Phillips northwestern university sun young kimjun northwestern university sohyeon shim northwestern university what is the value of diversity. Managing workplace diversity and inclusion a psychological perspective rosemary haysthomas r. Some companies may not make cultural diversity a priority. Social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and inclusion in national and global contexts. Workforce diversity is the bringing together of a variety of people to one workplace. This has become a first principle of modern crowd psychology and has been expanded to postulate that when individuals form a group, this group behaves differently than each individual would normally act. Diversity theory is grounded on concepts based on history, research and other paradigms. Managing workforce diversity to enhance cooperation in. Its not news that minorities are severely underrepresented in both science and science education. This chapter links psychological perspectives social cognition, social identity theory and status characteristics theory to recent research on workplace diversity. We recognize, value, and affirm that social diversity contributes richness to the. Organizational barriers to diversity in the workplace.
Three social dilemmas of workforce diversity in organizations. This is a profound question that has spawned a proliferation of scholarly research, popular books, and civic dialogue. A 2002 article by cohen and colleagues introduced the notion that greater diversity in the workforce can advance cultural competency by allowing individuals from varied racialethnic backgrounds to interact with each other. Moriom ferdousi abstract diversity and diversity management in multicultural workforce is increasingly becoming an important issue for the business in the era of globalization. Social identity ingroup favoritisminclusion and outgroup discrimination exclusion desire to belong to groups that enjoy distinct and positive identities social comparison between ingroup and outgroup social structures individual identity figure11. Social psychology is to do with the way these feelings, thoughts, beliefs, intentions and goals are constructed and how such psychological factors, in turn, influence our interactions with others.
Workplace diversity diversity, equity and inclusion. Learn about the issues associated with workforce diversity and take a quiz to. Understanding social problems, 5 th edition theories in sociology provide us with different perspectives with which to view our social world. The extent to which workers from diverse social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and inclusion in national and global contexts. Pdf social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and. The social diversity is a concept that defines and encompasses the great variety of different and similar characteristics that are shared between all human beings, both personally and at a group level. Problems arise when too many group members choose to pursue individual profit and immediate satisfaction rather than behave in the groups best longterm interests. Given this fact, businesses, educational systems and other entities are investigating ways to better serve their constituents. For example, cox and blake 1991 argued that diversity can be a.
The psychology of social and cultural diversity wiley. While some social psychologists tend to have a dominant perspective, many researchers draw on a variety of theories when tackling a question or hypothesis. Social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and. She teaches workforce diversity and human resource development courses and advises on diversity focused dissertations. The evolution and future of diversity at work weatherhead intranet. The scope of the psychology of diversity the object of study of the psychology of diversity is the differences between individuals andor groups, with the aim of finding out the regularities of those differences that.
The original model for diversity was situated around affirmative action drawing strength from the law and a need to comply with equal opportunity employment objectives. Pdf psychological perspectives on workplace diversity. Diversity has the potential to either disrupt group functioning or, conversely, be. Cultural diversity is crucial to the workplace, but there are challenges to making it a reality in any office setting. Diversity has the potential to either disrupt group functioning or, conversely, be the source of collective creativity and insight. She encourages work organizations to adopt a new perspective on diversity. Toward a globally inclusive workplace 4th edition is the gotobook for people who want to study diversity management with a global perspective. Social science findings, however, suggest that diversity can be both a challenge and an opportunity to. The three main sociological perspectives 1 the three main sociological perspectives from mooney, knox, and schacht, 2007. Dec 11, 2016 managing workplace diversity and inclusion bridges the gap between social science theory and research and the practical concerns of those working in diversity and inclusion by presenting an applied psychological perspective.
Leaders also influence whether and how diversity creates social identities that are either relevant to work or not, such as ingroupsoutgroups, selfcategorization, and perspective. Diversity policies should be in aligned with organizational mission and vision. Developing a learning organization byeong yong kim abstract. Diversity is a complex and important phenomenon that can be understood in a variety of different ways. Affirmative action in social psychological perspective. Social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity. Scott is a tenured associate professor and coordinator for the interdisciplinary graduate certificate in human diversity inclusion and social justice program at oakland university, rochester, michigan, usa. Since the term workforce diversity was first coined in the. From the perspective of this working definition, the purpose of the diversity management field is to.
Bridging problems, methods, and theory in social psychological research lawrence d. The impact of workforce diversity on organizational effectiveness. It is shown that in order to construct an image of the self that is seen as different from others interobjective diversity, the subject of self, called ego, needs to coordinate his or her activities with other subjects, called alters. The study of gender, including related topics like sex roles and sex differences, is by far the mostresearched aspect of diversity. Those key characteristics that make workforce diversity include. How to benefit from diversity in the workplace psychology today. Handbook of research on workforce diversity in a global. Social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity corwin. The research literature yields evidence of integration among the 3dssdh, health disparities, and workforce diversity. Managing workplace diversity and inclusion bridges the gap between social science theory and research and the practical concerns of those working in diversity and inclusion by presenting an applied psychological perspective. It is the range or extent to which a community can integrate just and successfully the largest number of groups of individuals with different. Managing workplace diversity and inclusion a psychological. June 2016 65 workforce diversity and the performance of telecommunication firms. Psychological science must capture the full breadth of human experiences before it can truly say that it understands a particular psychological construct or phenomenon.
Workforce racial diversity has an inverted ushaped relationship with a firms financial and social performance. It affects the productivity and efficiency of the workforce in general. Although the motives for including members of historically disadvantaged groups in our schools and businesses are noble, this political meaning of diversity restricts the actual diversity of our social environment. Within this perspective, social groups are defined by demographic cate gories e. Social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and inclusion in national and global contexts michallemorbarak chapter 11. They might not dedicate the financial investment required to hire diverse employees, or they may not appreciate the many benefits of a culturally diverse workforce. Organizational barriers to diversity in the workplace dr. Workforce racial diversity has a ushaped relationship with the environmental performance.
Definition workforce diversity is a workforce consisting of a broad mix of workers from different racial and ethnic background of different ages and genders, and of different domestic and national cultures. Efforts to increase diversity typically fall into two broad classes. International journal of humanities and social science vol. While many people may think diversity is limited to race and gender, it goes far beyond that to include aspects such as disability and socioeconomic status.
Part of thesocial work commons this book note is brought to you for free and open access by the social work at scholarworks at wmu. In the early 1990s, both scholars and practitioners were generally optimistic about the effects of workforce diversity on performance. The impact of workforce diversity on organizational. The psychology and management of workplace diversity. Pdf this chapter links psychological perspectives social cognition, social identity theory and status characteristics theory to recent research. This problem, sellers argued, illustrates why increasing diversity of all kinds should be a critical objective for the field.
Several have looked at it from a narrow perspective, while some others from a broad view nkomo, 1995. Bond and haynes harness the benefits of a diverse workforce. The diversity of the workforce in this country is very creditable as we can see people in the society are. Many of the concepts and paradigms are closely tied to different disciplines, for example, leadership, management, social science, political science, and psychology. Pdf social psychological perspectives of workforce. The extent to which workers from diverse social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and inclusion in national and global contexts the recent focus on diversity in themanagement literature takes on special urgency in the context of human services organizations. Bobo cybelle fox harvard university scholars spanning the social sciences and humanities wrestle with the complex and often contested meanings of race, racism, and. Executive summary best practices in achieving workforce diversity diversity affects the world advances in technology and the advent of a global economy bring the people of the world closer together than ever before. Managing diversity is a key component of effective people management in the workplace black enterprise 2001. Despite advancement in the representation of women and members of minority groups in the human services workforce, there is still a lot to be done to make the workplace more inclusive. Differentiation in childrens relationships in ethnically diverse contexts. Diversity management is a holistic and sity, wor p ace iversity strategic intervention aimed at maximizing every individuals potential to contribute towards the realization of the organizations goals through capitalizing on individual talents and differences. The business case for diversity stem from the progression of the models of diversity within the workplace since the 1960s. Diversity management is a young management discipline which originated out of many different historical and social issues.
The psychology of diversity is a concise introduction to diversity in american society with an emphasis on the social psychological perspective. The interactive effect of employee engagement a conceptual framework mrs doris wanja gitonga p. Social identity theory isused to understand the dilemmas and to develop possibleresolutions, which should make the benefits of diversity more immediately accessible toorganizations and society. Diversity management is a strategy to promote the perception, acknowledgement and implementation of diversity in organizations. A formal model of the structure and dynamics of social diversity is presented. Using foundational ideas in the field of diversity and inclusion as well as concepts in the social sciences, this book. Workforce diversity means similarities and differences among employees in terms of age, cultural background, physical abilities and disabilities, race, religion, gender, and sexual orientation. Diversity support at work 1 psychological predictors. The theory of planned behavior identifies attitudes, social norms and perceived. A social dilemma is a situation in which an individual profits from selfishness unless everyone chooses the selfish alternative, in which case the whole group loses. Using foundational ideas in the field of diversity and inclusion as well as. From a social identity perspective, such a composition could represent a seed for categorisation that hinders social identity construction which mediates the positive effects of diversity. This workplace would be comprised of people with a wide range of experiences, backgrounds and characteristics. Based on social psychological theory, we argue that diversity in teams will.
In todays workplace, diversity is an important issue that is top of mind for both employers and employees alike. This lesson discusses a psychological approach to understanding the social construction of. Investigating the impact of workforce racial diversity on the. This approach expands diversity management from the organizational level to community. How to benefit from diversity in the workplace why the potential of employee diversity is often not realized. Promoting a scholarly understanding of the psychology of social and cultural diversity in the early stages of 21st century, this volume encourages an indepth appreciation of the value in diversity while directly addressing social intervention and policy implications. Diversity 2016 international journal of psychology. Pilar sanchezlopez encyclopedia of life support systems eolss 2.
Rose barreto university of california, berkeley follow this and additional works at. The effects of workforce diversity towards the employee performance in a organization xvi preface in today. Gender is a good case study for understanding that majoritygroup status is conferred by status and control over resources and not mere statistical majority. Debates and future trajectories theories on diversity and diversity management within the field of organisation studies started to develop in the 80s, mainly under the influence of managerial reports pointing towards the increasing diversity of the future workforce. These psychological perspectives share a common concern with stereotypes and the role they play in impression formation. People are different in not only gender, culture, race, social and psychological characteristics but also in their perspectives. Pdf on jan 1, 2008, michalle mor barak and others published social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and inclusion in national and global contexts find, read and cite all the. Hitlan, clifton, and desoto 2006 found that workplace exclusion rejection by. The challenges that emerge when people from different backgrounds interact can be understood from the perspective of social identity. Taken together the symposium draws on developmental, social, organisational and gerontological psychology to provide an overarching perspective on psychological responses to diversity. Benefits, challenges, and the required managerial tools 2 advantages. For example, in considering workplace diversity from a sociological perspective, we know.
Emerging trends in the social and behavioral sciences. Allison department of recreation management and tourism, arizona state university the purpose of this study was to identify, from the perspectives and experiences of 18 professional women and people of color, how park and recreation agencies dealt with diversity issues and. The variety of experiences and perspective which arise from differences in race, culture, religion, mental or. Sep 14, 2015 in sum, there are grounds for hypothesizing that increased political diversity would improve the quality of social psychological science because it would increase the degree of scientific dissent, especially, on such politicized issues as inequality versus equity, the psychological characteristics of liberals and conservatives, stereotypes. Explore the major perspectives in social psychology. Diversity initiatives that promote inclusion and authentic leadership have been implemented in many leading organizations, and an increasing number of companies are recognizing the economic, social, educational and managerial benefits of effective diversity management. Workforce racial diversity differentially impacts an organizations corporate social responsibility performance csrp. In 1895 french doctor and scientist gustave le bon proposed that a group of individuals is different from the sum of its parts. Workforce diversity is a valuable asset for any business that seeks a competitive advantage in the global economy. Patrick j leman 1, yvonne skipper 2, dawn watling 3, adam rutland 4 1.
It is an easy read with concrete strategies to manage diversity in the workplace. As hospitality firms become increasingly characterized by diversity with respect to their workforce, attracting, retaining, and using diverse people effectively have become a priority. This compliancebased model gave rise to the idea that tokenism was the reason an individual was hired. The workplace is a locus of human interaction that touches on all spheres of society, including the way we organize our family life and run our communities. The psychology of diversity is a concise introduction to diversity in american society with an emphasis on the socialpsychological perspective. By understanding all of the many influences that contribute to social behavior, including culture, social learning, genetics, and individual differences, researchers can gain a deeper. Individual and organizational opportunities to enhance inclusion more than ever before, people work together with others from different gender. The following practices and examples of tools used by the leaders studied demonstrate both the practical nature of diversity leadership and ways it can be taught. Why should psychological science care about diversity. Pdf on jan 1, 2008, michalle mor barak and others published social psychological perspectives of workforce diversity and inclusion in national and global. A perspective is simply a way of looking at the world.
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