Chapter 2 Diversity in Organizations Page
15
Chapter 2
Diversity in Organizations
Chapter Overview
This chapter examines individual characteristics including age, gender,
race, ethnicity, and abilities, and how they influence employee performance; how managers
Chapter Objectives
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to:
2. Recognize stereotypes and understand how they function in
organizational settings.
OB.
4. Define intellectual ability and demonstrate its relevance to OB.
6. Describe how organizations manage diversity effectively.
Suggested Lecture Outline
I. INTRODUCTION
A. In this chapter, we look at the two major forms of workforce diversity, recognize
stereotypes and their influence in organizational settings, define intellectual
II. DIVERSITY
A. Demographic Characteristics of the U.S. Workforce
1. A change has occurred in the formerly predominantly white,
male managerial workforce. Today’s workforce is gender–
2. This permanent shift toward a diverse workforce means organizations need to
PPT 2.1
PPT 2.3
1. The relationship between age and job performance is likely to be an issue of
increasing importance during the next decade for at least three reasons.
2. What effect does age actually have on turnover, absenteeism, productivity, and
satisfaction?
a. The older you get, the less likely you are to quit your job.
b. In general, older employees have lower rates of avoidable absence than do
younger employees. However, they have equal rates of unavoidable absence
C. Sex.
1. Few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions, and
unsupported opinions than whether women perform as well on jobs as men do.
3. Unfortunately, sex roles still affect our perceptions.
a. Women who succeed in traditionally male domains are perceived as less
4. What about absence and turnover rates?
PPT 2.8
5. Again, it is worth asking what the implications of sex discrimination are for
D. Race and Ethnicity.
2. Most people in the United States identify themselves according to racial groups.
The U.S. Bureau if the Census classifies individuals according
to seven broad racial categories.: American Indian and
3. Race and ethnicity have been studied as they relate to employment outcomes
such as hiring decisions, performance evaluations, pay, and workplace
discrimination. We can summarize a few points.
a. In employment settings, individuals tend to slightly favor colleagues of their
4. Does racial and ethnic discrimination lead to negative workplace outcomes?
5. The evidence isn’t entirely clear. Considerable evidence suggests that diversity
6. On the other hand, some research suggests that having a positive climate for
diversity overall can lead to increased sales.
7. For many employers, diversity is a value imperative – they believe they must
increase the diversity of their workforce for legal or ethical reasons.
E. Disability.
disabilities in the U.S. workforce rapidly increased.
2. Making inferences about the relationship between disability and employment
PPT 2.9
3. One of the most controversial aspects of the ADA is the provision that requires
4. The impact of disabilities on employment outcomes has been explored from a
variety of perspectives.
a. On the one hand, a review of the evidence suggests that workers with
disabilities receive higher performance evaluations, whether or not the
F. Other Biographical Characteristics: Tenure, Religion, Sexual
Orientation, and Gender Identity.
1. Tenure. Except for gender and racial differences, few issues are more subject to
misconceptions and speculations than the impact of seniority on job
performance.
2. Religion. Perhaps the greatest religious diversity issue in the United States today
revolves around Islam.
3. Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.
a. Employees differ widely in their treatment of sexual orientation.
b. Federal law does not prohibit discrimination against employees based on
PPT 2.11
Chapter 2 Diversity in Organizations Page
20
IV. ABILITY
G. Ability is an individual’s current capacity to perform the various
tasks in a job. Overall abilities are made up of two sets of
factors: intellectual and physical.
H. Intellectual Abilities
1. Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental
activities – thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.
2. Most societies place a high value on intelligence, and for
good reason.
4. They are also more likely to emerge as leaders of groups.
5. As shown in Exhibit 2-2, the seven most frequently cited dimensions making up
intellectual abilities are number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual
speed, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, and
memory.
6. Jobs differ in the demands they place on intellectual abilities.
a. The more complex a job in terms of information-processing demands, the
7. Interestingly, while intelligence is a big help in performing a job well, it doesn’t
make people happier or more satisfied with their jobs.
I. Physical Abilities
1. Though the changing nature of work suggests intellectual
2. Research on hundreds of jobs has identified nine basic abilities (see Exhibit 2-3)
needed in the performance of physical tasks.
3. Individuals differ in the extent to which they have each of these abilities.
J. The Role of Disabilities
Exhibit 2.2
Exhibit 2.3
PPT 2.12
PPT 2.13
PPT 2.14
1. The importance of ability obviously creates problems when we attempt to
3. However, it is discriminatory to make blanket assumptions about people on the
basis of a disability.
V. IMPLEMENTING DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
V. Diversity management makes everyone more aware of
and sensitive to the needs and differences of others.
i. Diversity is much more likely to be successful
when we see it as everyone’s business than if we believe it helps only
certain groups of employees.
VI. Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and Retaining Diverse
Employees
i. One method of enhancing workforce diversity is
to target recruiting messages to specific demographic groups
underrepresented in the workforce.
1. This means placing advertisements in publications geared
toward specific demographic groups; recruiting at colleges,
universities, and other institutions with significant numbers
of underrepresented minorities, and forming partnerships
with associations like the Society for Women Engineers or
the Graduate Minority Business Association.
ii. The selection process is one of the most important places to apply
diversity efforts.
1. Managers who hire need to value fairness and objectivity in
2. Fortunately, ensuring that hiring is bias-free does appear to
work. Where managers use a well-defined protocol for
assessing applicant talent and the organization clearly
1. Those whose personality traits are similar to those of their
co-workers are more likely to be promoted than those who
personalities are different.
v. In collectivistic cultures, similarity is more important for predicting
advancement, whereas in individualistic cultures, similarity to peers
is more important.
vi. Research shows that all managers, African-American, Hispanic, and
White, prefer an organization that values diversity.
VII. Diversity in Groups
i. In some cases, diversity in traits can hurt team
performance, whereas in others it can facilitate
PPT 2.17
PPT 2.15
PPT 2.16
3. (3) if the perceiver engages in stereotype suppression and
generative thought in response to the diversity experience,
and
4. (4) if the positive experience of stereotype undermining is
repeated frequently.
1. They can often improve recruiting practices, make selection
systems more transparent, and provide training for those
employees who have not had adequate exposure to certain
materials in the past.
III. IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS
A. Most research shows fairly minimal effects of biographical
characteristics on job performance.
B. An effective selection process will improve the fit between
employees and job requirements.
Discussion Questions
1. Describe the two main levels of diversity. Give an example for each.
Answer: Surface-level diversity is reflected in demographics like age, race, and
gender. It can lead employees to perceive one another through stereotypes and
2. What is the role of stereotypes in an organization?
3. List and describe key biographical characteristics. How are they relevant to OB?
PPT 2.20
PPT 2.19
Chapter 2 Diversity in Organizations Page
24
4. Define intellectual ability. What is the relevance of intellectual ability to OB?
5. Compare and contrast intellectual and physical ability.
6. How can organizations effectively manage diversity?
Exercises
1. Self-analysis. What is your position on diversity in the workplace? How would you
describe your attitude toward diversity? Be detailed in your analysis.
2. Web Crawling. Find and present an online article on diversity in a country other
Chapter 2 Diversity in Organizations Page
25
important. Next, explore the lists for each employee level and discuss how and why
they should be different
4. Analyzing Your Organization (Cumulative Project). Ask students to brainstorm
three diversity scenarios that could be encountered in an organization. For
example, one scenario could involve two individuals who are up for a promotion.
One is a white male, the other a Hispanic woman. The team making the decision is
Suggested Assignments:
1. In 2012, Diversity Inc. recognized eight companies for their efforts at
diversity management. Divide the class into small groups and ask each
2. Ask each group to watch the clips of the award recipients and identify the
common themes on successful diversity management. How has each award
recipient approached diversity management?
3. After the small group work, have the students write up the findings and the