Episode 2
Working Together: How Workplace Diversity and Inclusion Cause Connection
Friday, December 7, 2007; 10AM (Eastern)

• Why do people say they get a greater sense of belonging among their co-workers than with any group other than family or friends?
• Can people who are “forced” to get along in the workplace become true friends?
• How does the combination of a paycheck and meaningful work compel people to find creative ways to address conflicts with others who are significantly different from themselves?

While society is still largely segregated, the workplace is more than ever the site where people from different ethnic, religious, and racial backgrounds meet and forge serviceable and sometimes lasting bonds. Unlike voluntary associations formed in communities, religious settings and social groups, the workplace is where people are most likely to form connections across differences.

New York University Professor of Law Cynthia Estlund and author of Working Together:  How Workplace Bonds Strengthen A Diverse Democracy, joins co-hosts Richard Friend and Judy Seidenstein to discuss her notion that the involuntary nature of workplace interactions plays a crucial part in realizing the good that can come out of diversity. She believes it may be in those places where we are forced to get along and get things done together, and not where we choose to do so, that we have the best collective chance to advance inclusion. In linking workplace bonds and connectedness beyond work, Professor Estlund offers strategies to address the most profound challenges facing American society.