Managing diversity in the workplace

What is Cultural Diversity?

Diversity, according to the Webster College Dictionary, is defined as: [a] quality, state, fact, of instance of being diverse; different.

The traditional definition of diversity focused on gender and racial differences. In todays' terms, however, diversity also includes age, sexual preferences, and disabilities. Diversity could also, in some walks of life, be defined by an individuals' different personal and corporate background, education, job function, tenure with the organisation, exempt or non-exempt status, and management or non-management.

In the workplace today not only does diversity imply difference in people based on their identification with various groups, but it is also a process of acknowledging differences through actions.

Traditional Approach Toward Diversity

In America, we have traditionally thought of diversity in the context of legal or moral concerns. We have allowed The United State Constitution and other legislations to give us guidance. Such laws as the Civil Right Act, seeking to end discrimination and racism, and Women's Rights Acts, which focus on the elimination of sexism, have set the do's and don'ts for expectable corporate behaviours.

In addition such moral issues as Humanitarianism, Moral and Social Responsibility and Christian beliefs were enough to assure that individuals and businesses "did the right thing" in the workplace.

Furthermore, in an effort to handle demographic pressures and continuous inequality of workers, the Affirmative Action programme was created. The adoption of Affirmative Action was an acknowledgement that the forementioned laws were not enough to achieve equality in the workplace. Affirmative action had been the primary resource for including and assimilating women and minorities into the corporate world.

What Are The Changes?

The urgent need for managing diversity is due to the changes in demographics. The growth of the US labour force now and for the foreseeable future will be largely composed of women, minorities, and immigrants.

Recent Census results demonstrated clearly that non-whites in the labour force are becoming dominant over white workers. The 1990 census indicated that during the period 1980-90, the population of California increased by 25.7%. The white population experienced a 13.8% increase, in sharp contrast to a 21.4% increase for African Americans, a 20.3%to increase for American Indian sub-group, a 69.2% increase in the Hispanic population and an enormous 127% increase for the...