Journal assignments
Rain Ashbell
OB-PPT-Chapter5-DiversityinOrganizations2.pptxDiversity in Organizations
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
1
Welcome to Chapter 5 – Diversity in Organizations from our Organizational Behavior textbook
1
Learning Objectives
What is diversity?
How diverse is the workforce?
How does diversity impact companies and the workforce?
What is workplace discrimination, and how does it affect different social identity groups?
What key theories help managers understand the benefits and challenges of managing the diverse workforce?
How can managers reap benefits from diversity and mitigate its challenges?
What can organizations do to ensure applicants, employees, and customers from all backgrounds are valued?
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
2
The seven leaning objectives for this chapter are…
What is diversity?
How diverse is the workforce?
How does diversity impact companies and the workforce?
What is workplace discrimination, and how does it affect different social identity groups?
What key theories help managers understand the benefits and challenges of managing the diverse workforce?
How can managers reap benefits from diversity and mitigate its challenges?
What can organizations do to ensure applicants, employees, and customers from all backgrounds are valued?
2
Contents
An Introduction to Workplace Diversity
Diversity and the Workforce
Diversity and Its Impact on Companies
Challenges of Diversity
Key Diversity Theories
Benefits and Challenges of Workplace Diversity
Recommendations for Managing Diversity
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
3
The chapter is organized into seven sections that align with the learning outcomes…
An Introduction to Workplace Diversity (that is, defining diversity and kinds of diversity)
Diversity and the Workforce (covering gender, race, age, orientation, and immigration status)
Diversity and Its Impact on Companies (considering the opportunities with diversity in organizations)
Challenges of Diversity (considering how to manage diversity in organizations)
Key Diversity Theories (covering the major theories of diversity)
Benefits and Challenges of Workplace Diversity (examining the integration, access and fairness perspectives)
Recommendations for Managing Diversity (that is, considering best hiring practice in organizations)
…we will also touch on the TedTalk, ‘Why we have too few women leaders’, by Sheryl Sandberg
3
An Introduction to Workplace Diversity
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
4
An Introduction to Workplace Diversity defines diversity and kinds of diversity
4
Diversity Defined
Diversity refers to identity-based differences among and between two or more that affect their lives as applicants, employees, and customers
Groups in society based on these individual differences are referred to as identity groups
Inclusion, which represents the degree to which employees are accepted and treated fairly by their organization
Three Kinds of Diversity:
Surface-level diversity represents an individual’s visible characteristics
Deep-level diversity includes traits that are non-observable such as attitudes, values, and beliefs
Hidden diversity includes traits that are deep-level but may be concealed or revealed at the discretion of individuals who possess them
5
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
Diversity can simply be defined as differences between people that have an impact on our lives as citizens, employees, and customers.
The grouping together of people with a common difference, for example the differences between students, faculty, and staff at a university, are referred to as identity groups. As someone whose career has moved between being a student, a faculty member, a staff member and an administrator, I found the greatest alignment, for me personally, has been my faculty identity.
The term inclusion refers to the degree to which differences are accepted and treated fairly within an organization. For example, does sexual orientation, country of origin, skin color, or gender identity matter in how people are treated?
In general, diversity can take three distinct levels 1. surface level (which is easily observable, such as skin color), 2. deep-level (that are generally non-observable, such as attitudes, values and beliefs) and 3. hidden diversity (which are intentionally concealed)
For example, you can see I identify as a white, male faculty member; but it may take more exploring to learn deeper-level diversity, for example, that my partner is Asian; and I generally try to hide my political orientations when I teach classes (and in the workplace), as I don’t feel being socially liberal but fiscally conservative, as relevant to my work identity.
5
Diversity and the Workforce
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
6
Diversity and the Workforce will cover gender, race, age, orientation, and immigration
6
Diverse Workforce
Gender
Glass ceiling is an invisible barrier based on the prejudicial beliefs that underlie organizational decisions that prevent women from moving beyond certain levels within a company
Sexual harassment is defined as the unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature
Race
Age
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
Passing is the decision to not disclose
Revealing is the decision to be transparent about sexual orientation
Immigrant Workers
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
7
In terms of workforce diversity, some common identity groups or places were diversity can manifest are…
Immigrant status and the impact of those who are in the country, both legally and illegally and the limitations and added stress often placed on those groups toward participating in education, work, and the broader society
Sexual orientation and gender identity, and consideration is whether a person chooses to not disclose (called passing) or to disclose (called revealing) her or his status to others, and the use of gender neutral or preferred pronouns
Age and age discrimination, particularly in fields often considered ‘younger’ such as IT can have an impact on hiring, development, and promotion
We will talk later about equal employment opportunity, but we still see, despite several laws to the contrary, racial groups being marginalized or having inequitable outcomes in education, work, and even health
For gender, one of the biggest impediments to inclusion of more woman in leadership roles is the glass ceiling effect (which is an invisible barrier that prevents woman from advancing in organizations) and the still too common problem (as we have seen from the me-too movement) of sexual harassment
We will cover a bit more about gender when we consider Sheryl Sandberg’s TedTalk, ‘Why we have too few women leaders’, at the end of the presentation
7
Diversity and Its Impact on Companies
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
8
Diversity and Its Impact on Companies will consider the multiple opportunities with inclusion of diversity
8
Opportunities
Gaining a competitive edge by embracing change in the marketplace and the labor force:
Cost Advantages – reduced liability; lower turnover of woman and minorities
Resource Acquisition – enlarging the labor pool by attracting women and minorities
Marketing – gain broad perspectives regarding consumer preferences of different cultures
System Flexibility – builds cognitive flexibility, the ability to think about things differently and adapt one’s perspective
Creativity – different perspectives lead to a greater number of choices to select from when addressing a problem or issue
Problem Solving – preventing groupthink a dysfunction in decision-making that occurs in homogeneous groups as a result of group pressures and group members’ desire for conformity and consensus
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
9
There are number of strategic advantages toward having a diverse workforce, including…
Cost Advantages, through reduced turnover and liability, esp. for woman and underrepresented minority groups
Resource Acquisition, by enlarging your potential labor pool beyond a specific homogeneous identify group
Marketing, by gaining a broader perspective of your potential clients and customer preferences
System Flexibility, that is, building cognitive flexibility, with more diverse teams being able to think differently and adapt an organizations perspective
Creativity, with increased diversity providing greater number or range of choices to consider; and
Problem Solving, with diversity being a primary defense against groupthink, which occurs when homogenous groups fail to adequately problem solve, in their desire for conformity and consensus
9
Challenges of Diversity
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
10
Challenges of Diversity will consider how to manage diversity in organizations
10
Challenges
Effectively managing employees with different attitudes, values, and beliefs:
Lower Organizational Attachment
Legal Challenges and Diversity
Reverse discrimination is a term that has been used to describe a situation in which dominant group members perceive that they are experiencing discrimination based on their race or sex
Workplace discrimination occurs when an employee or an applicant is treated unfairly at work or in the job hiring process due to an identity group, condition, or personal characteristic
Harassment is any unwelcome conduct that is based on characteristics such as age, race, national origin, disability, sex, or pregnancy status
Other Types of Discrimination
Access discrimination is a catchall term that describes when people are denied employment opportunities because of their identity group or personal characteristics such as sex, race, age, or other factors
Treatment discrimination describes a situation in which people are employed but are treated differently while employed, mainly by receiving different and unequal job-related opportunities or rewards
Interpersonal or covert discrimination that involves discrimination that manifests itself in ways that are not visible or readily identifiable
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
11
Despite the multiple, documented benefits of diversity, there are still a few lingering challenges to effectively manage diversity in the workplace, including…
Lower organizational attainment, as mentioned earlier, we still see an overwhelming percentage of senior leaders in the US (whether in industry, politics, entertainment, or sports) that are predominantly older white male
Legal challenges such as discrimination and harassment lawsuits continue to be prevalent, putting pressure on management to document their decision making; and types of discrimination that managers need to be mindful of, including
Access (such as denying a persona a training opportunity or promotion), treatment (such as being more lenient or harsh in a performance appraisal based on identity group affiliation, rather than performance) and even in more covert or hard to identify ways (such as micro aggressions, which is a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority)
11
Key Diversity Theories
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
12
Key Diversity Theories will cover the major theories of diversity
12
Diversity Theories
Cognitive diversity hypothesis refers to differences between team members in characteristics such as expertise, experiences, and perspectives
The similarity attraction paradigm posits that individuals are attracted to others with whom they share attitude similarity
Social cognitive theory suggests that people use categorization to simplify and cope with large amounts of information
Stereotypes refer to the overgeneralization of characteristics about large groups
Social identity theory suggests that when we first meet others, we categorize them as belonging to an in group (the same group as us) or an out-group (not belonging to our group)
Schema theory explains how individuals encode information about others based on their demographic characteristics
The justification-suppression model explains the circumstances in which prejudiced people might act on their prejudices
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
13
There are several diversity theories to consider, including…
Cognitive diversity hypothesis, that diversity positively influences performance
Similarity attraction paradigm, that diversity may produce conflict and higher employee turnover (for those who are not similar)
Social cognitive theory, where we label people, using stereotypes (which are an overgeneralization of characteristics about large groups)
Social identity theory, where we categorize people into an in-group (i.e., the same as us) and an out-group (as not belonging to our group)
Schema theory, which is how we encode information, often using demographic characteristics; and
Justification-suppression model, which identifies circumstances where our prejudices are either suppressed or acted upon
13
Benefits and Challenges of Workplace Diversity
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
14
Benefits and Challenges of Workplace Diversity considers integration, access and fairness perspectives
14
Perspectives on Workplace Diversity
The integration-and-learning perspective posits that the different life experiences, skills, and perspectives that members of diverse cultural identity groups possess can be a valuable resource in the context of work groups
The access-and-legitimacy perspective focuses on the benefit that a diverse workforce can bring to a business that wishes to operate within a diverse set of markets or with culturally diverse clients
The discrimination-and-fairness perspective stems from a belief that a culturally diverse workforce is a moral duty that must be maintained in order to create a just and fair society
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
15
A few perspectives on the benefits of workplace diversity, include…
Integration-and-learning perspective, seeing diversity as a valuable resource for the organization;;
Access-and-legitimacy perspective, where aligning your organization diversity to your client diversity provides greater access to diverse markets; and
Discrimination-and-fairness perspective, that regardless of the value of diversity or the access it provides, we have a moral duty to have a just and fair society, which means equity and inclusion for diverse identity groups
15
Recommendations for Managing Diversity
Organizational Behavior
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
16
Recommendations for Managing Diversity considers best hiring practices
16
Recommendations
Interview Selection Process
Use highly structured interviews during the selection process to avoid bias based on race or gender
Diversified Mentoring Relationships
Diversified mentoring relationships are relationships in which the mentor and the mentee differ in terms of their status within the company and within larger society
Job analysis
Same questions
Limited prompting
Better questions
Longer interviews
Control of ancillary information
Limited questions from candidates
Multiple rating scales
Anchored rating scales
Detailed notes
Multiple interviewers
Consistent interviewers
No discussion between interviews
Training
Statistical prediction
Organizational Behavior by OpenStax, 2019
17
In the selection or hiring process, a few key recommendations to increase equity and inclusion….
First, use a highly structured (or directed) vs. an unstructured (or non-directive) interview process. When you use an unstructured interview, you are leaving the process open to bias, either consciously or unconsciously
Second, when Interviewing make sure to emphasize consistency (each applicant should go through the same process, and be asked the same questions), use behaviorally based questions (that is, ask applicants to describe how they reacted to actual situations in the past), only allow limited prompting/candidate questions (such as, what questions do you have for us, which is generally a loaded question with varying expectations from the interviewers), use common rating scales (or rubrics), and provide training on the process, equal employment opportunity, potential biases, and consensus scoring
Finally, it is important, for onboarding new employees is to have a diversified mentoring relationships, so that they can gain access to key relationships that can enhance their career
17
Sheryl Sandberg Why we have too few women leaders
Organizational Behavior
https://www.ted.com/read/ted-studies/management
18
Sheryl Sandberg, ‘Why we have too few women leaders’, Dec 2010
https://www.ted.com/talks/sheryl_sandberg_why_we_have_too_few_women_leaders
Let’s consider the TedTalk by Sheryl Sandberg on Why we have too few woman leaders…
18
Why we have too few women leaders
Sit at the table
Men attribute success to internal factors, women attribute success to external factors
Success and likeability are positively correlated for men; but negatively correlated for woman
Make your partner a real partner
In a household, if both parents work and have children…the woman does x2 housework and x3 childcare
Don’t leave before you leave
Stay in until the day you need to leave to take a break for a child
19
https://www.ted.com/read/ted-studies/management
The three key takeaway issues to consider from the TedTalk are:
Sit at the table (recognize the fundamental attribution error and locus of control that will influence how success is characterized between men and woman; for men, they tend to attribute success to themselves and failure to the environment; but woman flip the script, often ascribing success to luck, and failure as their own fault)
Make your partner a real partner (consider a 7-day week, how many hours do you spend at work and taking care of your home and family and is that time equitably distributed or does one partner or the other often have to do the majority of the work)
Don’t leave before you leave (whatever your family plans, if you have an opportunity in front of you, then why not take it, sometimes we outthink ourselves in considering all the future possibilities, and then fail to size the chance when it is presented)
And that concludes the presentation for Chapter 5 – Diversity in Organizations.
19
