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Book Title: eTextbook: Organizational Communication: Approaches and Processes Chapter 12. Organizational Diversity Processes Summary

Summary In this chapter, we have looked at the changing face of organizations by

considering the explosion of diversity in today’s workplace. We began this

chapter by considering several aspects of the experiences of women and

minorities in organizations today. We found that women and people of color

often deal with stereotyping and discrimination as well as systemic and

relational barriers in the workplace. We then considered the concept of a

multicultural organization and discussed the opportunities and challenges

posed by diversity. We concluded by outlining steps organizations can take in

moving toward multiculturalism.

As seen in Table 12.3, the notion of diversity would be viewed very differently

by different types of organizational communication scholars and practitioners.

Managers taking a classical approach would probably go to great lengths to

avoid diversity. After all, the classical approach is based on the concept of

standardization, and there is nothing standardized about a diverse work

population. Human relations proponents would strive to meet the needs of a

diverse workforce but would probably do little to either encourage or

discourage diversity. In contrast, individuals from the human resources school

would embrace diversity if they were convinced that a diverse workforce could

provide a competitive advantage. The arguments we discussed regarding

increased creativity and improved decision making would probably convince

human resources managers to work toward the goal of an effective

multicultural organization.

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Approach How Diversity Would Be Considered

Classical Because diversity would limit the homogeneity of

the workforce and hence be distracting or

detrimental to morale, diversity would be

discouraged.

Human

relations

Diversity would be neither encouraged nor

discouraged. Emphasis would be placed on

meeting the needs of women, minorities, and

other co-cultural groups.

Human

resources

Diversity would be encouraged by increased

creativity and new ideas would increase the

competitive advantage for the organization.

Emphasis would be placed on maximizing the

contributions of all employees.

Systems Diversity would be seen as one avenue for the

organization to adapt effectively to a turbulent

global environment. Integration of women and

minorities into formal and informal networks

would be emphasized.

Table 12.3 Approaches to Organizational Diversity

A systems researcher would be particularly interested in the structural

challenges facing diverse employees. As mentioned earlier, women and people

of color are often excluded from formal and informal communication

networks, and a systems approach would be a viable avenue for explaining

and rectifying this problem. Scholars taking a cultural approach to the study of

organizational communication would also be vitally interested in diversity as

Approach How Diversity Would Be Considered

Cultural Diverse organizations would be seen as important

sites where organizational culture intersects with

national and ethnic culture and with the values of

various co-cultural groups.

Constitutive Emphasis would be placed on the processes

through which the intersections of various value

systems are negotiated through ongoing

interaction.

Critical Diverse organizations would be seen as an arena

in which subjugated groups must deal with the

dominant class. Emphasis would be placed on the

perpetuation of—or emancipation from—

hegemonic relationships.

Feminist Scholarly and activist attention would be given to

the ongoing challenges faced by women and other

co-cultural groups in diverse organizations such as

harassment and home–work balance.

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an organization with employees representing a variety of co-cultural groups

can be viewed as an intersection of cultural values. For the constitutive scholar,

interest would turn to the discursive processes through which this cultural

system is created and re-created. Finally, critical scholars have already taken

an interest in some of the power discrepancies that can arise in a diverse

organization, and feminist scholars are, of course, concerned with the

challenges faced by women in a patriarchal organizational context.

Discussion Questions

1. What have your experiences told you about the differences in

organizational life for white men and for women and people of

color? If you are a white male, do you believe these differences are

real and viable? If you are a woman or a person of color (or both), do

you think your workplace experiences are influenced by your

gender, culture, or ethnicity? How do factors such as disability and

sexual orientation make a difference in organizational life?

2. What is the difference between managing diversity and celebrating

diversity? Is this a valuable distinction to make or merely a matter of

semantics?

3. What do you think about affirmative action programs—both at the

university level and in the workplace? Are these programs important

to increasing diversity? Is affirmative action an equitable way of

dealing with this issue?

4. Has the challenge of balancing home and work life been an issue in

your family? If you are a traditional college-aged student, how did

this issue play out as you were growing up? Will the way your

parents dealt with this issue influence your career and work choices?

Key Concepts

Case Study The Complex Challenges of Encouraging Diversity The San Lucas Unified School District has a very aggressive affirmative action

program. San Lucas, a midsize city in the Southwest, has a population that is

approximately 50% white, 10% African American, and 40% Hispanic (mostly

affirmative action

Americans with Disabilities Act

business case for diversity

discrimination

Employment Non-Discrimination Act

family-friendly programs

glass ceiling

lean in

mentoring relationships

mommy track

multicultural organization

microaggressions

opt-in

opt-out

prejudice

stereotypes

tokenism

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Mexican American). School district officials are strongly committed to

recruiting and retaining teachers who represent this diverse population. They

believe that students should have positive role models from their own ethnic

groups and also think that a diverse teaching staff is best able to deal with

student differences stemming from unique cultural backgrounds. The school

district’s goal is to achieve a teaching staff that has the same proportion of

minority groups as in the local population. District officials realized early on

that achieving this goal would be no easy task, so they instituted a set of hiring

procedures they hoped would attract minority applicants. Then, they worked to

make especially attractive offers to these candidates and instituted special

programs (mostly seminars and workshops) designed to aid in these recruits’

adjustment and to decrease turnover.

The officials hoped that Maria Sanchez would be one of their early success

stories. Maria was hired straight out of the state university into a position at

San Lucas High School. She specializes in the science curriculum, teaching

mostly courses in biology and general science. Hired at the highest salary

possible for a new graduate, Maria also negotiated several conditions that were

not part of the traditional employment contract. She felt she needed an extra

dedicated laptop to prepare exercises and graphics for her classes, and the

school board provided one. She wanted her classes to have additional access to

the school’s iPads. She also asked for an extra free period each day for class

preparation. She felt this was necessary because much of her afterschool time

would be taken up by extracurricular activities and counseling the Hispanic

students at the high school. The school board also complied with this request,

agreeing that Maria’s role in providing social support for the students was an

important one.

Some rough times marked the first two years of Maria’s contract with San

Lucas High School. Her teaching evaluations were uneven because she had

trouble maintaining control in the classroom and had difficulty explaining

basic concepts to her first-year classes. She was much more effective in her

advanced biology classes, where she could use extended simulations to

illustrate complex processes. In general, the students liked her, but some

complained that she played favorites. She also ran into problems with her

coworkers. Most of the teachers were friendly with her on an interpersonal

level, but they were concerned that she was rarely willing to serve on

curriculum, planning, or special-events committees.

After two years, Maria’s probationary period was over, and it was time to make

a decision about a long-term contract. Three representatives of the school

district were meeting to discuss this issue: Jan Dobos, director of minority

recruitment for the district; Raul Rivera, the principal at San Lucas High

School; and Zoe Grainger, head of the teachers’ union.

Jan opened up the discussion. “It looks like Ms. Sanchez is doing a reasonably

good job at the high school, and I definitely think she should be given a long-

term contract. She’s doing great work providing advice for many of the Latina

girls who have no one else to talk to. And her teaching is beginning to shape up.

I think with a bit more support from the district, she can develop into a really

valuable contributor.”

“We’ve got a problem here if you’re talking about giving Maria even more

support,” Zoe interrupted. “There’s already some discontent among the high

school teachers about the special perks Maria got when she signed on here. She

has more computing support than they do, and they resent the fact that she

only has four classes a day while they’re teaching five. It’s not that they don’t

support the diversity program here, but they see it coming out of their own

hides. We’ve been told that we’re now living in a ‘post-racial society’ but it

doesn’t feel that way here.”

“And aren’t we forgetting something here?” added Raul. “What about what’s

best for Maria?”

Zoe laughed. “Most of the teachers don’t think Maria’s needs are being

forgotten! Quite the contrary, it seems that Maria’s needs are being considered

over everyone else’s—other teachers’ and the students’!”

“That’s just what I’m getting at,” said Raul. “I’ve talked to Maria a lot about this,

and I don’t think you’ve taken her perspective at all. She’s in a tough situation

here. She feels like she’s expected to be the perfect cultural role model for

students and the school board alike. And she doesn’t have anyone to serve as a

role model for her; she’s just feeling her way through the system. Maria’s under

a microscope—expected to advise minority students as well as serve in

outreach programs. You may not think she pulls her weight with school

committees, but you don’t know the half of what she does with community

programs.”

“So, what do we do?” asked Jan. “We need to make an immediate

recommendation to the school board. Does she get a long-term contract, and if

so, what should it look like?”

Case Analysis Questions

1. What do you think of the cultural diversity program in the San Lucas

school district? Are the goals of this program reasonable? Are good

systems in place for reaching these goals? What alternative ideas

could you suggest to the school district for improving its program?

2. What should this committee recommend to the school board with

respect to retaining Maria Sanchez? What other recommendations

should they make to the board given what they have learned from

their experiences so far?

3. How can you explain the very different experiences of Maria and

other teachers at the high school? Is there an avenue that could be

taken to cope with these differences? How could this situation be

managed to improve the situation for Maria, for other teachers, for

the students, and for the community?

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