CH-5: DIVERSITY

Syed Far Abid Hossain

Can you think about the picture?
Which Generation are You?
Generation Name Birth Birth Oldest Youngest
Starts Ends Age Age
Today Today
The Lost Generation 1890 1915 129 104
The Interbellum Generation 1901 1913 118 102

The Greatest Generation 1910 1924 109 95

The Silent Generation 1925 1945 94 74
Baby Boomer Generation 1946 1964 73 55
Generation X 1965 1980 54 39
Generation Y/ Millennials 1981 1995 38 24
Generation Z/ iGen 1996 2012 23 7
Gen Alpha 2013 2025 6 -----
What is Workforce Diversity?
◦ The ways in which people in an organization are different from and similar to
one another.
◦ Notice that our definition not only focuses on the differences, but also the
similarities of employees.
◦ This reinforces our belief that managers and organizations should view
employees as having qualities in common as well as differences that separate
them.
Example
Common Stereotypes

People with
Women White Men
Disabilities

Black People Chinese Men Jewish People

Athletes Accountants Arab People

Class Task: Could you identify diversified
students in the class? – 3 minutes
2 Concepts
◦ There are two concepts-
1. Surface level diversity
2. Deep level diversity
Think about the graph – 3 minutes
Surface-Level Diversity
Age

Personalit Attitude
y s
Physical Race/
Capabilities
Deep-Level Diversity Ethnicity

Values/Beliefs

Gender

9
Surface level diversity

◦ The demographic characteristics that we tend to think of when we

think of diversity—age, race, gender, ethnicity, and so on
◦ These demographic differences reflect surface-level diversity,
which includes easily perceived differences that may trigger certain
stereotypes but don’t necessarily reflect the ways people think or
feel.
Deep level diversity

◦ As people get to know one another, these surface-level differences

become less important and deep-level diversity—differences in
values, personality, and work preferences—becomes more
important.
◦ These deep-level differences can affect the way people view
organizational work rewards, communicate, react to leaders,
negotiate, and generally behave at work.
Benefits of Diversity