Seminar Human Resource MGMT
201810
Class Discussion
1. Some departments in universities believe that their faculty should mirror the demographic
composition of the student body and that faculty recruitment should use “diversity” policies to
pursue this objective. assess the merits of this proposition. What laws does it implicate? Can a
lawful policy be drafted?
Promoting diversity in a workforce is both ethical and a management necessity. It helps in
increasing the participation rate of different individuals including those with disabilities.
Maintaining a well-rounded workforce available to minority members in the organization with all
things being equal helps qualified women and minorities get priority in recruitment. In fact,
recruitment practices sometimes need to target diverse candidates and there is increasing number
of ethnically diverse universities (Berman, 2016).
Ensuring diversity in university’s faculty, students and staff affects its strength, intellectual
outlook and productivity. The teaching and research environment is rich only when it involves
diverse ages, levels of experience, physical abilities, religions, races, ethnicity as well as many
other attributes such as diversity in discipline, cognitive style, and personalities that make a
dynamic community. Such communities are characterized by innovation, creativity, and problem-
solving. Although diversity employs some challenges, learning how to respect and appreciate
other’s cultural differences and being aware of the unconscious assumptions that may affect
interactions will allow members to minimize such challenges and bring more merits. Numerous
research studies showed that diversity has positive outcomes on all students, minorities, majorities
and on research and teaching. It is a mean of achieving educational goals that require attention for
ensuring that all members in an academic community are listened to, valued and respected
(WISELI, 2010).
Moreover, diversity leads to various individual, institutional and societal benefits.
Individual benefits include improved racial and cultural awareness, enhanced openness to diversity
and challenge, increased commitment to racial understanding, enhanced critical thinking ability
with great satisfaction with the college experiences. Institutional benefits include high levels of
creativity and innovation as mentioned earlier. Societal benefits involve higher levels of service to
community/civic organizations, greater equity in society and even a more educated citizenry.
Indeed, educational policies, practices and programs emerge from the mission of the
institution (Kuh, Schuh, Whitt, and Associates, 1991). Mission statements of colleges and
universities have undergone a process of dramatic transformation where such institutional mission
statements affirm the role that diversity has in enhancing teaching and learning in higher education
(Alger, 1998). In addition, the Obama Administration has taken many actions that encourage many
educational institutions to promote diversity consistent with U.S. Supreme Court decisions about
the use of race and ethnicity in education. The Department of Education’s role in these efforts has
included issuing guidance and technical assistance to help postsecondary institutions to voluntarily
pursue campus diversity; promulgating discretionary grant priorities that can be used to promote
racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic diversity at postsecondary institutions in Department of
Education-funded grant programs; and participating, with the Department of Justice, as amicus
curiae in Supreme Court and federal appellate litigation to support racial diversity in higher
education (Milem, 2015).
The Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution provides: “No State shall make or
enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States;
nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Public institutions are
subject to Constitutional restrictions; private institutions are not. However, Title VI has been held
to be coextensive with the Equal Protection Clause as it relates to race discrimination. Moreover,
Title VI (42 U.S.C. § 2000d) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin
by public and private recipients of federal funds: “No person in the United States shall, on the
ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of,
or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial
assistance.”
A lawful policy such as Employment Equity and Diversity (EED) Policy can be drafted
and reviewed to ensure that gender equity in employment levels. Such policy would integrate
principles of equal employment opportunities and seek to broaden the conventional definition of
diversity to include age, gender balance in non-traditional roles, marital status, sexual orientation,
life experience, socio-economic backgrounds and faiths. Once the policy and plan are adopted,
specific management plans for groups of people who are under-represented in our workforce
(women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people living with a disability and people
from linguistically diverse background) will be established where they will also encourage better
representation and participation within work areas, job families and managerial roles
(Wollongong, 2014). Developing a policy requires reviewing the workforce‘s current policies,
practices and laws concerning diversity, doing consultations and communication strategies to
know the key for such involvements, and drafting the policy that reflect the vision as well as the
short and long-term objectives, merits, possible reactions to change within the organization,
resources, and integration of the policy into strategic business plans for the firm (Law Society,
2005).
2. Increasingly, people conduct work at home and take care of personal tasks at work. Which
