Chapter 2

Diversity in Organizations

2-1
 DESCRIBE THE TWO MAJOR
FORMS OF
WORKFORCE
DIVERSITY
Diversity Management

Surface-Level Diversity

Deep-Level Diversity

2-3
 Surface-level diversity:
◦ Difference in easily perceived characteristics.
◦ It can lead employees to perceive one another
through stereotype and assumption.
◦Such as race, age, gender…

 Deep-level diversity:
◦More important for determining similarity as people
get to know one another.
◦Such as vales, personality, and work preferences.

3
 Discrimination means we allowing our behavior
to be influence by stereotypes about groups of
people.
◦ Unfair discrimination is often very harmful to
organization and employees, such as reduced
productivity, negative conflicts, and increased turnover.

◦ Discrimination type
 Discriminatory policies or practices
 Sexual harassment
 Intimidation
 Mockery and insults
 exclusion
 incivility
4
DESCRIBE THE
InsertTWO MAJOR
Exhibit 2.1 FORMS
OF WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-4

 BIOGRAPHICAL
CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW ARE
THEY RELEVANT TO OB
• Biographical characteristics means personal characteristics that are
objective and easily obtained from personal records.
• Surface-level diversity
• such as age, gender, race, and length of tenure

Age
 Belief is widespread that job performance
declines with increasing age.
 The workforce is aging.

2-6
 BIOGRAPHICAL
CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW ARE
THEY RELEVANT TO OB
Those readily available in a personnel
file
 Few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions,
Gender
and unsupported opinions than whether women
perform as well on jobs as men do.
 Few, if any, important differences between men and
women affect job performance.
 Psychological studies have found women are more
agreeable and willing to conform to authority,
whereas men are more aggressive and more likely
to have expectations of success, but those
differences are minor. 2-7
 BIOGRAPHICAL
CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW ARE
THEY RELEVANT TO OB
Race and Ethnicity
 Employees tend to favor colleagues for
their own race in performance
evaluations, promotion decisions, pay
raises.
 Different attitudes on affirmative action
or quota filling can affect the
performance of minority groups in the
organization.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-8
 BIOGRAPHICAL
CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW ARE
THEY RELEVANT TO OB
Disability
 A person is disabled who has any physical or
mental impairment that substantially limits
one or more major life activities.
 The “reasonable accommodation” is
• problematic for employers.
 Strong biases exist against those with mental
impairment.
2-9
 BIOGRAPHICAL
CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW ARE
THEY RELEVANT TO OB
Tenure
 The issue of the impact of job seniority on job
performance has been subject to
misconceptions and speculations.
Religion
 Although employees are protected by federal
law regarding their religion in some countries, it
is still an issue in the workplace.

2-10
 BIOGRAPHICAL
CHARACTERISTICS AND HOW ARE
THEY RELEVANT TO OB
Sexual orientation
 Federal law does not protect employees
against discrimination based on sexual
orientation.
Gender identity
 Often referred to as transgender
employees, this topic encompasses
those individuals who change genders.
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-11
 STEREOTYPES AND HOW
THEY FUNCTION IN
ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS
 “Discrimination” is to note a difference
between things.
 Unfair discrimination is assuming
stereotypes about groups and refusing
to recognize differences.

2-12
 DEFINE INTELLECTUAL
ABILITYAND DEMONSTRATE ITS
RELEVANCE TO OB
Ability is an individual’s current
capacity
to perform various tasks in a job
Two types
 Intellectual abilities
 Physical abilities

2-13
 DEFINE INTELLECTUAL
ABILITYAND DEMONSTRATE ITS
RELEVANCE TO OB
 Intellectual abilities are abilities needed
to perform mental activities—thinking,
reasoning, and problem solving.
 Most societies place a high value on
intelligence, and for good reason.

2-14
 Number
Aptitud
e Verbal
Comprehension
Memory

Intellectual
Spatial
Visualization
Ability Perceptual
Speed

Deductive Inductive
Reasonin Reasoning
Exhibit g
2-15
2.2
 CONTRAST INTELLECTUAL
FROM PHYSICAL ABILITY
 Physical Abilities
 The capacity to do tasks demanding
stamina, dexterity, strength, and similar
characteristics.
 The three main categories of physical
ability are…
 Strength
 Flexibility
 And Other characteristics
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-16
 CONTRAST INTELLECTUAL
FROM PHYSICAL ABILITY
Insert Exhibit 2.3

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-16

 CONTRAST INTELLECTUAL
FROM PHYSICAL ABILITY
 Importance of ability at work increases
difficulty in formulating workplace policies
that recognize disabilities.
 Recognizing that individuals have different
abilities that can be taken into account when
making hiring decisions is not problematic.
 It is also possible to make accommodations
for disabilities.
2-18
 Diversity management is a process and
programs by which managers make everyone
more aware of and sensitive to the needs and
differences of others.
 Describe How Organizations
Manage Diversity Effectively

Attracting,
Selecting,
Developing, and
Retaining Diverse
Employees

Diversity in
Effective Diversity
Groups
Programs
2-21
 Attract diverse employees : target recruiting
messages to specific demographic groups
underrepresented in the workforce.
The selection process is one of the most important
places for diversity efforts.
◦Fair and objective, qualifications are more important!

Similarity in personality does appear to affect career

advancement.
◦Collectivistic cultures & individualistic cultures
◦Deep-level diversity is more important than surface-level
diversity.
2
2
 Individuals who are demographically different
from their co-works are more likely to feel low
commitment and turn out.
 All workers appeared to prefer an organization
that values diversity.
 DESCRIBE HOW
ORGANIZATIONS MANAGE
DIVERSITY EFFECTIVELY

Effective Diversity Programs

Teach Legal Framework

Teach the
Foster the Skills Market
and Abilities of Advantages
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education 2-24
All Workers
 Biographical Characteristics
◦ Some biographical vary across culture.
 Intellectual Ability
◦ Evidence strongly supports the idea that the
structures and measures of intellectual abilities
generalize across culture.
 Diversity Management

2
6