Ch 5
Managing Diversity:
Valuing a Diverse
Workforce
What Is Workplace Diversity?
• Workforce Diversity - the ways in which
people in an organization are different
from and similar to one another.
Exhibit 4-5
Types of Diversity Found in Workplaces
Types of Workplace Diversity
• Age - Both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in
Employment Act of 1967 prohibit age
discrimination.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_2TsJO
qe8I
• Gender - Women (49.8%) and men
(50.2%) now each make up almost half of
the workforce.
Types of Workplace Diversity (cont.)
• Race - The biological heritage (including skin
color and associated traits) that people use to
identify themselves
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAkDHuimJRc
• Ethnicity - Social traits (such as cultural
background or allegiance) that are shared by
a human population
Types of Workplace Diversity (cont.)
• Disability/Abilities - The Americans With
Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibits discrimination
against persons with disabilities.
• Religion - Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits
discrimination on the basis of religion.
Types of Workplace Diversity (cont.)
• LGBT: Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity - U.S. federal law does not
prohibit discrimination against employees
on the basis of sexual orientation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVLKS-
mzH1Q
• Other Types of Diversity - diversity
refers to any dissimilarities or differences
that might be present in a workplace
Exhibit 4-1
Timeline of the Evolution of Workforce Diversity
What Is Workplace Diversity? (cont.)
• Surface-level diversity- • Deep-level diversity -
Easily perceived Differences in values,
differences that may personality, and work
trigger certain preferences.
stereotypes, but do not
necessarily reflect the
ways people think or feel.
Exhibit 4-2
Benefits of Workforce Diversity
The Changing Workplace
• Characteristics of the U.S. Population
(Taiwan? In your own country?)
– Total population of the United States projected
to increase to 438 million by the year 2050
– Racial/ethnic groups - changes in the
percentages of the Hispanic (墨西哥等中南美人)
and white population
– Aging population - median age of 36.9 years up
from 36.2 years in 2001
Exhibit 4-3
Changing Population Makeup of the United States
The Changing Workplace (cont.)
• Global Workforce Changes
– Total world population -estimated at over
almost 6 billion in 2012 and 9 billion by 2050.
– An aging population - aging at an
unprecedented rate
Exhibit 4-4
Global Aging: How Much Do You Know?
Exhibit 4-4
Global Aging: How Much Do You Know? (cont.)
Challenges in Managing Diversity
• Personal Bias
– Bias - a tendency or preference toward a
particular perspective or ideology.
• Prejudice - a pre-conceived belief,
opinion, or judgment toward a person or a
group of people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFbvBJU
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Challenges in Managing Diversity (cont.)
• Stereotyping - judging a person based on
a prejudicial perception of a group to
which that person belongs.
• Discrimination - when someone acts out
their prejudicial attitudes toward people
who are the targets of their prejudice.
• Glass Ceiling - the invisible barrier that
separates women and minorities from top
management positions.
The Legal Aspect of Workplace Diversity
• Laws have contributed to some of the
social change we’ve seen over the last 50-
plus years
• Workplace diversity needs to be more than
understanding and complying with federal
laws.
• Organizations that are successful at
managing diversity use additional diversity
initiatives and programs
_the mental handicapped restaurant/bakery nearby
Top Management Commitment to Diversity
• Mentoring - a process whereby an
experienced organizational member (a
mentor) provides advice and guidance to a
less-experienced member (a protégé).
• Diversity Skills Training - specialized
training to educate employees about the
importance of diversity and to teach them
skills for working in a diverse workplace
Top Management Commitment to Diversity
(cont.)
• Employee
Resource Groups
- groups made up
of employees
connected by some
common dimension
of diversity.
H.W.
• Think of times when you may have been
treated unfairly because of stereotypical
thinking. What stereotype were being used?
How did you respond to the treatment?
Discussions
• What are the advantage and disadvantage for a
diverse workforce? For working as a project
manager leading an international virtual team
across Taiwan, Japan, German and Argentina,
will you adopt ‘delegate and flexible’ or ‘power
centralized and standardized’ management
approach?
Race & Privilege: A Social Experiment
in Singapore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2hvibGdg4w
