â€Å"We have just gone through a reorganisation at Citigroup Technology Infrastructure (CTI) and we now have two very senior members who are direct reports to the head of EMEA for CTI †¦ One of these will be working remotely, using flexi-working as well as other means. She will be working from Scotland whilst playing a major role in the CTI organisation. She is working flexi-hours and she is working remotely and that has enabled her to take on a position of the size that she has. † Sharon Pagram, Recruitment Manager, EMEA, Citi [2]. HR and diversity practitioners in particular need to demonstrate effective leadership by challenging line managers who are reluctant to try out different flexible work options.  ¦ Leaders who listen to and communicate openly with their staff Open and honest communication is crucial if employees from diverse backgrounds, and with diverse needs, are to feel fully included: â€Å"I believe that communication is very important †¦ ensuring that there are adequate team briefings, newsletters, bulletins and staff gatherings. There are one-to-one meetings, for example for all staff. I think that this mix ensures that there is the opportunity to accommodate individuals and that those for example who are on flexible working, or those who are part-time are kept fully informed and up-to-date just as much as the staff who are there full-time. † Angela Clements, Head of ICT and Business Development, West Dunbartonshire Council [2]. As the Microsoft example below indicates, senior leaders can send out a powerful message if they are personally involved in finding out what women are looking for in the industry: â€Å"Simon Brown is the general manager for Developer and Partner Evangelism and he is looking to attract more females into technical evangelist roles. He has been helping by investing time and thinking about what it is that women want in the industry, and what they want at Microsoft at different levels. † Helen Duguid, Partner to Microsoft EMEA [2]. It is just as important for female leaders to listen to the needs of their junior female colleagues, rather than make assumptions that they all have the same needs: â€Å"†¦ so many of the women who are at the top, they don’t have families, or else they might have had them, but it’s been with a totally supportive background, or they haven’t needed to be the carer in the family †¦ but you wouldn’t necessarily get from somebody at the top who didn’t have that empathy, let’s hear about you and what’s it like for you? You don’t get enough of that. † [13]. 16 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles  ¦ Leaders who act as role models and who champion change The importance of senior leaders acting as role models during organisational change is well documented. But as so much change involves top down and bottom up thinking it is important that organisations mobilise and nurture leaders at all levels to support the change journey. An innovative practice identified from a non-ITEC sector organisation, but one that could be adapted, is illustrated in the case example below. Case: Recruiting internal diversity champions at Wigan Leigh College [14] The college has 23,000 students located across six different sites. The college recognised that although it had achieved the disability element of the diversity agenda it needed to do more on the other strands. To support its philosophy of inclusion, the college introduced a leadership and management programme to help change behaviours amongst its senior managers. This programme highlighted a need to do more to create a genuine culture of inclusion across the whole of the college. Following an equality and diversity ‘health check’ the college went on to recruit internal equality and diversity champions to help promote their diversity agenda. The role was open to individuals at all levels and in different areas: management, administration and academic staff. All applicants went through a structured selection process. The rationale for such a rigorous process was to ensure that those selected could act as role models, as well as have the skills to help deliver the organisation’s diversity learning programme. Staff recruited into the Diversity Champion roles, were then given additional training to ensure that they were able to perform effectively in their new role. Having a diversity of role models could help junior staff feel a greater sense of belonging, as well as develop a sense of where they might aspire to: â€Å"I like the idea of people from throughout the organisation at all levels, who are happy to be kind of champion †¦not just the high-flyers. If you have people where you are, or the next level up, where you are aspiring to be, its doable and you can relate. † [13].  ¦ Leaders who are willing and able to change Developing an organisational culture that is committed to diversity requires leaders who are willing and able to change. A key point made by Terry Marsh, from the Women into Science, Engineering and Construction (WISE) Campaign: â€Å"We talk a good deal about changing culture but actually the culture that we have to change is one that does not cope with change in many cases. You do not have to change the culture but you have to change people’s ability to want to change, or their ability to cope with change †¦ We therefore have to look at whether there is a culture, in certain companies and certain sectors, that cannot cope with change at all. † [2].  ¦ Leaders who reinforce the diversity message Given that change takes time, leaders need to find different ways of promoting and praising those who are helping the organisation achieve its diversity goals: The Royal Academy of Engineering 17 â€Å"One of the practices that we have in place is that whenever a requisition is posted in our system the hiring manager receives a letter, signed personally by our senior VP for the EMEA region, talking about why a diverse workforce is important to the future of HP, for innovation, again referencing the business case. It reminds them that we have hiring goals and encourages them to work with the recruiter for a diverse source pool. † Lisa Kepinski, Diversity Inclusion Director, HP [13]. Case: Supporting structures to mainstream diversity in Symantec Symantec Corporation is the fourth-largest independent software company in the world. It is the world leader in IT security, providing security and storage products solutions and services, to virtually the entire Fortune 1000 companies. One of Symantec’s best known products is the Norton consumer security solutions. The organisation employs just over 18,000 employees in 40 countries. Deborah Davis, Vice President, Enterprise Support Services, EMEA and India, explained how commitment to diversity within Symantec comes from the top. The group president, Tom Kendra, is the global leader and executive sponsor of the diversity and inclusion initiative within the organisation and Chief Technology Officer, Mark Bregman, is the executive sponsor of the organisation’s global women’s initiative. The organisation has established five goals for increasing the representation of women: a) increase the percentage of women in leadership positions to reflect the overall female demographic and management hierarchy; b) increase the percentage of women at the high end of the technical track in engineering; c) increase the number of women in sales; d) increase the number of women across all of our technical fields, not just software development areas; and e) build a work environment that supports and encourages women in their career aspirations. As well as executive commitment to ensure that goals and metrics are in place, the organisation has created a number of structures to sustain its diversity and inclusion initiative, as shown below. Supporting Structure Global Structure Global Diversity Inclusion Steering Committee †¢ Executive D Steering Committee meets quarterly †¢ 16 Diversity Inclusion Councils established †¢ D Office – – – – Glob al Diversity Inclusion Office 16 Diversity Inclusion Councils – – 18 SWAN Champions – – Act as a link between SWAN and Executive Leadership Seek support for SWAN recommendations Identify, share and implement best practices Build Symantec brand as an employer of choice for women Identify external women’s organizations and build long term partnerships Establish Metrics and Reporting Build collateral to support activity of SWAN Champions Conduct quarterly conference calls with SWAN Champions 1 18 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles There is an overall Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee as well as a network of 16 Diversity and Inclusion Councils, a figure that is expanding across the globe. In addition the organisation has a Symantec Women’s Action Network (SWAN). SWAN champions attend external women’s conferences and organisations, acting as a spokespeople for the company, and build the Symantec brand as the employer of choice for women. There is also a dedicated diversity and inclusion office that acts as a link between the SWAN networks, the Councils and the executive leadership, to ensure that information and knowledge from the various fora and groups are shared. Source: Equalitec Diversity Forum, June 2007 [13]. Points to discuss in your organisation  ¦  ¦  ¦  ¦ Do staff believe that the leadership is really committed to the diversity agenda? What do they believe that they are committed to? How is this monitored, communicated and acted upon? How diverse are the role models in your organisation? How is personal commitment to the diversity agenda monitored in your organisation? Is it something that current and aspiring leaders need to demonstrate in order to gain promotion? How is ‘mindset flexibility’ developed in your organisation? The Royal Academy of Engineering 19 3. 2 Well-defined business case There are several drivers for implementing diversity policies and practices: ethical and social justice, regulatory, economic, and business case. In private sector companies it is the business case argument that provides the main driver for change. There are many dimensions to this. It can help organisations tap into new markets, as well as appeal to a broader customer base. In an increasingly diverse society the importance of the demographics of the workforce mirroring that of clients and customers is also a powerful business case argument. Access to wider pools of labour can be a powerful argument particularly where critical talent is in short supply, as in the case of ITEC. Increasingly organisations are adopting a balanced scorecard approach to the business case for diversity, as indicated in Figure 3. †¢ Enhanced understanding of new and emerging markets Marketplace †¢ ‘Mirroring of clients’ – Customers Winning new business †¢ Products and services that meet the needs of diverse customer base demographics of client base reflected in the workforce †¢ Better understanding of needs of diverse customers †¢ Access to wider customer base †¢ Leveraging diversity of suppliers and o ther partnerships †¢ Enhanced reputation and profile amongst clients and other stakeholders Workplace Access to wider pools of talent †¢ †¢ Better staff retention – lower recruitment costs Productivity/effectiveness Enhanced creativity, innovation and problem solving †¢ †¢ Enhanced employer image/reputation †¢ Richer business processes †¢ Greater organisational flexibility and responsiveness to change Employer of choice †¢ Inclusive work environment where all employees are fully †¢ Better utilisation of diverse/scarce engaged and performing talents optimally Figure 3: Diversity – Balanced Business Scorecard Although it is important for those working in change agent roles to have a broader awareness of the business benefits of diversity, it is crucial that they are able to focus on the key business benefit for their organisation, as this is what gets the attention of the senior leadership team: â€Å"For us in Pfizer, the di versity business case rests on the values of creativity and innovation because we want to bring new medicines to patients. † Trish Lawrence, Diversity Initiatives Manager, Pfizer PGRD [15]. 20 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles The Value Proposition Profitability and Business Success Invention and High Performance The Business Advantage Creativity and Productivity Diversity and Inclusion 14 August 2007 Having got the attention of senior leaders, those working in change agent roles also need to find ways of communicating the business case in a form that line managers identify with: â€Å"One of the things we have learned is that to get the attention of line managers, we need to make the business case much more explicit. In our early efforts, we had a business case but we did not publicise the financial implications enough. † [16]. One way of doing this is to link cost/benefit data directly to line managers’ budgets: â€Å"If it’s someone you know, who was a good employee, who wants to come back and they need ? 2,000 of training, but you’re not paying for an agency to recruit them, it’s a no-brainer from a business case viewpoint. † [23]. A continuing challenge for those working in diversity roles is being able to make direct linkages between diversity policies and enhanced operating performance and bottom line results. As Stephen Alford, HR Manager at Fujitsu Services, pointed out at the first Equalitec Diversity Forum [15] this problem arises as often a range of policy interventions are needed to address a specific diversity issue. The following case study from Fujitsu Services provides further guidance on how diversity champions can build a sound business case for diversity. Case: Building the Business Case at Fujitsu Services Fujitsu Services design, build and operate IT systems and services for customers in the financial services, telecom, retail, utilities and government markets. It employs 21,000 people worldwide. Around 12,000 of those are located in the UK working for a wide range of Public and Private sector organisations. At the 2006 Diversity Forum Stephen Alford, HR Manager, pointed out that one of the key arguments he uses to get senior business leaders to focus on diversity is to link back to the goal of ‘winning new business’. As an IT services company a key business driver is winning new contracts, something that as Stephen explained is now influenced by the changing legislation especially when tendering for public sector contracts. The Race Relations Act 2001, Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and the Equality Act 2006 mean that public sector organisations have a statutory duty to The Royal Academy of Engineering 21 promote equality in these three areas in their own organisation. In addition they have a responsibility to audit their suppliers to ensure that they too have equality schemes in place. Some of the arguments that Stephen draws on to convince managers about diversity include: Legal drivers – focusing on the pre-tender bid situation where questions are asked about whether there have been any cases taken against the organisation and whether any have been lost. In particular pointing out how the discrimination legislation which underpins equal opportunities is uncapped and how claims can hit the bottom line significantly if the organisation gets it wrong. Raising the profile of Fujitsu – using the strapline – ‘Why focus on diversity inclusion? ’ – to point out how as an organisation Fujitsu wants to be employer of choice in the IT service sector and partner of choice for winning business. As an organisation they are now monitoring their workforce more closely, so that they have the facts to be able to manage the business more effectively. Recruiting and retaining the best talent – pointing out how with changing demographics you may not always be able to recruit the talent from the same place as you have always recruited from. In addition women, and those from ethnic minorities, are more likely to join an organisation where there are role models and where they feel that they can get on. Having attracted the best talent then the organisation needs to focus on retention. Losing key talent is expensive. At Fujitsu Services mothers returning to work after maternity leave return on 120% of their salary until their child is 15 months old. The more senior the women then the more this costs the organisation, but as Marjan Kuyken, Practice Manager, Programme and Project Manager points out â€Å"†¦ with that seniority comes more knowledge of the organisation and more expensive skills†. Clearly these are knowledge and skills that the organisation would not want to lose. Limitations of a lack of diversity on performance – diversity practitioners need to be able to provide a number of case examples to show how other organisations have made productivity gains from building a more diverse workforce, as well as examples of where things can go when there is a lack of diversity in the decision-making teams. Sources: Equalitec Diversity Forum, May 2006 [17]; Effective Recruitment Strategies and Practices Report [12]. Questions to stimulate debate in your organisation:  ¦  ¦  ¦  ¦ Do you have key data to support your business case? Are they in a format that line managers can easily understand? Do you have a range of case examples, internal and external, that you can use to support the business case? How do you communicate the business case for diversity in your organisation? Do line managers have easy access to the data on changing demographics so that they can make informed recruitment and retention decisions? 22 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles 3. 3 Company wide policies to mainstream diversity Building an organisational culture that supports diversity and inclusion is not easy. As Juliet Webster, Involvement and Participation Association (IPA), points out organisations need to go beyond value statements and develop a coherent set of policies to ensure that they attract, develop and retain employees from diverse backgrounds: â€Å"The most ‘women-friendly’ ITEC organisations are, not surprisingly, those which have clear, coherent and thoroughgoing equality and diversity frameworks encompassing their employment policies and practices. These frameworks underpin and support a variety of practical initiatives which help organisations to attract, promote and retain women †¦ some of the strongest examples of good equality practice are not always labelled as such, but what distinguishes them is a coherence of approach to staff development and progression and the express inclusion of all employee groups. † [8]. Many organisations, large and small, have realised the importance of planning for diversity from the outset when developing their policies and practices, especially when the company is growing, or plans to grow in size: â€Å"If you find yourself with 15 engineers, none of whom are women, you’re suddenly in a bad position for trying to hire your first woman. As you build up from zero, you’ve actually got to be especially careful in the early days. There is something about thinking early on, when we’re working in a field that is by its nature male heavy, to think carefully about those early hires. † Doug Fraley, Head of People Programmes for EMEA, Google [12]. So what key policies and practices should organisations focus on? †¢ Recruitment and selection The Effective Recruitment Strategies and Practices research [12] highlighted how the ITEC sector has developed a reputation for informal ‘grapevine’ recruitment, where job openings are tran smitted via established networks. Employee referral schemes, which have become increasingly popular with organisations, operate on a similar principle of tapping into employees’ existing networks. However there is a concern that practices like these can make it more difficult for women, especially returners, to gain entry into ITEC organisations. Where organisations want to attract a more diverse workforce it is important that they use a number of recruitment methods to signpost their vacancies and employment opportunities – we say more about this in the section on ‘Targeted outreach and widening the recruitment net’. Selection methods should also be clear and consistent, as we explain in the section on ‘Open and transparent recruitment and career development practices’. †¢ Induction In some organisations, such as Fujitsu Services, the induction process is used to ensure that all new staff are aware of the organisation’s position on diversity and the actions that the organisation is taking to build a diverse and inclusive work environment. Performance management Wider research suggests that a key policy that needs to be revised in organisations committed to diversity is performance management. According The Royal Academy of Engineering 23 †¢ to the Corporate Leadership Council, organisations that are the most successful in building a diverse workforce are those that have developed their performance management systems so that managers in particular are held accountable for achieving the organisation’s diversity objectives. In the US, some organisations link Executive bonuses to the achievement of diversity goals [18]. In other organisations performance ratings are based on the ’How’ as well as the ‘What’ and a specific case example of this occurs at the end of this subsection. A range of tools can be used to gather feedback on whether management behaviours support organisations’ diversity goals: 360 degree feedback, peer review, and employee attitude surveys [19]. However, ORC, a US based consultancy suggest that organisations should be cautious about linking diversity goals to managerial performance, as it might distort behaviours. An additional strategy could be to publicise a list of managers that have met the goals for increasing the diversity of their unit [20]. †¢ Flexible working and work-life-balance policies Wider research suggests that offering flexible work arrangements, including high quality part-time work, is part of the ‘new business case’ argument [9]. Flexible work arrangements can help women sustain their career through the child rearing phase. The benefit to organisations is better retention of skilled female employees, thus lowering overall recruitment costs. Whilst a policy on flexible working is important, as it signals the organisation’s intent, making flexible working work in practice is more problematic. This requires line managers who are committed to the principle, as well as having the necessary skills to manage flexible working. This point will be covered in more detail under ‘Supportive work practices and climate’ later in this subsection. †¢ Pay and reward The government’s survey on earnings (Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2006) shows that women’s mean full-time hourly pay in computing and related jobs is 79. 6% of men’s [12]. Thus there is gender pay gap in the sector of just over 20%. This is larger pay gap than the overall UK one [20]. The main reason for the greater pay gap in ITEC is the tendency for women to be concentrated in lower paid jobs. If organisations want to attract more women to work in the sector then the gender pay gap needs to be addressed through the use of equal pay audits and job evaluation schemes. Intellect’s annual survey – ‘Perceptions of Equal Pay May 2006’ [22] – identified that only a small number of firms had carried out an equal pay audit. Yet as the survey also showed; perceptions of unequal pay can affect recruitment. †¢ Talent management and succession planning Having attracted more women into the organisation it is important that they then have every opportunity to progress. Several organisations seem to be developing their succession planning policies to ensure greater diversity amongst their leadership population. A good example of this is shown in the IBM case study at the end of this section. Michael Chivers, Vice President, Human Resources for Sales and Marketing at Sony Ericsson spoke of the importance of organisations moving away from the 24 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles ‘rear view mirror’ approach to succession planning [11]. By this he meant that instead of appointing leaders that are clones of the current leadership there is a need to think more about the leadership qualities that will take the organisation to where it wants to be in the future. Ensuring that women are given early responsibility in their career so that they build up their reputation and visibility was raised as a good strategy by several participating Equalitec organisations. This is something that will be discussed in more detail in the section on ‘Open and transparent recruitment and career development’. †¢ Restructuring and downsizing As part of the background research for this report we had several illuminating conversations with HR managers about what happens to diversity when organisations are restructuring or downsizing. Some interesting perspectives emerged. One was that where organisations have made significant investment in their diversity policies and practice they need to make sure that all of that good work is preserved in the new structure. A further perspective was that restructuring could create opportunities to bring in people with different experience because that is what the business needs. In addition to the key policies discussed above there are many other policies that may need revising, or developing, to build a diverse and inclusive workplace, as the following case from HP indicates. Case: HP Policies and Practices Supporting Diversity and Inclusion Within HP there are three main areas of focus for diversity: attracting diverse talent, promoting and developing diverse talent, and retention of diverse talent. The term ‘diverse talent’ is used within HP as it is broad and allencompassing. The organisation also has a number of policies and practices to support its diversity and inclusion strategy. These include: Non-discrimination policy Electronic job posting Diversity Hiring Goals VP’s message to hiring managers Harassment-free work environment Degree education program Domestic partner benefits Employee resource groups Development opportunities Open door policy Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) Open communication Management by objective Work-Life-Policies and Resources Common Thread’ diversity newsletter A key policy lever is the ‘Diversity Hiring Goals’, which reflects the philosophy that having a metric in place gives di versity a business grounding and helps the business get to where it wants to get to – a rich, gender diverse workforce -faster. As Lisa Kepinski, Diversity and Inclusion Director, EMEA Region points out â€Å"Having a metric creates a focus for the The Royal Academy of Engineering 25 business and it encourages a partnership between the business and HR, as it is the business that sets the metric, not HR. † A practice that reinforces the ‘Diversity Hiring Goals’ policy is the – ‘VP’s message to hiring managers’. Each time a new recruit is taken on the hiring manager receives a personal letter from the senior VP for the EMEA region, pointing out why a diverse workforce is important to the future of HP, thus reinforcing the business case. Lisa acknowledges that organisations need to watch out for the impact that metrics might have on the focus of their work – â€Å"If you only have metrics in place for hiring and ignore promotion, development and retention, then you could have the revolving door syndrome. † Source: Equalitec Diversity Forum, June 2007 [13] Organisations that have effective monitoring in place should use these data to develop new policies, as well as refine existing policies (see section on ‘Monitor, Improve and celebrate success’ later in this section). Policies need to be initiated with the use of statistics, but they also need statistics so that monitoring and evaluation, reconstitution and re-evaluation can happen. Finally, policies need to reflect the legislation in the country in which they are being introduced. The legislation makes it easier to introduce family-friendly polices. With an increasingly mobile workforce, opportunities for sharing different policies for attracting and retaining women in ITEC in different country contexts is something that would be most valuable. But again without appropriate data, policies can be meaningless or at worst pointless; this relates as much to individual companies as to countries. Case: Managing the female talent pipeline at IBM IBM is a global company that invents, develops and manufactures information technologies, including computer systems, software, storage systems and microelectronics. These technologies are used to provide professional solutions, services and consulting for businesses worldwide. It employs around 160,000 technical professionals, worldwide. Diversity is critically important to the business: having a diverse workforce is crucial for developing diverse products and services. The organisation has developed its employment policies and practices to ensure that it attracts and retains people from diverse backgrounds, including female employees. As part of the Effective Recruitment Strategies and Practices research [23], Wendy Papworth, Gender Programme Manager, EMEA Workforce Diversity, outlined some of the practices to develop, progress and retain women. â€Å"We run regular pay audits, as part of our salary rounds. We always look very closely at the gender element of the pay rounds, to make sure there’s fairness and it’s a level playing field. But we do run specific exercises where if there’s something that maybe suggests we should have a look at it, then we do. And we dig quite deep down into the data, and, you know, on pay for graduates, when I last looked at it about two years ago, there was no discrepancy. And there are so many factors involved in the determination of pay, so it was quite a lengthy exercise, but it was really positive. 26 The Royal Academy of Engineering Implementing Diversity Policies: Guiding Principles So, a couple of things we do. We have women’s leadership councils in each country, looking very closely at pipeline and progression. We’ve worked with the HR teams in each country to specifically identify the creme de la creme of the female talent, and actively manage those women to make the next step change. That could be a move outside their business, or promotion. The women’s leadership council can assist by profiling role models, by getting women more actively involved in mentoring or networking and engaged in education programmes. We also look at our attrition rates in terms of propensity to leave, so if there’s a particular part of our structure where we’re seeing a higher increase of women likely to leave, say, for example, in the UK compared to that same position in the structure in another country, or overall in Europe, we conduct round tables with that part of the structure, and the band just below as well. It’s very important that we know how the women in the level below see, their future opportunities. So we conduct focus groups and round tables to get a feel for what will keep you with IBM. We keep an eye on where the key pressure points in our pipeline for women are.

Ethno

Ethno-Graphics and the Moving Body Essay In Evans-Pritchard’s classic monograph on Nucr religion (1956) there is a photograph illustrating a wedding dance, the caption under which reads, ‘Movement in the Wedding Dance’ (fig. 1). This photograph raises an impor tant anthropological question: where is the movement? Rather than single out Evans-Pritchard for unwarranted criticism, I intend to use this as an instructive example; a clear instance of an interesting yet serious stumbling-block with regard to Western ways of ‘seeing’ or not seeing human body movement. It is not uncommon to find actions reduced to a position or to a sequence of positions in this manner, such that a scries of photographs, sketches, diagrams, or positions of limbs plotted on a two dimensional graph are presented as records of movement.1 In this article I suggest that such a conception of move ment and its attendant practices have had the unintended effect of removing the medium of bodily movement itselffrom serious con sideration as a compo nent of social action. This has compromised anthropological inquiry by distorting our understanding of ways of knowing and being that do not evince the kinds of philosophical and religious biases against the body that can be found throughout the history of Western philosophy and within social theory. Freund (1988) and Turner (1984) suggest that the curiously disembodied view of human beings that has permeated the social sciences until recently stems in part from a revolt against a biological imperialism which, as feminist critiques have shown, was not without its political uses as a means to justify sexist and racist assumptions about ‘human nature’ (Birke 1986). Such a stance was also part of the effort to establish an autonomous social scientific discourse. Ironi cally, acceptance of the deeper philosophical assumption of a mind-body dualism was shared with biological determinism: social science assigned mind priority over body and severed it from its embodied form, while biologism assigned priority to the organism (Freund 1988: 839). Perhaps it is now the case that we arc about to enter a ‘paradigm of embodi ment’ (Csordas 1990). Recently, there has been a virtual explosion of literature on ‘the body’, much of it stimulated by the work of Foucault2, although in anthropology this explosion also represents renewed interest in a long-standing, if relatively minor, anthropological tradition.3 This attention is part of a radical reconstruction of classical precepts about the nature and role of person and agency and the dualistic thinking that has not only separated body from mind, but also created oppositions between subjective and objective, mental and material-behavioural, thinking and feeling, rational and emotional, and verbal and nonverbal. Recent interest in the body has centred primarily on the physical body as cultural construct: on its regulation and restraint, as metaphor and machine, represented by such topics as the medical body, the sexual body, the civilized body, the decorated body, the political body and the body as social text. This focus should come as no surprise, perhaps, given a virtual cult of the body in contemporary Western societies, with fetishes ranging from fitness to fat con trol, and from politically correct body types (Pollitt 1982) to political dissidents’ use of fashion as a non-vocal rhetoric (O’Neill 1972). These varied explorations all seek an adequate account of the embodiment of persons and should be fruitful for anthropology because, at the very least, they draw attention to the ethnocentricity that has until recently permeated our spoken-language-ccntred approaches to systems of meaning.5 However, in these developments there remains one major lacuna: the human body as a m oving agent in a spatially organized world of meanings. While Turner (1984) has brought to our attention the long-standing absence of the body in social theory and its submerged, furtive history in the West, those who specialize in the anthropology of human movement note that in Turner’s book, as with those of Armstrong, Foucault, Freund, Hudson, Martin and others, ‘the body’, albeit a social and cultural one rather than a biological or mechanistic entity, nevertheless remains a static object. Absent, on the whole, are accounts of persons enacting the body, that is, using physical actions in the agcntive produc tion of meaning; actions that may be either out of awareness through habit, or highly deliberate choreographies.6 It seems important that wc attempt to con nect these interesting discussions to the moving body to the person as physical actor in the social world so that an anthropology or sociology of the body develops which truly transcends Cartesian lim itations rather than simply re states, however interestingly, some of the results. It is precisely here that theoretical choices play a crucial role, so I shall first set forth certain fundamental theoretical assumptions in order to clarify the meaning and rationale of the perspective that follows. Specifically, this will reveal how the intention to make the actions of a moving agent central to a definition of embodiment (and therefore to social action) has meant choosing the new realist philosophy of science espoused by Ð Ã °Ã ³Ã ³Ã'‘ over the existential phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty. Only when grounded in Hand’s notion of causal powers do Mcrlcau-Ponty’s suggestions for embodiment remain fruitful. If Bourdieu can be considered the heir of Merleau-Ponty’s position, and his work an attempt to go beyond it, it is not clear that he has been successful. Bourdieu’s (1977) notions of‘habitus’ and ‘hexis’ have been important sensitiz ing constructs because they draw attention to the role of bodily practices a nd spatial organization in social action. Problematic, however, is a residual Cartesianism that keeps any involvement with thought and language separate from ‘bodily praxis’. In addition, the false nominalization of ‘the habitus’ sets up a Durkheimian region of social causation that violates the logic of causal powers, because it separates the power from the particular and allows causal power to be located separately either inside (e.g. ‘the unconscious’) or outside, in a mysterious social realm separate from the action of people (see Harrc Madden 1975; Ð Ã °Ã ³Ã ³Ã'‘ 1984). Giddens’s (1984: xxii) tripartite division into ‘discursive consciousness’, ‘practical consciousness’ and ‘unconscious’ remains problematic for similar reasons (sec Farncll 1994a). Ryle’s (1949) distinction between ‘knowing how’ and knowing that’ avoids this kind of mcntalist rheto ric when ref erring to those aspects that are out of focal awareness through habit, and to skills that are not normally put into words. Human body in space EssayThe person is a substantial being who is causally empowered to author dialogues with other authors. Such a conception of substance and cause is important to an anthropology of physi cal being and of human movement: this transcendence of the Cartesian material/non material dichotomy forges a view of human beings as embodied because they are personal agents in the utilization of action signs and words. In order to avoid the current theoretical stalemate summarized in, it is useful to reinterpret Merlcau-Ponty in terms of the new realist perspective.15   Merlcau-Ponty’s major shift was to take the Cartesian T think’ and convert it into ‘I can’. If left there, however, we would only have the aforementioned opposition between the intellectualist and the phenomenological perspectives (current terminology would label these as the objectivist and subjectivist posi tions respectively). Merleau-Ponty’s ‘I can’ is itsel f ambiguous but need not be interpreted in such a way that we are left with an opposition. ‘I think versus I can’ (according to Merleau-Ponty) is actually ‘I think versus I feel, experience, sense’. If, however, I can’ is interpreted according to the new realist perspective as indicating our natural capacities and powers for all kinds of action (thinking, feeling, talking and enacting the body) it remains useful. Clearly, Merleau Ponty reduced this general power of‘I can’ to one specific power of feeling as experience. Figure 3 summarizes several ideas around this theme. We now have three perspectives, rather than an opposition between a fallacy and its correc tive. A person can think objectively and talk about her own or anyone else’s body; a person can feel and talk of her bodily experiences; and a person can enact the body (i.e., move) and thus vilk’jrom her body. The point is that none of these positions removes the mov ing body from the person as agent: bodies do not move and minds do not think people do. My approach takes as its point of departure an interpretation of the Mcrlcau-Pontian ‘I can’ as ‘I can act’. In this way, instead of a stand-off between two opposing perspectives in which one is labelled a fallacy and the other the only alternative we now have three genuine agcntive alternatives, different kinds of linguistic practices with their appropriate rhetoric and purposes. The ‘I can’ is not in opposition to ‘I think’ but an indicator of our natural capacity to be socially, personally, and physically empowered through membership in a culture to engage in all kinds of semiotic practices.

Who shot first in lexington free essay sample

ThomasGageThe first shots of the Revolution rang out April 19 1775 at Lexington green. Reports say the British fired first killing eight patriots. I believe these reports to be true. There was a lot of controversy surrounding this, since none of us were there, no one can be certain on who fired first. Evidence shows the British fired first. I think based on the evidence provided it was very easy to see the British were the first to fire the shot of the revolution. Paul revere was riding home with Samuel Dawes and William Prescott and noticed the British were marching toward Lexington in large numbers. He also noticed the were heavily armed and were ready to fight. We will write a custom essay sample on Who shot first in lexington or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He rode north through the streets of Lexington, Concord, and other various small towns shouting the British were coming. This allowed the colonists to hide there arms and the militia to get ready and be lined up on Lexington green ready to fight. The battle of Lexington Green occurred April 19th 1775 in Middlesex county, Province of Massachusetts, within the towns of Lexington, Concord, Lincoln Menotmy and Cambridge near Boston. The battles marked the first armed  conflict between the Great Britain and its thirteen colonies in the British North America. About 700 British and 1500 colonist fought. Many leaders including general Thomas gage, Jon Pitcairn, Hugh Percy and Francis Smith helped guide British troops. Many commanders of the minute men such as john parker. James Barret, John Buttrick, William Heath, Joseph Warren, and Isaac Davis helped influence the result of the battle by guiding troops and keeping them organized. The colonists lost 73 men while the British lost only 49. This was due to the fact the British had less men and they were much more experienced than the colonists who suffered much higher casualties. The first shots were fired in the morning on Lexington Green. The militia were outnumbered and fell back, and the regulars proceeded on to concord to search for supplies. At the north bridge in concord, approximately 500 militia men fought and defeated three companies of the kings troops. The outnumbered regulars and fell back from the minutemen. At the battle of Lexington Green, a British officer rode forward, waving his sword, and called out for the assembled throng to disperse, and may also have ordered them to lay down your arms, you damned rebels! Captain Parker told his men instead to disperse and go home, but, because of the confusion, the yelling all around, and due to the raspiness of Parkers tubercular voice, some did not hear him, some left very slowly, and none laid down their arms. Both Parker and Pitcairn ordered their men to hold fire, but a shot was fired from an unknown source. No one knows why this shot was fired but it was surmised that a nervous minuteman was frightened by the oncoming British. According to one member of Parkers militia none of the Americans had discharged their muskets as they faced the oncoming British troops. The British did suffer one casualty. Some witnesses among the regulars reported the first shot was fired by a colonial onlooker from behind a hedge or around the corner of a tavern. Some observers reported a mounted British officer firing first. Both sides generally agreed that the initial shot did not come from the men on the ground immediately facing each other. Neither side heard it come from this way. Also, no soldier lowered his weapon to reload and no smoke came from either barrel. Some witnesses claimed that someone on the other side fired first; however, many more witnesses claimed to not know. near-simultaneous shots occurred when the fighting did break out so no evidence was gained from that. Witnesses at the scene described several intermittent shots fired from both sides before the lines of regulars began to fire volleys without receiving orders to do so. A few of the militiamen believed at first that the regulars were only firing powder with no ball, but when they realized the truth, few if any of the militia managed to load and return fire. After taking heavy fire the rest wisely ran for their lives. It is all still very unclear who shot first. The evidence leans toward the British. But no one will ever no for sure. Historians are split both ways on this fact. I have leaned towards the British but I have a applied a bias simply because I am American.