Campus Advisor

Black Collegian, Feb 2004 by Parker, Linda Bates

Dear Campus Advisor:

I am a recent graduate of Norfolk State University, an HBCU. After being around mostly Blacks for the past four years, a stage in my life during which I learned the most, I am finding it a bit difficult to interact and even "schmooze" with white people. I am not racist by any means, but I have not found it easy to go from a mostly Black environment to corporate America, which is mostly white. To make matters worse, my degree is in public relations! I don't want to feel that I can only be comfortable when around Black professional people for the rest of my life. That's just not reality. What advice do you have?

Ms. Identity Challenged

Dear Ms. Identity Challenged:

Congratulations on your degree attainment. Your dilemma is challenging, but not completely unusual. Many times, the most nurturing of college environments can also be quite limiting when it comes to workplace diversity and our ability to thrive where we are in the minority. I am sure your college had much more diversity than you allowed yourself to experience while on campus. Nevertheless, there is still hope for you !

Your successful matriculation and graduation from an HBClJ should have affirmed your talent, intelligence, creativity and ability to achieve excellent results. This affirmation should provide you with the confidence you will need to now become more culturally literate. Your immediate task is to master a language and culture that is not your own. Simply think of these as academic challenges !

You do not have to like another culture, but you will have to learn to respect those that are different from your own. You will need to be deliberate and consistent in seeking out opportunities to learn about your white colleagues - their skills, interests, lifestyles, past work experiences, work relationships, and so forth. Ask for their insights on special assignments. Talk with them about your company's clients, new projects, and "best practices." Share your skills when appropriate. Volunteer to assist a fellow colleague or invite them to lunch. be observant about those who respond to you positively way. Work with them. You will need to be curious as to how they take pride in their work. Learn to compliment jobs done well. be curious about how their lives may be both similar and yet in some ways very different from yours. This will help you to be more at ease in handling informal chit-chat. Think of your growing cultural awareness and comfort as a value-added competency.

Make sure that you are fully meeting your work responsibilities, and seek (not shun) opportunities for socializing or networking. Build relationships that will allow you to be effective in your work. You will find that the limits of your experiences are the limits of your world. So get excited about encountering others to become more culturally competent both personally and professionally.

The best way to look at this is to consider that you have traveled to a foreign country. You have invested time and resources to get there. The people have welcomed you. Now you need to learn how to be successful there. You would be foolish to stay stuck in a cultural vacuum. You have an opportunity to learn another language and culture. Do not be afraid. You do not lose yourself in learning about others; you just learn to embrace and manage diversity.

In all honesty, you will sometimes find the experience of being the lone minority in a primarily white environment to be awkward, exhausting, bothersome, stifling and devoid of soul. You will long for times when you are among your own. So by all means, keep your friends and family close to you for support and cultural reinforcement. But remember, you cannot hope to be successful in any career, and especially in the field of public relations, until you have mastered the art of relating to the public, regardless of race, ethnicity or culture!

Here's to your continued growth my sister!

Linda Bales Parker is the director, of the Career Development Center at the University of Cincinnati.