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Chapter 5
Managing Diversity
Employing and properly managing a diverse workforce is a challenge for most organizations. In
the United States, we are faced with a growingly diverse population, which has necessitated
changes in how we look at employees. With the push in the 1960’s toward civil rights, and the
women’s movement, managers are now more aware of the needs of special groups. However,
diversity isn’t always black or white, male or female. There are many aspects of diversity that a
manager must consider. These topics, along with the management initiatives to better manage
diversity are presented in this chapter.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define workplace diversity and explain why managing it is so important.
• Develop your skill at valuing and working with diverse individuals and teams.
3. Explain the different types of diversity found in workplaces.
5. Describe various workplace diversity management initiatives.
• Know how to find a great sponsor/mentor and be a great protégé.
It’s Your Career
Find a Great Sponsor/ Mentor—Be a Great Protégé
What do you want from your career? If your goal is to move to higher and into more challenging
1. Absolutely, positively, always DO GREAT WORK. Be sure that your work
performance is stellar.
3. BE SELECTIVE in seeking out your sponsor(s)/mentor(s). Look for individuals who
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4. NURTURE the relationship. Have regular meetings—face-to-face, by phone, or by e-
5.1 DIVERSITY 101
Diversity has many meanings. What does diversity mean in the context of the
workplace? Does diversity refer only to people or does it refer to other aspects such as
language, past experiences, and abilities? In this section, the authors address this
1. Exhibit 5-1 illustrates an historical overview of how the concept and
meaning of workforce diversity has evolved.
2. Diversity has traditionally been considered a term used by human
4. The Society for Human Resource Management says that diversity is often
used to refer to differences based on ethnicity, gender, age, religion,
5. The authors have chosen to define workplace diversity as the ways in
6. Surface-level diversity are easily perceived differences that may trigger
7. Deep-level diversity are differences in values, personality, and work
preferences that can affect the way people view organizational work
rewards, communicate, react to leaders, negotiate, and generally behave
at work.
B. Why Is Managing Workforce Diversity So Important?
1. People Management
a. Positive and explicit workforce diversity efforts can help
organizations attract and keep talented diverse people and make
2. Organizational Performance
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a. The performance benefits that organizations get from workforce
3. Strategic
a. Diverse employees bring a variety of viewpoints and approaches
to opportunities, which can improve how the organization markets
5.2 THE CHANGING WORKPLACE
In this section, we look at the demographic trends of the U.S. population and then at
1. Total Population:
a. The total population of the United States was 322 million in 2015.
2. Racial/Ethnic Groups
a. By 2050, the percentage of white Americans will decrease by
3. Aging Population
a. In 2015, the median age for the U.S. population was 37.8 years.
4. Impact of these Trends
a. Population trends are likely to have a major impact on U.S.
workplaces. These trends include the increasing number of
foreign-born U.S. workers and an aging workforce.
b. According to a recent analysis released by the U.S. Census
Bureau, nearly one in seven American workers is foreign-born.
While some of these jobs will be low paying, others will be white-
collar jobs.
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c. Other developing trends concerning immigrant workers are that
they are younger and more likely to be women and people of
color.
d. With such a diverse population, organizations can’t expect
employees to assimilate into the organization by adopting similar
attitudes and values. Instead, they should value the differences
that people bring to the workplace.
B. What About Global Workforce Changes?
1. Total World Population
a. The total world population in 2016 is estimated at over 7.3 billion
2. An Aging Population
a. The world’s population is now aging at an unprecedented rate.
5.3 TYPES OF WORKFORCE DIVERSITY
1. With many of the nearly 85 million baby boomers still employed and
active in the workforce, managers must ensure that those employees are
not discriminated against because of age.
2. Both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Age Discrimination in
3. Perceptions of older workers are often inaccurate. On the positive side,
many believe that older workers bring a number of good qualities to the
4. As baby boomers do retire, experts point out that some industries will
face severe shortages of qualified employees.
5. As boomers retire, 76 million members of Generation Y are either already
in or poised to enter the workforce. These workers will bring their own
2. The latest information shows that women’s median earnings were 83
percent of male full-time wage and salary workers.
3. While women make up more than half of today’s college students,
research shows that men start their careers at a higher level than women.
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4. Gender is often perceived as a determinant of work performance;
5. Women prefer more flexible work arrangements to help them
accommodate for family responsibilities.
6. Research evidence indicates that a “good” manager is still perceived as
predominantly masculine. But the reality is that women tend to use a
1. The issue of race and diversity has been an emotionally charged topic in
the United States.
2. Race is defined as the biological heritage (including physical
3. Ethnicity is related to race, but it refers to social traits—such as one’s
4. Research shows that individuals in workplaces tend to favor colleagues of
their own race in performance evaluations, promotion decisions, and pay
raises.
6. Other research shows that African Americans generally do worse than
whites in decisions related to the workplace. However, there is little
D. Disabilities/Abilities.
accessible to people with physical or mental disabilities and enables them
to effectively perform their jobs.
2. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission classifies a person
seizure disorder, schizophrenia, diabetes, and alcoholism.
4. Not every job can be made to accommodate an individual with a
5. Exhibit 5-6 describes some of the fears that employers may have about
1. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of
religion (as well as race/ethnicity, country of origin, and sex).
2. Today, it seems that the greatest religious diversity issue in the United
States revolves around Islam, one of the world’s most popular religions.
3. Religious beliefs can prohibit or encourage some work behaviors. For
example religious holidays may preclude an employee from work on a
1. Until 2015, U.S. federal law did not prohibit discrimination against
2. While laws have been passed in Europe to prohibit discrimination based
on gender identity, in the United States, it has been called the “last
acceptable bias.”
3. In the absence of legislation, many employers have taken varying
4. Many large companies are taking a stand and creating policies that
2. Other types of workplace diversity that managers might confront and have
to deal with include socioeconomic background (social class and income-
related factors), team members from different functional areas or
organizational units, physical attractiveness, obesity/thinness, job
seniority, or intellectual abilities.
FUTURE VISION: Diversity of Thought and Inclusion (D&I)
How individuals view diversity depends on their age. The Millennial generation, those born
between 1980 and 2000, defines diversity by focusing on deep-level differences. In contrast,
Baby Boomers and Generation X tend to focus more on surface-level differences.
Because Millennials will make up about three-quarters of the workforce by 2025, organizations
are recognizing that understanding the power of the deep-level definition of diversity is
important. Valuing diversity means openness to different perspectives, and those coming to the
workplace with varied experiences can bring with them this diversity of thought.
The following discussion questions are posed:
Talk About It 1: Do you agree that diverse cognitive viewpoints benefit organizations? What kind
of challenges could diverse thinking create for organizations?
Talk About It 2: How can managers cultivate diversity of thought?
5.4 CHALLENGES IN MANAGING DIVERSITY
While the majority of managers understand the value of a diverse workforce, there are
1. Employees bring many preconceived ideas about others into the
workplace.
3. One outcome of our personal biases can be prejudice, a preconceived
belief, opinion, or judgment toward a person or a group of people.
5. Both prejudice and stereotyping can lead to someone treating others who
6. Exhibit 5-7 shows the definitions and examples of different types of
discrimination.
7. Discrimination has potential financial consequences for organizations and
managers as well as loss in employee productivity, negative and
disruptive interpersonal conflicts, increased employee turnover, and
overall negative climate.
Leader Making a Difference
In this example of leaders who make a difference, we see the accomplishments of Dr. Rohini
Anand, who came to the United States, earned her PhD, and is now the chief diversity officer at
Sodexo. Growing up in India, Dr. Anand didn’t know that she was different, until she moved to
the U.S. Once here, she has maintained a strong commitment to diversity education. Sodexo
is now consistently recognized as one of Diversity Inc.’s top companies for promoting diversity.
What can you learn from this leader making a difference?
B. Glass Ceiling.
1. The term glass ceiling, first used in a Wall Street Journal article, refers to
the invisible barrier that separates women and minorities from top
2. Potential causes for the glass ceiling have ranged from lack of mentoring,
5.5 WORKPLACE DIVERSITY INITIATIVES
While the challenges to create and maintain a diverse workforce are daunting,
1. Federal legislation has been a compelling force to push workplace
2. Exhibit 5-8 describes the major equal employment opportunity laws with
B. Top Management Commitment to Diversity.
1. Diversity and inclusion should be part of the organization’s purpose,
goals, and strategies as well as every other aspect of business.
are valued, even to the point where individual performance is measured
and rewarded on diversity accomplishments.
C. Mentoring.
1. Mentoring is a process whereby an experienced organizational member
3. Exhibit 5-9 looks at what a good mentor does.
D. Diversity Skills Training.
1. Diversity skills training is specialized training to educate employees
3. Two types of diversity training:
a. Diversity awareness training helps to make employees aware of the
1. Employee resource groups are made up of employees connected by
some common dimension of diversity.
2. These groups are usually formed by the employees themselves, not the
3. Employee resource groups are useful in that diverse groups have the
opportunity to see that their existence is acknowledged and that they
have the support of people within and outside the group.
ANSWERS TO REVIEW AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
Student answers to these questions will vary.
5-1. Why is it important for an organization to have a clear definition of diversity?
5-2. Distinguish between surface-level diversity and deep level diversity. Why is it important to
understand the difference between the two?
5-3. What are the major trends in the changing populations of the United States and the world?
5-4. Distinguish between race and ethnicity.
In the text, race is defined as the biological heritage (including physical characteristics such as
5-5. What legal protection do employees have against discrimination based on sexual
orientation?
5-6. Explain the relationship between bias, prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination.
These topics can be seen as linked together like a chain. Bias is a tendency or preference
toward a particular perspective or ideology. Unchecked, a bias can lead to prejudice, a
5-7. What U.S. federal laws are important to workplace diversity initiatives?
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
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Discrimination Act (1978), Mandatory Retirement Act (1978), Americans with Disabilities Act
(1990), Civil Rights Act (1991), Family and Medical Leave Act (1993), Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay
5-8. Why do you think the glass ceiling has proven to be a barrier to women and minorities?
The text cites several potential causes for the glass ceiling including: lack of mentoring, sex
PERSONAL INVENTORY ASSESSMENTS
Student answers to these questions will vary.
INVENTORY ASSESSMENTS
ETHICS DILEMMA
Student answers to these questions will vary.
5-11. What biases, prejudices, and stereotypes do people have of people with disabilities?
5-12. What ethical issues might arise in workplaces with disabled workers? As a manager, how
might you handle such issues?
(LO: 3, Explain the different types of diversity found in workplaces, AACSB: Diverse and
multicultural work environments)
SKILLS EXERCISE: DEVELOPING YOUR VALUING DIVERSITY SKILL
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workplace diversity management initiatives, AACSB: Diverse and multicultural work
environments)
WORKING TOGETHER: TEAM EXERCISE
After the groups have done their research, they should share their ideas with the rest of the
class. (LO: 5, Describe various workplace diversity management initiatives, AACSB: Diverse
and multicultural work environments)
MY TURN TO BE A MANAGER
• Describe your experiences with people from other backgrounds. What challenges
have you faced? What have you learned that will help you in understanding the
unique needs and challenges of a diverse workplace? (LO: 4, Discuss the challenges
managers face in managing diversity, AACSB: Diverse and multicultural work
environments)
• Think of times when you may have been treated unfairly because of stereotypical
thinking. What stereotypes were being used? How did you respond to the treatment?
(LO: 3, Explain the different types of diversity found in workplaces, AACSB: Diverse
and multicultural work environments)
• Assume you are designing a mentoring program for an organization. Conduct some
research on mentoring programs that currently exist in different organizations and
identify characteristics of an effective mentoring program. (LO: 5, Describe various
workplace diversity management initiatives, AACSB: Diverse and multicultural work
environments)
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ANSWERS TO CASE APPLICATION 1 QUESTIONS
From Top to Bottom
5-13. How might population trends affect a professional services organization like PwC? What
might it have to do to adapt to these trends?
5-14. What challenges might PwC face in adapting to a more diverse applicant pool of college
graduates?
5-15. Businesses often face the dilemma of retaining diverse employees once they’re trained.
What can PwC do to retain its diverse employees?
5-16. What advantages do you think PwC’s mentoring program provides? What potential
drawbacks might there be?
5-17. PwC’s “rotating” chief diversity officer is an unusual approach. What advantages do you
see to such an arrangement? Drawbacks?
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A rotating position offers the advantage of having partners bring a different perspective to the
position of diversity officer. Because there are many types of diversity, rotating the position will
give the company and employees a variety of viewpoints on diversity and foster programs for
ANSWERS TO CASE APPLICATION 2 QUESTIONS
The Challenge of Toys for Girls
5-18. Consider the toys you played with when you were young. What do you think of the toys
that were marketed to girls?
5-19. Do you agree that gender diversity at the management level at a toy company could help
a company strategically?
5-20. Why do you think there are so few women in executive leadership positions in toy
companies?
5-21. How could toy companies improve the gender diversity of their leadership teams?
There are a variety of programs that could be used for new female managers including
