Diversity in the Workplace

1
Diversity in the Workplace
2
Overview

• How Diverse Are We and Why Is Diversity
  Important?
• Types of Diversity
• Laws and Executive Orders Prohibiting
  Discrimination
• Challenges of Diversity
• Strategies for Managing Diversity
• Programs for Managing Diversity

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US Workforce is More Diverse than Ever Before

• More women are working than ever before
• The workforce will continue to get older
• The number of immigrants has increased
• Ethnic and racial diversity is increasing

4
Why is Diversity Important?

• The service economy
• Interactions between people are key
• Customer base is more diverse
• Similarities between people ease process
• Globalization of business
• Doing business with people from around world
• The changing labor market
• Company mergers and buy-outs

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Types of Diversity

• Gender Diversity
• Age Diversity
• Cultural Diversity
• Sexual Orientation
• Family Situations
• Physical and Psychological Disabilities
• Political Views
• Personal Idiosyncrasies

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Proportion of Women in the Workforce 1950-2000
Percent
Year
Source U..S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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Gender Diversity Nonstandard work

• More women in workforce today than ever
• Better educated than ever
• Most nonstandard workers (those who do not hold
  regular, full-time jobs) are women
• 55 of workers paid by temporary agencies are
  women
• 70 of part-time workers are women
• Stereotypes still remain
• Glass ceiling, etc.

8
Gender Diversity Wages and Income

• In 2000, women who worked full-time, year round
  earned 74.3 cents for each dollar earned by men
• Over a lifetime of work, the average 25-year-old
  woman who works full-time, year round until she
  retires at 65 will earn 523,000 less than the
  average working man
• 58 of the workers who benefited from the last
  minimum wage increase were women

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Age Diversity

• As population ages, more older workers are
  available
• Re-entry of middle-aged women to work
• Retirees returning to supplement pension
• Internships bring in more younger employees

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Cultural Diversity

• Affects values, view of the world
• More than 40 of new entrants into U.S.
  workforce from non-majority groups
• About 22 new immigrants
• About 20 African-American or Hispanic
• Growing international business
• Employees maintain ties to national and cultural
  heritage

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Cultural Diversity (Hofstede)

• Managers and employees vary on 5 dimensions of
  national culture
• Individualism vs. collectivism
• Power distance extent to which a society accepts
  the fact that power in institutions and
  organizations is distributed unequally
• Uncertainty Avoidance The extent to which a
  society feels threatened by uncertain and
  ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them
• Quantity vs. Quality of Life (also masc/fem)
• Long term orientation

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Comparison of US vs. World Average on Hofstedes
Dimensions
Power Distance
Long term
Power Distance
Long term
Masculine
Masculine
Uncertainty Avoidance
Individualism
Uncertainty Avoidance
Individualism
13
Sexual Orientation Diversity

• Approximately 10-14 of the US workforce is
  lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB Powers, 1996)
• Disclosure of sexual orientation is a critical
  and complex decision that is affected by many
  factors (Ragins et al., 2001)

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Sexual Orientation Diversity

• Most discrimination laws (e.g., CRA of 1964) do
  not protect sexual identity
• Discrimination against employees who are or who
  are perceived to be LGB is legal in most
  workplaces (Button et al., 1997 van der Meide,
  2000)
• 25-66 of LGB employees report discrimination.
  This number is likely much higher due to low
  disclosure rates (Badgett, 1996 Driscoll et al.,
  1996 Schneider, 1987)

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Other Types of Diversity

• Family situations
• Single employees (mothers and others)
• Physical and psychological disabilities
• Americans with Disabilities Act
• Political views
• Personal idiosyncrasies

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The pay gap, 1985-2000 median weekly earnings of
full-time workers, as a percentage of those of
white men
Source U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract
of the United States, 2000, Table 696, p. 437.
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Where Women and Minorities Manage
Female Black Hispanic
Percentage of total, 1999
All occupations 46.5 11.3 10.3 Managerial
and professional 49.5 8.0 5.0 Executive,
administrative and managerial 45.1 7.6
5.6 Public officials and administrators 51.1 14.0
4.9 Financial managers 51.1 7.0
5.4 Personnel and labor relations
managers 60.4 10.9 6.3 Purchasing
managers 47.4 8.9 5.6 Marketing,
advertising, and PR 37.6 4.8 2.7
Educational administrators
62.5 15.0 4.8 Health care managers 77.4
8.9 6.6 Property and real estate
managers 49.4 6.6 8.9 Management-related
occupations 57.8 9.8 5.3
Source U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract
of the United States, 2000, table 669, pp.
416-418.
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Federal Laws and Executive Orders Prohibiting Job
Discrimination

• Equal Pay Act (1963)
• Civil Rights Act (1964 amended 1972, 1991)
• Executive Order 11246 (1965)
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967)

• Equal Employment Opportunity Act (1972)
• Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1972)
• Americans with Disabilities Act (1978)
• Family and Medical Leave Act (1993)

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Challenges of Diversity

• Availability Challenge
• In past employers could control diversity
• More people than jobs
• Qualified employees have become scarce
• Employers must become more flexible
• Realize Different does not mean deficient
• Fairness challenge
• In past, typically viewed as equal treatment
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Now employers must embrace new diversity
• Essentially focus on differences

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Challenges of Diversity

• Synergy challenge
• More and more group-based work
• Diversity can create positive and negative
  conflict
• Can facilitate creative problem-solving
• Can close down communication
• Can derail group processes
• Group leaders must minimize destructive conflict
  and maximize diversity of input

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Strategies for Managing Diversity

• Articulate a clear diversity mission, set
  objectives, and hold managers accountable.
• Spread a wide net in recruitment to find the most
  diverse possible pool of qualified candidates.
• Identify promising women and minorities and
  provide them with mentors and other kinds of
  support.
• Set up diversity councils to monitor the
  companys goals and progress toward them.

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Programs for Managing Diversity Diversity
Training

• Providing managers with training
• How to recruit/hire diverse employees
• How to orient/integrate new employees
• Providing all employees with training
• Realizing the differences that exist
• Learning how differences affect working
  environment
• How to maximize productivity without ignoring
  employee differences