Abstract
The pandemic has disrupted work all over the world, as has been much discussed. Knowledge workers could move to online or virtual offices, while many service workers lost their jobs, were furloughed, or were considered essential and had to keep working despite fears of what close contact with others might mean. While it would be fair to say that everyone in the world has felt the impacts of the pandemic to some degree, and some more so than others (such as working parents who have also had to provide at-home schooling in addition to their paying jobs), people with disabilities have been especially affected. One reason is the increased risk or poor outcomes as a result of COVID-19 for people with disabilities, some of whom may have additional comorbidities. Another factor is lack of access to routine health care. Lockdowns can be especially difficult for those who rely on assistive technology, as access to reliable internet service is hardly universal. Some mitigating measures—such as masks and social distancing—can be especially burdensome for people with disabilities, including those who are hard of hearing and those with service dogs (Shakespeare et al., 2021). People with disabilities have long faced lower rates of employment and have been paid considerably less than nondisabled workers (Altiraifi, 2019). In the United States, the number of employed working-age people with disabilities fell by 20% between March and April 2020, while the number of employed working-age people without disabilities decreased by 14% (Kessler Foundation, 2020).
Despite all the barriers presented to people with disabilities during the pandemic, there have also been significant opportunities to enhance access and participation. Virtual offices mean that people who have mobility concerns can work safely at home. Remote work can protect those who are immunocompromised. Zoom meetings can lead to greater inclusion, since the gallery view equalizes the screen and allows participants to filter sensory input such as volume and brightness. Another remarkable feature of Zoom is “live transcript,” whereby subtitles appear on the screen, helping both those who are deaf and hard of hearing, as well as those who comprehend written text with greater ease than spoken discourse; an added benefit is the preservation of a transcript for those who cannot attend. However, we need to ensure that those of us who teach and practice business and professional communication are aware of all these possible supports for access in order to use them; otherwise we risk creating additional barriers rather than enhancing inclusive practices. For example, I recently attended a virtual academic conference at which the hosts and organizers were unaware of the live transcript feature in Zoom and were therefore unable to implement this valuable tool. As someone who is hard of hearing, I have greatly benefited from this transcript feature in both online and in-person meetings, making them ever so much more accessible and productive.
With many economies now returning to what has been called the “new normal,” we have learned much about how work can be organized. Some organizations have demanded a “full” return to offices with few exceptions, but others have concluded that virtual work can be as productive as face-to-face. Universities have responded in different ways. Some, like my own, have mandated COVID-19 vaccines for all students (and soon the same for employees) and are requiring masks in indoor spaces. Other universities have only suggested preventive strategies, leaving their use up to each individual.
As we forge a “new normal” in our classrooms and research, we can choose to retain those opportunities that enhance access and participation instead of continuing to create barriers. Opportunities for further research into accessibility abound, including the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). On such example is a recent article byOswal and Palmer (2021), who employ cross-cultural communication approaches to teaching instructional design—specifically for making masks. InBusiness and Professional Communication Quarterly(BPCQ), I hope to see more SoTL studies of how we can promote accessibility and inclusion in the classroom and beyond.
This issue offers a variety of perspectives on teaching business and professional communication. Our lead article examines job search correspondence, and the author argues that the typical résumé and cover letter can be seen as a set of interdependent genre ecologies. As a result, an assignment focusing on these genres can foster greater student engagement, thereby helping them acquire skills in business and professional communication that go beyond simply applying for a job. In our second article, the authors report on research in which students wrote their own case studies about workplace communication, offering another example of using real-world situations in teaching. The studies in these two articles, both of which were approved by the authors’ respective institutional review boards, are excellent examples of SoTL.
This issue also contains an article about self-rated writing skills of graduating business majors and two more contributions to our feature topic on the rhetoric of sustainability, including an article in which the author analyzed the websites of 68 companies in Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America to determine how they convey the differences between corporate social responsibility and sustainability. This study presents a model of how to study the links between changes in terminology, cultural redefinitions of concepts, and overall corporate communication strategy as a result. We will be publishing more articles on the rhetoric of sustainability in future issues.
This issue is the last in Volume 84. I would like to thank all those who have contributed to our success: Martha Avtandilian (publisher), Neha Jaiswal and Banumathy Subbiah (production editors), Mark Hannah and Chris Lam (associate editors), Charity Fox and Alicia Remolde (editorial assistants), Joel Whalen (convener and editor of the My Favorite Assignment collections), and ABC headquarters staff. I also want to express my appreciation for the outstanding work of both our editorial review board members and ad hoc reviewers, who provide the superb feedback for whichBPCQis well known.
Finally, I want to offer congratulations to Sally Hastings and her coauthors, who won the award for this year’s outstanding article inBPCQ: “Nonverbal Communication and Writing Deficiencies of Graduates: Research by Undergraduates for Undergraduates” (Hastings et al., 2020). This article is an excellent example of the SoTL, which, as discussed earlier, is a growing focus forBPCQ. Equally impressive is the inclusion of undergraduates in the research efforts—something that is now widely recognized as an important component of exemplary undergraduate education. The award was announced at ABC’s virtual conference in October.