Management

Fifteenth Edition

Chapter 5
Managing Diversity

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Learning Objectives
5.1 Define workplace diversity and explain why managing it
is so important.
5.2 Describe the changing makeup of workplaces in the
United States and around the world.
5.3 Explain the different types of diversity found in
workplaces.
5.4 Discuss the challenges managers face in managing
diversity.
5.5 Describe various workplace diversity initiatives.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
What is Workplace Diversity?
Workforce diversity: the ways in which people in an
organization are different from and similar to one another

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Exhibit 5.1 Timeline of the Evolution of
Workforce Diversity
Timeframe Events

1960s to 1970s Focus on complying with laws and regulations: Title VII of Civil Rights
Act; Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; affirmative action
policies and programs
Early 1980s Focus on assimilating minorities and women into corporate setting:
Corporate programs developed to help improve self-confidence and
qualifications of diverse individuals so they can “fit in”
Late 1980s Concept of workforce diversity expanded from compliance to an
issue of business survival: Publication of Workforce 2000 opened
business leaders’ eyes about the future composition of workforce—that
is, more diverse; first use of term workforce diversity
Late 1980s to Late 1990s Focus on fostering sensitivity: Shift from compliance and focusing only
on women and minorities to include everyone; making employees more
aware and sensitive to the needs and differences of others
New Millennium Focus on diversity and inclusion for business success: Workforce
diversity seen as core business issue; important to achieve business
success, profitability, and growth

Exhibit 5.1 illustrates a historical overview of how the concept and meaning of workforce
diversity has evolved.
Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Types of Diversity
• Surface-level diversity: Easily perceived differences that
may trigger certain stereotypes, but that do not necessarily
reflect the ways people think or feel
• Deep-level diversity: Differences in values, personality,
and work preferences

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Why is Managing Workplace Diversity So Important?

• People management
• Organizational performance
• Strategic

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Exhibit 5.2 Benefits of Workforce Diversity
Exhibit 5.2 shows the three main categories of workforce diversity benefits: people
management, organizational performance, and strategic.
People Management
• Better use of employee talent
• Increased creativity in team problem-solving
• Ability to attract and retain employees of diverse backgrounds

Organizational Performance
• Reduced costs associated with high turnover,
• absenteeism, and lawsuits
• Enhanced problem-solving ability Improved system flexibility

Strategic
• Increased understanding of the marketplace, which improves
ability to better market to diverse consumers
• Potential to improve sales growth and increase market share
• Potential source of competitive advantage because of
improved innovation efforts
• Viewed as moral and ethical; the “right” thing to do

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
What About Global Workforce Changes?
• Total world population
• Aging population

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Exhibit 5.4 Types of Diversity Found in Workplaces

Exhibit 5.4 shows several types of workplace diversity.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Workforce Diversity: Age and Gender
• Age: Both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibit age
discrimination
• Gender: Women (47%) and men (53%) now each make
up almost half of the workforce

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Workforce Diversity: Race and Ethnicity
• Race: the biological heritage (including skin color and
associated traits) that people use to identify themselves
• Ethnicity: social traits (such as cultural background or
allegiance) that are shared by a human population

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Workforce Diversity: Disability/Abilities
and Religion
• 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

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Exhibit 5.5 Employers’ Fears About
Disabled Workers

Exhibit 5.5 describes some of employers’ unfounded fears about hiring disabled workers.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Workforce Diversity: LGB T and Other
Types of Diversity
• LG B T: in two separate U.S. Supreme Court cases, the
justices held that transgendered (gender identity) and
lesbian, bisexual, and gay (sexual orientation) individuals
were protected under Title VII’s prohibition against sexual
discrimination
• Other types of diversity: diversity refers to any
dissimilarities or differences that might be present in a
workplace

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Challenges in Managing Diversity: Personal Bias

• Bias: a tendency or preference toward a particular

perspective or ideology
• Prejudice: a preconceived belief, opinion, or judgment
toward a person or a group of people

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Challenges in Managing Diversity:
Stereotyping and Discrimination
• Stereotyping: judging a person based on a 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

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Exhibit 5.6 Forms of Discrimination (1 of 2)
Types of Definition Examples from Organizations
Discrimination
Discriminatory Actions taken by representatives Older workers may be targeted
policies or of the organization that deny for layoffs because they are
practices equal opportunity to perform or highly paid and have lucrative
unequal rewards for performance benefits.
Sexual Unwanted sexual advances and Salespeople at one company
harassment other verbal or physical conduct went on company-paid visits to
of a sexual nature that create a strip clubs, brought strippers into
hostile or offensive work the office to celebrate promotions,
environment and fostered pervasive sexual
rumors.
Intimidation Overt threats or bullying directed African American employees at
at members of specific groups of some companies have found
employees nooses hanging over their
workstations.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Exhibit 5.6 Forms of Discrimination (2 of 2)
Types of Definition Examples from Organizations
Discrimination
Mockery and Jokes or negative stereotypes; Arab Americans have been asked
insults sometimes the result of jokes at work whether they were
taken too far carrying bombs or were members
of terrorist organizations.
Exclusion Exclusion of certain people from Many women in finance claim
job opportunities, social events, they are assigned to marginal job
discussions, or informal roles or are given light workloads
mentoring; can occur that don’t lead to promotion.
unintentionally
Incivility Disrespectful treatment, including Female team members are
behaving in an aggressive frequently cut off in meetings.
manner, interrupting the person,
or ignoring his or her opinions

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Glass Ceiling
• Glass ceiling: the invisible barrier that separates women
and minorities from top management positions
• Decision makers in organizations need to actively take
steps to eliminate this

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Legal Aspect of Workplace Diversity
• Workplace diversity needs to be more than understanding
and complying with federal laws

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Pay Inequities
• The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal to pay different
amounts to men and women doing the same work
• However, as of 2017 women make only 82% of what a
man makes in a comparable job
• For younger women the gap is smaller but younger women
still make less than their male counterparts

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Workplace Diversity Initiatives
• Some businesses do effectively manage diversity
• Some organizations mandate diversity training every
month
• There are numerous diversity initiatives that firms can use
to increase the diversity of their workforce including:
– Top management commitment to diversity
– Mentoring
– Diversity training
– Employee resource groups (ER G)

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Top Management Commitment to Diversity
• Top management commitment is probably the most
important factor in achieving a diverse workforce
• Management needs to integrate diversity into all aspects of
the firm’s business, including all stakeholders and the
supply chain
• Policies and procedures should be in place to address
issues immediately

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Mentoring
• Mentoring: a process whereby an experienced
organizational member (a mentor) provides advice and
guidance to a less experienced member (a protégé)

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Diversity Skills Training
• Diversity skills training: specialized training to
educate employees about the importance of
diversity and to teach them skills for working in a
diverse workplace

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Employee Resource Groups
• Employee resource groups: groups made up of
employees connected by some common dimension of
diversity

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Some Final Thoughts on Diversity
• Has identity politics led to an obsession with celebrating
differences?
– Does this hinder unifying employees around a common
goal?
• Do long established practices undermine diversity?
– Do employee referrals and team building reduce
diversity?
• Does supporting diversity conflict with rewarding merit?
– If you promote a diversity platform, what happens to
promoting based solely on merit?

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Review Learning Objective 5.1
• Define workplace diversity and explain why managing
it is so important.
– Workplace diversity is the ways in which people in an
organization are different from and similar to one
another
– Why it’s important:
 People management benefits
 Organizational performance benefits
 Strategic benefits

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Review Learning Objective 5.2
• Describe the changing makeup of workplaces in the
United States and around the world.
– United States
 Total increase in population
 Changing components of racial/ethnic groups
 An aging population
– The world:
 Total world population
 Aging of that population

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Review Learning Objective 5.3
• Explain the different types of diversity found in
workplaces.
– Age (older workers and younger workers)
– Gender (male and female)
– Race and ethnicity (racial and ethnic classifications)
– Disability/abilities (people with a disability that limits
major life activities)
– Religion (religious beliefs and religious practices)
– Sexual orientation and gender identity (gay, lesbian,
bisexual, and transgender)
– Other (e.g., socioeconomic background, physical
attractiveness, obesity, job seniority, etc.)

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Review Learning Objective 5.4
• Discuss the challenges managers face in managing
diversity.
– Bias is a tendency or preference toward a particular
perspective or ideology
– Prejudice, which is a preconceived belief, opinion, or
judgment toward a person or a group of people
– Glass ceiling refers to the invisible barrier that
separates women and minorities from top management
positions

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Review Learning Objective 5.5
• Describe various workplace diversity initiatives.
– Some of the federal laws on diversity include:
 Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
 The Americans with Disabilities Act
 Age Discrimination in Employment Act
– Workplace diversity initiatives to diversity include top
management commitment, mentoring, diversity skills
training, and employee resource groups

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright

This work is protected by United States copyright laws and

is provided solely for the use of instructors in teaching their
courses and assessing student learning. Dissemination or
sale of any part of this work (including on the World Wide
Web) will destroy the integrity of the work and is not
permitted. The work and materials from it should never be
made available to students except by instructors using the
accompanying text in their classes. All recipients of this
work are expected to abide by these restrictions and to
honor the intended pedagogical purposes and the needs of
other instructors who rely on these materials.

Copyright © 2021, 2018, 2016 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved