Diversity in Organizations: An Overview PDF

diversity in organization surface level diversity- differences in easily perceived characterstics such as gender,race,ethnecity,age or disability or disability that do not necessarily reflect the ways the people think or feel but that may ac...

diversity in organization surface level diversity- differences in easily perceived characterstics such as gender,race,ethnecity,age or disability or disability that do not necessarily reflect the ways the people think or feel but that may activate certain steryotypes deep level diversity- differences in personality,values and work preferences that become progressively more important for determining similarity as people get to know one another better there is a link between surface level diversity and deep level diversity - we hate some people because we do not know them and we will not know them because we hate them steryotyping judging someone on the basis of our perception of the group to which that person belongs discrimination- noting of a difference between things often we refer to unfair discrimination, which means making judgements about individuals based on steryotypes regarding their demographic group stereotypical threat - the degree to which we are concerned with being judged by or treated negatively based on a certain stereotype types of discrimination discriminatory poliies of practices - actions taken by the representatives of the organization that deny equal opportunity to perform or unequal reward for performance sexual harassment- unwanted sexual advances and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that create a hostile or offensive work environment intimidation - overt threats or bullying directed at members of specific group of employees mockery and insults- jokes or negative stereotype sometimes the result of the joke is taken too far Exclusion- exclusion of cetain people from job opportunity social events discussions ' incivility - disrespectful treatment including behaving in an aggressive manner interrupting the person biographical characteristics - characteristics such as age, sex, race and length of tenure that are objective and easily obtained from personnel records these characteristics represent surface level diversity age - studies show that turnover and absenteeism rates are lower among older workers and age is not associated with lower productivity sex- there are no consistent male female differences in problem solving ability analytical skills competitive drive motivation sociability or learning drive women earn less than men and have less professional opportunity race and ethnicity- laws against race and ethnic discrimination are in effect in a lot of countries but- 1. employees tend to favor colleagues of their own race in performance evaluation promotion decisions and pay raises 2. African americans generally fair worse than white in employement decisions tenure tenure is a good predictor of employee productivity tenure and job performance are positively related religion us law prohibits discrimination based on religion but it is still an issue specially for muslims sexual orientation and gender identity 1.federal law does not protect employees against discrimination based on sexual orientation though many states and muncipilites do 2.many fortune 500 companies have policies covering sexual orientation and about half now have policies on gender identity cultural identity need to accommodate and respect individual cultural identities US vs Them disabilities- THE US Equal employment opportunity commission classifies a person as disabled who has any physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major activity workers with disabilities receive higher work performance evaluations but may have lower work expectations Hidden disabilities sensory disabilities, chronic illness or pain, cognitive or learning impairment , sleep disorder and psychological challanges US organizations must accommodate empoyees with a wide range of impairment positive diversity climate - in an organization an environment of inclusiveness and an acceptance of diversity ability- an individuals capacity to perform the various tasks in job two types of abilities are 1.intellectual ability intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental task -thinking ,resoning and problem solving general mental ability is an overall factor of intelligence as suggested by the positive correlations among specific intellectual ability dimentions dimentions are- 1.number aptitude- ability to do speedy and acurate arthametic 2.verbal comprehention- ability to understand what is read and heard 3.perceptual speed- ability to identify visual similarity and differentiate quickly and accurately 4.inductive reasoning - ability to identify a logical sequence in the problem and then solve the problem 5.deductive reasoning - ability to use logic and assess the implications of an argument 6. spatial visualisation - ability to imagine how an object would look if its position in space were changed 7. memory - ability to retain and recall past experiences physical ability the capacity to do task demanding stamina,dexterity, strength and similar characterstics there are 9 basic abilities related to strength flexibility and other factors are needed to perform physical task 1.dynamic strength - ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuous over time 2.trunk strength - ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk muscles 3.static strength - ability to exert force against external objects 4. explosive strength - ability to expend the maximum energy in one or series of explosive acts \ 5. extent flexibility - ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible 6. dynamic flexibility - ability to make rapid repeated flexing movements 7. body coordination- ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different part of the body 8. balance - ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces putting you offbalance 9. stamina - ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged effort over time diversity management the process and programs by which managers make everyone more aware and sensitive to the needs and differences of others