Dr. Chyng Sun, Ph.D.

In today's globally competitive business environment, the practice of diversity and inclusion brings advantages to corporations by leveraging employees’ unique perspectives, experiences, talents, and creativity. However, stereotypes about race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, religion, and disability limit the competitive advantages a business can create, and presumptions about certain groups of people harm communication and morale. Research has shown that stereotypes contribute to pay and benefit gaps among different racial and gender/sexuality groups, while also undermining employees’ capacities to lead, regardless of how qualified they are. These harmful effects are compounded when the stereotyped people have consciously or unconsciously internalized what is said about them.

Stereotypes, which often have historical and social roots, are reflected, perpetuated, and circulated through popular media, and they help to form our worldview from a very early age. In her teaching and diversity training, Dr. Chyng Sun has successfully used her research findings and highly acclaimed films Mickey Mouse Monopoly: Disney, Childhood, and Corporate Power and Latinos Beyond Reel: Challenging a Media Stereotype to unearth stereotypes in Disney’s popular animations, children’s toys, video games, blockbuster movies, and TV shows. With humor and honesty, Dr. Sun’s interactive presentation invites the audience to examine common cultural assumptions about certain people, the consequences of these assumptions, and what we can do to reverse the harmful effects of stereotypes. Together we can maximize the competitive advantages that diversity and inclusion bring to the workplace and society at large.