2
Source: Design Pics/Alamy Stock Photo
Diversity in Organizations
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
the two major forms of
2-1 D­wescribe
orkplace diversity.
xplain how other differentiating
2-4 E­characteristics
factor into OB.
emonstrate how workplace discrimi2-2 Dnation
undermines organizational
emonstrate the relevance of
2-5 Dintellectual
and physical abilities
effectiveness.
escribe how the key biographical
2-3 Dcharacteristics
are relevant to
to OB.
escribe how organizations manage
2-6 Ddiversity
effectively.
­Organizational Behavior (OB).
74
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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2
This matrix identifies which features and end-of-chapter material will
help you develop specific skills employers are looking for in job
candidates.
Employability Skills Matrix (ESM)
Myth or
Science?
Critical
Thinking
Communication
✓
Career
OBjectives
An Ethical
Choice
Point/
Counterpoint
Experiential
Exercise
Ethical
Dilemma
Case
Incident 1
Case
Incident 2
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Collaboration
Knowledge
Application and
Analysis
Social
Responsibility
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
MyLab Management Chapter Warm Up
If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/
mylab/management to complete the chapter warm up.
A LACK OF DIVERSITY IN THE TECH INDUSTRY
T
he tech industry has been notorious for failing on the diversity and
inclusion front. Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft may be the biggest technology companies across the world, yet the diversity reports they
have posted for the past five years consistently present the same picture,
an industry dominated by white and Asian men.
There has been some progress since 2014. Facebook, for instance, says
the percentage of its female employees globally has increased from 15
to 23 percent. However, ethnic diversity remains low. Over the same time
period, the proportion of U.S. technical employees at Google and Microsoft
who are African American or Latinx (of Latin American descent) rose by only
about 1 percent. The share of African American technical workers at Apple
is 6 percent, less than half the 13 percent proportion of African Americans
in the U.S. population. Ageism also continues to be a challenge; when tech
workers hit 45, their job offers drop and salaries start to fall.
In the United Kingdom too, data on diversity in the tech industry is
disappointing, lagging far behind the Financial Times Stock Exchange
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PART 2 The Individual
100 Index (FTSE 100). About 8.5 percent of senior executives in technology are from a minority background, while women make up just 12.6
percent of board members in the sector, compared with the 30 percent
female representation achieved by FTSE 100 businesses. The picture is
similar across Europe. According to the 2019 State of European Tech
Report, there was a record investment of about €30 billion in the industry across the continent, yet 92 percent of the investment went to allmale founding teams, and funding to all-female teams actually dropped.
Of the hundreds of founders that responded to the survey, 84 percent
self-identify as white, and just 0.9 percent are of African descent. And
82 percent of founders are university educated, as compared to the 35
percent of people across Europe.
The status quo is particularly troubling because of how technology now
affects every sector, from transport, to finance, to government, to healthcare. If only today’s tech-literate workers can access these growing employment opportunities, swaths of the general population will be left behind. The
products and services they make will be skewed too. The lack of inclusion
affects the design of the goods and services that the industry creates. For
instance, voice recognition initially did not respond to women because the
designers who tested the products were male. Facial recognition is notoriously poor at recognizing darker and female faces, again partly because of
biased training data. A more diverse workforce will lead to better products
that can address a wider range of customers, who may include people from
different ethnic and socio economic backgrounds as well as the elderly and
the disabled.
Sources: M. Murgia, “How to Increase Diversity in the Tech Sector,” Financial Times, November 13, 2019; and C. Warner, “Why Is European Tech Still Failing on Diversity and Inclusion,” Forbes, November 25, 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/checkwarner/2019/11/25/
why-is-european-tech-still-failing-on-diversity-and-inclusion/?sh=681dac4c17cb.
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T
he barriers and hardships facing women such as those in the tech industry are substantial, and they are examples of why diversity is so important
for organizations. In this chapter, we look at how organizations should work to
maximize the potential contributions of a diverse workforce. Because each of
us is different from others in myriad ways, we consider diversity in many different forms. We also show how individual differences in abilities affect employee
behavior and effectiveness in organizations.
Diversity
the two major
2-1 Describe
forms of workplace diversity.
We are, each of us, unique. This is obvious enough, but managers sometimes forget they need to recognize the individual differences in their
employees in order to capitalize on their unique strengths. In this chapter, we’ll learn how individual characteristics like age, gender, race, ethnicity, and abilities can influence employee performance. We’ll also see how
managers can develop awareness about these characteristics and manage
their diverse workforces effectively. But first, let’s consider an overview of
the changing workforce.
Demographic Characteristics
The predominantly white, male managerial workforce of the past has given
way to a gender-balanced, multiethnic workforce. For instance, in 1950, only
29.6 percent of the U.S. workforce was female,1 but by 2016, women comprised
46.8 percent.2 Both in the United States and internationally, women today are
much more likely than before to be employed full time, have an advanced education, and earn wages comparable to those of men (see the OB Poll).3 In addition, the earnings gap between whites and other racial and ethnic groups in
OB POLL
Gender Pay Gap: Narrowing but Still There
Human resource
managers
$1,274
$1,495
Financial
managers
$1,130
$1,732
$1,563
$1,817
Computer and information
systems managers
Women
Men
$1,258
Marketing and
sales managers
$1,603
$1,836
Chief executives
$2,251
$0
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
Approximate median weekly pay per occupation
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2015 (Report No. 1604, November 2016): https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/
womens-earnings/2015/pdf/home.pdf.
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the United States has decreased significantly, partially due to the rising number of minorities in the workforce. Hispanics will increase from 13 percent of
the workforce in 2014 to 25.1 percent in 2044, blacks will increase from 12 to
12.7 percent, and Asians from 5 to 7.9 percent.4 Workers over the age of 55 are
an increasingly large portion of the workforce as well, both in the United States
and globally. In the United States, the 55-and-older age group will increase
from 19.5 percent of the labor force in 2010 to 25.2 percent by 2020.5 In some
other parts of the world (like Europe), the discussion has shifted to the wage
gap between women and men rather than race or other contextual issues. For
example, in the United Kingdom, the Office of National Statistics has indicated
that the pay gap between women and men could be because of lower female
representation at senior levels and the types of jobs that have traditionally been
dominated by either gender. It is also argued that a gender pay gap is not the
same as an equal pay gap. Different pay for people performing the same job
has been illegal in the United Kingdom since 1970. It appears that the gender
pay difference demonstrates a demographic pay gap, and the solutions to the
two issues seem to be rather different.6
Levels of Diversity
surface-level diversity Differences in easily
perceived characteristics, such as gender,
race, ethnicity, age, or disability, that do not
necessarily reflect the ways people think or
feel but that may activate certain stereotypes.
deep-level diversity Differences in values,
personality, and work preferences that
become progressively more important for
determining similarity as people get to know
one another better.
discrimination Noting of a difference
between things; often we refer to unfair discrimination, which means making judgments
about individuals based on stereotypes
regarding their demographic group.
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Although much has been said about diversity in age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion, and disability status, experts now recognize that these demographic characteristics are just the tip of the iceberg.7 These characteristics mostly reflect
surface-level diversity, not thoughts and feelings, and can lead employees to
make stereotypes and assumptions about others from certain demographic
backgrounds. However, evidence has shown that people are less concerned
about demographic differences if they see themselves as sharing more important characteristics, such as personality and values, that represent deep-level
diversity.8
Managing diversity involves everyone and benefits everyone. Consider the
­following example. Philip and Sharon are managers who do not seem to have
much in common. Philip is a recently hired young man with a marketing degree
from an Eastern European–dominant neighborhood in London. Sharon is an
older woman from rural Manchester who started as a secretary after college
and worked her way up the hierarchy. At first, these coworkers may notice their
surface-­level differences in education, ethnicity, regional background, and gender. However, as they get to understand one another, they may find they are
both deeply committed to their families, share a common way of thinking about
work problems, like to work collaboratively, and are interested in international
assignments. These deep-level similarities can overshadow the more superficial ­differences between them, and research suggests they will work together.
­Additionally, increasing support for equal opportunities and diversity should be
viewed as mutually supportive and the combination as important. Diversification
with culturally related countries might lead to greater homogeneity of perception, particularly if it concentrates on individuals rather than groups and includes
improvement of opportunities for all individuals. In effect, managing diversity
involves everyone and benefits everyone as separate groups are not singled out.
Throughout this text, we will encounter differences between deep- and
­surface-level diversity in various contexts. Diversity is an important concept in
OB because individual differences shape preferences for rewards, communication styles, reactions to leaders, negotiation styles, and many other aspects
of behavior in organizations. Unfortunately, increased diversity may also mean
increases in discriminatory practices, which we will discuss next.
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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2
An Ethical Choice
Global Diversity: Affirmative Action
A
cross the globe, support for
affirmative action is aimed at
bridging inequalities in several facets of life, including bridging
inequalities in employment pay, promoting diversity, favoring members of a disadvantaged group who suffer or have
suffered from discrimination within a
culture—it varies from region to region.
In a historic move in the United States,
Wal-Mart (a retailing giant) vowed to
hire any returning U.S. veteran who
applied for work. As a result, the company hired more than 42,000 veterans
by mid-2014 with an expectation that
the total number will climb to 100,000
by 2018. Other businesses have
launched similar initiatives. A coalition
of these companies, which originally
included 11 members, now consists
of 230 companies from several businesses. Sometimes, affirmative action
is required to give an unfairly disadvantaged workforce segment an opportunity to succeed, whether it is achieved
through percentages or by hiring prospective employees from the desired
group.
In the United Kingdom, the Equality
Act 2010 promotes positive action with
respect to employment. As an example,
Section 158 of the Equality Act 2010
builds on existing legislation or positive
action and extends it to include other
protected statuses, such as age and
disability. In Australia, the Affirmative
Action (Equal Employment Opportunity
for Women) Act 1986 requires all private sector employers in Australia with
more than 100 employees to report
annually on programs they have developed to improve women’s employment
opportunities. In South Africa, the
Employment Equity Act seeks to eliminate unfair discrimination in employment and thereby achieve a diverse
workforce where no one feels disadvantaged. Also in place is the broad-based
Black Economic Empowerment, a legislative framework to help reverse the
legacy of apartheid.
Ordinarily, affirmative action is
needed to give an unfairly disadvantaged workforce segment or group an
opportunity to succeed, but success
will depend on the sincerity and consistency of purpose of governments
and business organizations as well
as the attitude of the individual or
group concerned. However, it is evident that resources are scarce and
will continue to be so—there are only
so many jobs to go around. CEOs and
HR managers must balance the ethics
of affirmative action against the need
to strengthen their workforce for the
good of their organization and society
at large.
Sources: Based on “100,000 Jobs M
­ ission
Hires over 200,000 Veterans,” ­Veteran Jobs
Mission press release (February 9, 2015),
https://www.veteranjobsmission.com/pressreleases/750; D. C. Baldridge and M. L.
Swift, “Withholding Requests for Disability
Accommodation: The Role of Individual Differences and Disability Attributes,” Journal
of Management (March 2013): 743–62;
“Walmart Celebrates More Than 40,000
Hires in First Year of Veterans Commitment,” Walmart Foundation press release
(May 21, 2014), http://news.walmart
.com/news-archive/2014/05/21/walmartcelebrates-more-than-40-000-hires-in-firstyear-of-veterans-commitment;
B.
Yerbak
and C. V. Jackson, “Battling to Get More
Vets in the Work Force,” Chicago T­ ribune
(October 28, 2012), http://articles.chica­
gotribune.com/2012-10-28/business/ctbiz-1028-vets-20121028_1_train-veteransunemployment-rate-war-zone;
“Veterans
Unemployment Drops but Remains High,”
HR Magazine, February 2013, 16; J. Sheridan Alison “Affirmative Action in Australia—
Employment Statistics Can’t Tell the Whole
Story,” Women in Management Review 10,
no. 2 (1995): 26–34; T. Jarrett, The Equality
Act 2010 and Positive Action, Library House
of Commons, Business and Transport Section, last updated, 24 October 2013.
Discrimination
how workplace
2-2 Demonstrate
discrimination undermines
organizational effectiveness.
stereotyping Judging someone on the basis
of our perception of the group to which that
person belongs.
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Although diversity presents many opportunities for organizations, diversity
management includes working to eliminate unfair discrimination. To discriminate is to note a difference between things, which in itself isn’t necessarily bad.
Noticing one employee is more qualified is necessary for making hiring decisions; noticing another is taking on leadership responsibilities exceptionally
well is necessary for making promotion decisions. Usually when we talk about
discrimination, though, we mean allowing our behavior to be influenced by
stereotypes about groups of people. Stereotyping is judging someone on the
basis of our perception of the group to which that person belongs. To use a
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machine metaphor, you might think of stereotypes as the fuel that powers the
discrimination engine. Stereotypes can be insidious not only because they may
affect the perpetrators of discrimination but also because they can affect how
potential targets of discrimination see themselves.
Stereotype Threat
stereotype threat The degree to which we
are concerned with being judged by or treated
negatively based on a certain stereotype.
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Let’s say that you are sitting in a restaurant, waiting for the blind date your
coworker arranged to find you in the crowded room. How do you think your
coworker described you to this person? Now consider how you would describe
yourself to this new person if you’d talked on the phone before the date. What
identifiable groups would you mention as a shorthand way for your date to
know a bit about you so he or she could recognize you in the restaurant?
Chances are good that you’d mention your race, something about how you
express your gender (such as the way you dress), how old you are, and maybe
what you do for a living. You might also mention how tall you are if you are
remarkably tall or short, and—if you’re candid—you might mention something
about your build (heavyset, petite, in between). Overall, you’d give cues to your
blind date about characteristics that are distinctive, or that stand out, about you.
What you tell someone about yourself says a lot about what you think about
yourself. Just as we stereotype others, we also stereotype ourselves.
Stereotype threat describes the degree to which we agree internally with
the generally negative stereotyped perceptions of our groups. Along with that
comes a fear of being judged when we are identified with the negative connotations of that group. This can happen when we are a minority in a situation. For
instance, an older worker applying for a job in a predominately millennial-age
workforce may assume the interviewer thinks he is out of touch with current
trends. What creates a stereotype threat is not whether the worker is or is not
up to date with trends, but whether he agrees internally that older workers (the
group he identifies with) are out of date (the stereotype). In Europe, there
appears to be an aging workforce. The negative stereotypes about the older
worker, extending to such beliefs among outgroups that they have lower dexterity and physical ability, may increase their apprehension and thus lead older
employees to take on more demanding jobs. In essence, they put in extra effort
and time that would otherwise have been superfluous just to avoid a stereotype
threat.
People become their own worst enemies when they feel stereotype threat.
Ironically, they may unconsciously exaggerate the stereotype, like an older job
applicant who talks about aging, rambles during the conversation, and discloses
too much.9 Second, employees may engage in self-handicapping, in which they
avoid effort so that they can attribute their potential failure to other sources,
such as stress or “having a bad day.”10 Third, people may overcompensate for
the stereotype threat they feel or work to avoid confirming the stereotype.
A Hispanic who tries to be as busy as possible at work and rushes conspicuously around the office may be attempting to overcome a stereotype threat of
Hispanics as slower workers. This may happen even if the workplace has many
ethnic minority employees because minorities perceive stereotypes about each
other.11 Stereotype threat can serve as a “brain drain” for employees, causing
them to deplete their working memories so that they do not perform as well on
employment tests or training.12
Stereotype threat has serious implications for the workplace. Stereotype
threat can occur during preemployment tests and assessments, performance
evaluations, and everyday workplace exchanges. It can lead to underperformance on tests, performance evaluations, training exercises, negotiations, and
everyday interactions with others as well as to disengagement, poor job attitudes,
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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2
a reluctance to seek feedback, and poor performance in the employees experiencing the threat.13 Although the occurrence of stereotype threat is not inevitable and occurs infrequently in testing environments, we should still put in
efforts to combat it in the workplace by treating employees as individuals and
not highlighting group differences. The following organizational changes can
be successful in reducing stereotype threat: increasing awareness of how stereotypes may be perpetuated (especially when developing policies and practices),
reducing differential and preferential treatment through objective assessments,
MyLab Management
Personal Inventory Assessments
Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the Personal
Inventory Assessment related to this chapter.
confronting microaggressions against minority groups, and adopting transparent practices that signal the value of all employees.14
Discrimination in the Workplace
To review, unfair discrimination assumes that everyone in a group is the same
rather than looking at the characteristics of individuals within the group. This
discrimination is often very harmful for employees, as we’ve just discussed, as
well as for organizations.
Exhibit 2-1
Forms of Discrimination
Type of Discrimination
Definition
Examples from Organizations
Discriminatory policies
or practices
Actions taken by representatives of the
organization that deny equal opportunity
to perform or unequal rewards for
performance.
Unwanted sexual advances and other
verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature that create a hostile or offensive
work environment.
Overt threats or bullying directed at
members of specific groups of employees.
Older workers may be targeted for layoffs
because they are highly paid and have lucrative
benefits.
Mockery and insults
Jokes or negative stereotypes; sometimes
the result of jokes taken too far.
Exclusion
Exclusion of certain people from job
opportunities, social events, discussions,
or informal mentoring; can occur
unintentionally.
Arab-Americans have been asked at work whether
they were carrying bombs or were members of
terrorist organizations.
Many women in finance claim they are assigned to
marginal job roles or are given light workloads that
don’t lead to promotion.
Incivility
Disrespectful treatment, including
behaving in an aggressive manner,
interrupting the person, or ignoring
his or her opinions.
Sexual harassment
Intimidation
Salespeople at one company went on company-paid
visits to strip clubs, brought strippers into the office to
celebrate promotions, and fostered pervasive sexual
rumors.
African-American employees at some companies have
found nooses hanging over their work stations.
Female lawyers note that male attorneys frequently
cut them off or do not adequately address their
comments.
Sources: Based on J. Levitz and P. Shishkin, “More Workers Cite Age Bias after Layoffs,” The Wall Street Journal, March 11, 2009, D1–D2; W. M. Bulkeley, “A Data-Storage Titan Confronts Bias Claims,”
The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2007, A1, A16; D. Walker, “Incident with Noose Stirs Old Memories,” McClatchy-Tribune Business News, June 29, 2008; D. Solis, “Racial Horror Stories Keep
EEOC Busy,” Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News, July 30, 2005, 1; H. Ibish and A. Stewart, Report on Hate Crimes and Discrimination against Arab Americans: The Post-September 11 Backlash, September 11, 2001–October 11, 2001 (Washington, DC: American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, 2003); A. Raghavan, “Wall Street’s Disappearing Women,” Forbes, March 16, 2009, 72–78; and L.
M. Cortina, “Unseen Injustice: Incivility as Modern Discrimination in Organizations,” Academy of Management Review 33, no. 1 (2008): 55–75.
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Exhibit 2-1 provides definitions and examples of some forms of discrimination in organizations. Although many are prohibited by law and therefore
are not part of organizations’ official policies, the practices persist. Tens of
thousands of cases of employment discrimination are documented every year,
and many more go unreported. Because discrimination has increasingly come
under both legal scrutiny and social disapproval, most overt forms have faded,
which may have resulted in an increase in more covert forms like incivility or
exclusion, especially when leaders look the other way.15
As you can see, discrimination can occur in many ways, and its effects can vary
depending on organizational context and the personal biases of employees. Some
forms of discrimination, exclusion and incivility, for example, are especially hard
to root out because they may occur simply because the actor isn’t aware of the
effects of his or her actions. Like stereotype threat, actual discrimination can lead
to increased negative consequences for employers, including reduced productivity and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), more conflict, increased turnover, and even increased risk-taking behavior.16 Unfair discrimination also leaves
qualified job candidates out of initial hiring and promotions. Thus, even if an
employment discrimination lawsuit is never filed, a strong business case can be
made for aggressively working to eliminate unfair discrimination.
Whether it is overt or covert, intentional or unintentional, discrimination is
one of the primary factors that prevent diversity. On the other hand, recognizing diversity opportunities can lead to an effective diversity management program and ultimately to a better organization. Diversity is a broad term, and the
phrase workplace diversity can refer to any characteristic that makes people different from one another. The following section covers some important surfacelevel characteristics that differentiate members of the workforce.
Biographical Characteristics
how the key
2-3 Describe
­biographical characteristics
are relevant to Organizational Behavior (OB).
biographical characteristics Personal
c­ haracteristics—such as age, gender, race,
and length of tenure—that are objective
and easily obtained from personnel records.
These characteristics are representative of
surface-level diversity.
Biographical characteristics such as age, gender, race, and disability are some
of the most obvious ways employees differ. Let’s begin by looking at factors
that are easily definable and readily available—data that can be obtained, for
the most part, from an employee’s human resources (HR) file. Variations in
surface-level characteristics may be the basis for discrimination against classes
of employees, so it is worth knowing how related they actually are to work outcomes. As a general rule, many biographical differences are not important to
actual work outcomes, and far more variation occurs within groups sharing biographical characteristics than between them.
Age
Age in the workforce is likely to be an issue of increasing importance during the
next decade for many reasons. For one, the workforce is aging worldwide in most
developed countries;17 by 2014–2024 projections, the average annual growth rate
of workers over age 54 in the labor force is expected to be 1.8 percent, which
is over three times greater than that of the overall labor force.18 In the United
States, the proportion of the workforce age 55 and older is 22 percent and
increasing,19 and legislation has, for all intents and purposes, outlawed mandatory retirement. The United States and Australia, among other countries, have
laws directed against age discrimination.20 Most workers today no longer have to
retire at age 70, and 62 percent of workers age 45 to 60 plan to delay retirement.21
The stereotypes of older workers as being behind the times, grumpy, and
inflexible are changing. Managers often see a number of positive qualities that
older workers bring to their jobs, such as experience, judgment, a strong work
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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2
Myth or Science?
Bald Is Better
S
urprisingly, it appears true that
bald is better for men in the workplace. A recent study showed that
observers believe a male’s shaved
head indicates greater masculinity,
dominance, and leadership potential
than longer or thinning hair. Thinning
hair was perceived as the least powerful look, and other studies have agreed
that male-pattern baldness (when
some hair remains) is not considered
advantageous. Why is this?
In some respects, the reported
youthful advantage of a shaved head
is counterintuitive. Because we have
more hair when we are young, and
contemporary culture considers youthfulness a desirable characteristic in
the workplace (if you doubt this, see
the discussions on aging in this chapter), it would make more sense for a
hairless head to be a distinct disadvantage. Yet the media is loaded with
images of powerful men with shaved
heads—military heroes, winning athletes, and action heroes. No wonder
study participants declared that the
men with shaved heads were an inch
taller and 13 percent stronger than the
same men with hair.
A bald head has become the hallmark of some important business
leaders, notably Jeff Bezos of Amazon,
Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs,
Marc Andreessen of Netscape, and
“Shark Tank” investor Daymond John.
Men who shave their heads report it
can give them a business advantage,
whether or not it makes them look
younger (which is debatable). According
to psychologist Caroline Keating, just
as older silver-back gorillas are “typically the powerful actors in their social
groups,” so it is in the office, where
baldness may “signal who is in charge
and potentially dangerous.” Research
professor Michael Cunningham agrees,
adding that baldness “is nature’s way
of telling the rest of the world you are a
survivor.” Men with shaved heads convey aggressiveness, competitiveness,
and independence, he adds. Will you
join the 13 percent of men who shave
their heads? Though we don’t wish to
advocate head shaving for this reason, it does demonstrate how biased
we continue to be in judging people by
superficial characteristics. Time will tell
if this situation ever improves.
Sources: Based on D. Baer, “People Are
Psychologically Biased to See Bald Men
as ­
Dominant Leaders,” Business Insider
(February 13, 2015), http://www.business
insider.com/bald-men-signals-dominance2015-2; J. Misener, “Men with Shaved
Heads Appear More Dominant, Study Finds,”
The Huffington Post (October 1, 2012),
www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/
bald-men-dominant-shaved-heads-study_
n_1930489.html; A. E. Mannes, “Shorn
Scalps and Perceptions of Male Dominance,”
Social Psychological and Personality Science,
(2012), doi: 10.1177/1948550612449490;
and R. E. Silverman, “Bald Is Powerful,” The
Wall Street Journal (October 3, 2012), B1, B6.
ethic, and commitment to quality. The Public Utilities Board, the water agency of
Singapore, reports that 27 percent of its workforce is over age 55 because older
workers bring workforce stability.22 And industries like health care, education,
government, and nonprofits often welcome older workers.23 But older workers
are still perceived as less adaptable and less motivated to learn new technology.24
When organizations seek individuals who are open to change and training, the
perceived negatives associated with age clearly hinder the initial hiring of older
workers and increase the likelihood they will be let go during cutbacks.
Now let’s look at the evidence. What effect does age actually have on turnover,
absenteeism, productivity, and satisfaction? Regarding turnover, the older you are,
the less likely you are to quit your job.25 As workers get older, they have fewer alternate job opportunities because their skills have become more specialized. Within
organizations, older workers’ longer tenure tends to provide them with higher
wages, longer paid vacations, and benefits that may bind them to their employers.
It may seem likely that age is positively correlated to absenteeism, but this isn’t
true. Most studies show that older employees have lower rates of avoidable absence
versus younger employees.26 Furthermore, older workers do not have more psychological problems or day-to-day physical health problems than younger workers.27
The majority of studies have shown “virtually no relationship between age
and job performance,” according to Director Harvey Sterns of the Institute for
Life-Span Development and Gerontology.28 Indeed, some studies indicate that
older adults perform better. In Munich, a 4-year study of 3,800 Mercedes-Benz
workers found that “the older workers seemed to know better how to avoid severe
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At Tofutti, maker of dairy-free products,
older employees are an integral part
of the workforce. Tofutti’s CEO David
Mintz values the experience, work
ethic, maturity, enthusiasm, knowledge, and skills that older workers
bring to their jobs. He says older
employees have fewer absences,
make fewer mistakes, are better at
solving problems, and are willing to
work more hours.
Source: Julio Cortez/AP images
errors,” said Matthias Weiss, the academic coordinator of the study.29 Related
to performance, there is a conception that creativity lessens as people age.
Researcher David Galenson, who studied the ages of peak creativity, found that
people who create through experimentation do “their greatest work in their
40s, 50s, and 60s. These artists rely on wisdom, which increases with age.” There
is evidence that age-diverse teams and organizations perform better than those
with similar ages, primarily because both older and younger workers bring a
complementary, diverse set of knowledge, skills, and abilities to their teams.30
What about age and satisfaction? Regarding life satisfaction, which we will
discuss further in later chapters, there is a cultural assumption that older people are more prone to depression and loneliness. Actually, a study of adults
ages 18 to 94 found that positive moods increased with age. “Contrary to the
popular view that youth is the best time of life, the peak of emotional life may not
occur until well into the seventh decade,” researcher Laura Carstensen said.31
Regarding job satisfaction, an important topic in Chapter 3, a review of
more than 800 studies found that older workers tend to be more satisfied with
their work, report better relationships with coworkers, and are more committed to their organizations.32 Other studies, however, have found that job satisfaction increases up to middle age, at which point it begins to drop off. When
we separate the results by job type, though, we find that satisfaction tends to
increase continually among professionals as they age, whereas among nonprofessionals, it falls during middle age and then rises again in the later years.
In sum, we can see that the surface-level characteristic of an employee’s age
is an unfounded basis for discrimination and that an age-diverse workforce is a
benefit to an organization.
Sex
Few issues initiate more debates, misconceptions, and unsupported opinions
than whether women perform as well on jobs as men.
The best place to begin to consider this topic is with the recognition that few,
if any, differences between men and women affect job performance.33 Though
men may have slightly higher math ability and women slightly higher verbal
ability, the differences are fairly small, and there are no consistent male–female
differences in problem-solving ability, analytical skills, or learning ability.34 One
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meta-analysis of job performance studies found that women scored slightly higher
than men on performance measures.35 A separate meta-analysis of 95 leadership
studies indicated that women and men are rated equally effective as leaders.36
Yet biases and stereotypes persist. In the hiring realm, managers are influenced
by gender bias when selecting candidates for certain positions.37 For instance,
men are preferred in hiring decisions for male-dominated occupations, particularly when men are doing the hiring.38 Once on the job, men and women may
be offered a similar number of developmental experiences, but females are less
likely to be assigned challenging positions by men, assignments that could help
them achieve higher organizational positions.39 Men are more likely to be chosen
for leadership roles even though men and women are equally effective leaders,
a phenomenon which has been referred to as the “glass ceiling” (and applies to
any underrepresented group that faces obstacles to advancement).40 In fact, as of
April 2020, women hold only 6 percent of CEO positions in S&P 500 companies.41 ­
Furthermore, a study of 20 organizations in Spain, for example, suggested that
women are generally selected for leadership roles that require handling organizational crises, positions in which they are usually set up to fail, a phenomenon
commonly referred to as the glass cliff.42 According to Naomi Sutherland, senior
partner in diversity at recruiter Korn Ferry, “Consciously or subconsciously, companies are still hesitant to take the risk on someone who looks different from their
standard leadership profile.”43
These stereotypes counter the evidence which suggests that females are effective leaders in organizations: not only does research from hundreds of studies
suggest that women are rated as effective leaders in organizations, but that women’s representation in leadership positions is actually predictive of financial performance in hundreds of thousands of organizations.44 Sex discrimination has
a pervasive negative impact. Notably, women still earn less money than men for
the same positions,45 even in traditionally female roles.46 Furthermore, the sex
differences in promotions, bonuses, and salaries (across 97 different studies and
nearly 400,000 people) are 14 times larger than their differences on performance
evaluations.47 Working mothers also face “maternal wall bias,” meaning they are
often not considered for new positions after they have children, and both men
and women experience discrimination for their family caregiving roles.48 Women
who receive fewer challenging assignments and development opportunities from
biased managers tend to curtail their management aspirations.49 Women who are
assertive in the workplace tend to be liked less and perceived as less hirable.50
We’ve seen that there are many misconceptions and contradictions about
male and female workers. Thankfully, many countries, including Australia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States, have laws against sex discrimination.
Other countries, such as Belgium, France, Norway, and Spain, are seeking gender diversity through laws to increase the percentage of women on boards of
directors.51 Gender biases and gender discrimination are still serious issues, but
there are indications that the situation is improving.
Race and Ethnicity
Race is a controversial issue in society and in organizations. We define race as the
heritage people use to identify themselves; ethnicity is the additional set of cultural
characteristics that often overlaps with race. Typically, we associate race with biology, and ethnicity with culture, but there is a history of self-identifying for both
classifications. Laws against race and ethnic discrimination are in effect in many
countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.52
Race and ethnicity have been studied as they relate to employment outcomes
such as hiring decisions, performance evaluations, pay, and workplace discrimination. Individuals may slightly favor colleagues of their own race in performance
evaluations, promotion decisions, and pay raises, although such differences are
not found consistently, especially when highly structured methods of decision
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positive diversity climate In an organization, an environment of inclusiveness and an
acceptance of diversity.
making are employed.53 Also, some industries have remained less racially diverse
than others. For instance, U.S. advertising and media organizations suffer from a
lack of racial diversity in their management ranks even though their client base
­ ingdom, there have been
is increasingly ethnically diverse.54 In the United K
demands that the Government stop auditing and start acting against racial discrimination. Research suggests that many BAME (Black, Asian, and Minority
Ethnic) professionals in UK organizations, including universities, are among the
most qualified and experienced in their teams and functions, but they struggle
to achieve the career progression they are qualified for. In the education sector,
where the numbers of ethnic minority students are rising, figures published by
the Higher Education Statistics Agency in 2017 showed there were no Black academics in the manager, director, and senior official categories in 2015–16.55
Members of racial and ethnic minorities report higher levels of discrimination in the workplace.56 Black people generally fare worse than white people
in employment decisions (a finding that may not apply outside the United
States). They receive lower ratings in employment interviews, lower job performance ratings, less pay, and fewer promotions.57 While this does not necessarily
prove overt racial discrimination, black people are often discriminated against
even in controlled experiments. For example, one study of low-wage jobs found
that black applicants with no criminal history received fewer job offers than did
white applicants with criminal records.58 Even applicants with black-­sounding
names were 50 percent less likely than those with white-sounding names to
receive interview callbacks in one large randomized experiment.59
As we discussed before, discrimination—for any reason—leads to increased turnover, which is detrimental to organizational performance. While better representation of all racial groups in organizations remains a goal, an individual of minority
status is much less likely to leave the organization if there is a feeling of inclusiveness,
known as a positive diversity climate.60 A positive climate for diversity can also lead
to increased sales, commitment, and retention, suggesting there are organizational
performance gains associated with reducing racial and ethnic discrimination.61
How do we move beyond the destructiveness of discrimination? The answer is in
understanding one another’s viewpoint. Evidence suggests that some people find
interacting with other racial groups uncomfortable unless there are clear behavioral scripts to guide their behavior,62 so creating diverse work groups focused on
mutual goals could be helpful, along with developing a positive diversity climate.
Disabilities
Workplace policies, both official and circumstantial, regarding individuals with
physical or mental disabilities vary from country to country. Countries such as
Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan have specific laws
to protect individuals with disabilities.63 These laws have resulted in greater
acceptance and accommodation of people with physical or mental impairments. In the United States, for instance, the representation of individuals with
disabilities in the workforce rapidly increased with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA, 1990).64 According to the ADA, employers
are required to make reasonable accommodations so their workplaces will be
accessible to individuals with physical or mental disabilities.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal
agency responsible for enforcing employment discrimination laws, classifies a
person as disabled who has any physical or mental impairment that substantially
limits one or more major life activities. One of the most controversial aspects of
the ADA is the provision that requires employers to make reasonable accommodations (e.g., comfort and assistance animals) for people with psychiatric disabilities.65 Examples of recognized disabilities include missing limbs, seizure disorder,
Down syndrome, deafness, schizophrenia, alcoholism, diabetes, depression, and
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chronic back pain. These conditions share almost no common features, so there’s
no specific definition about how each condition is related to employment.
Since it was first introduced in the United Kingdom some 20 years ago,
­discrimination law has defined disability using the following formulation: “A
disabled person is someone who suffers from a physical or mental impairment
which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his ability to carry our
normal day to day activities.”
The final clause (“normal day-to-day activities”) has always been the subject
of controversy, and the courts have always interpreted it as referring to ordinary, everyday tasks that the average man or woman in the street performs.
An individual is not disabled for the purposes of the Equity Act (formerly the
Disability Discrimination Act) because you cannot play football or because you
cannot climb a mountain. The impairment must stop you from basic, common
daily activities like getting dressed, making breakfast, and getting to work.
The controversy arises because this often means that someone is not classified as disabled and hence has no case in law when their impairment prevents
them from carrying out an aspect of their work that does not fall under the
definition of normal day-to-day activities. In the United Kingdom, a number of
cases involve dismissal because of an inability to lift heavy weights, which is not
a “normal day-to-day activity” and hence is not the basis for successful disability
discrimination claims. It is interesting to see how the case law further develops
in this area from the perspective of the United States and the United Kingdom.
The impact of disabilities on employment outcomes has been explored from
a variety of perspectives. On one hand, when disability status is randomly manipulated among hypothetical candidates, disabled individuals are rated as having
superior personal qualities like dependability.66 Another review suggested that
workers with disabilities receive higher performance evaluations. However, individuals with disabilities tend to encounter lower performance expectations and
are less likely to be hired.67 Mental disabilities may impair performance more
than physical disabilities: Individuals with common mental health issues such as
depression and anxiety are significantly more likely to be absent from work.68
The elimination of discrimination against the disabled workforce has long been
problematic. In Europe, for instance, policies to motivate employers have failed to
boost the workforce participation rate for workers with disabilities, and outright
quota systems in Germany, France, and Poland have backfired.69 ­However, the
recognition of the talents and abilities of individuals with disabilities has made a
positive impact. In addition, technology and workplace advancements have greatly
increased the scope of available jobs for those with all types of disabilities. Managers need to be attuned to the true requirements of each job and match the skills of
the individual to them, providing accommodations when needed. But what happens when employees do not disclose their disabilities? Let’s discuss this next.
Hidden Disabilities
As we mentioned earlier, disabilities include observable characteristics like missing limbs, illnesses that require a person to use a wheelchair, and blindness. Other
disabilities may not be obvious, at least at first. Unless an individual decides to
disclose a disability that isn’t easily observable, it can remain hidden at the discretion of the employee. These are called hidden disabilities (or invisible disabilities).
Hidden, or invisible, disabilities generally fall under the categories of sensory disabilities (for example, impaired hearing), autoimmune disorders (like rheumatoid arthritis), chronic illness or pain (like carpal tunnel syndrome), cognitive
or learning impairments (like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]),
sleep disorders (like insomnia), and psychological challenges (like PTSD).70
As a result of recent changes to the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008, U.S. organizations must accommodate employees with a very broad range of impairments. However, employees must disclose
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their conditions to their employers in order to be eligible for workplace accommodations and employment protection. Many employees do not want to
disclose their invisible disabilities, so they are prevented from getting the workplace accommodations they need in order to thrive in their jobs. Research indicates that individuals with hidden disabilities are afraid of being stigmatized or
ostracized if they disclose their disabilities to others in the workplace, and they
believe that their managers will think they are less capable of strong job performance.71 Add this to the challenge of receiving a diagnosis for a condition
that one did not previously have and these fears are compounded even more so
than if the diagnosis was made for employees when they were younger.72
In some ways, a hidden disability is not truly invisible. For example, a person
with undisclosed autism will still exhibit the behaviors characteristic of the condition, such as difficulty with verbal communication and lack of adaptability.73
You may observe behaviors that lead you to suspect an individual has a hidden
disability. Unfortunately, you may attribute the behavior to other causes—for
instance, you may incorrectly ascribe the slow, slurred speech of a coworker to
an alcohol problem rather than to the long-term effects of a stroke.
As for the employee, research suggests that disclosure helps all—the individual, others, and organizations. Disclosure may increase the job satisfaction and
well-being of the individual, help others understand and assist the individual to
succeed in the workplace, and allow the organization to accommodate the situation so that the employee and the organization achieve top performance.74
Other Differentiating Characteristics
how other differen2-4 Explain
tiating characteristics factor
into OB.
The last set of characteristics we’ll look at includes tenure, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, and cultural identity. These characteristics illustrate deep-level differences that provide opportunities for workplace diversity
as long as discrimination can be overcome.
Tenure
Except for gender and racial differences, few issues are more subject to misconceptions and speculations than the impact of seniority and tenure, meaning
time spent in a job, organization, or field.
Extensive reviews have been conducted of the seniority–productivity relationship.75 The evidence demonstrates a positive relationship between organizational
tenure (i.e., how long an employee has been in his or her organization) and job
performance. As such, organizational tenure appears to be a good predictor of
employee performance, although there is some evidence that the relationship is not
linear: Differences in organizational tenure are more important to job performance
for relatively new or inexperienced employees than among those who have been on
the job longer. To use a National Football League (NFL) analogy, a second-year quarterback has more of an edge over a rookie than a tenth-year quarterback has over
one in his ninth year. Job tenure, on the other hand (i.e., how long an employee has
been in his or her job), demonstrates a weak, inconsistent effect on employee outcomes, indicating that employees may lose desire for further career advancement.
Religion
Religious and nonreligious people question each other’s belief systems, and people of different religious faiths often conflict. There are few—if any—countries in
which religion is a nonissue in the workplace. For this reason, employers are prohibited by law from discriminating against employees based on religion in many
countries, including Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.76
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Islam is one of the most popular religions in the world, and it is the majority
religion in many countries. However, in the United States, Muslims are a minority
group that is growing. There are nearly 3 million Muslims in the United States,
and the number is predicted to double by 2030, when they will represent 1.7 percent of the population, according to the Pew Research Center. At that point, there
will be as many Muslims in the United States as there are Jews and Episcopalians.77
Despite these numbers, there is evidence that people are discriminated against
for their Islamic faith even in the workplace. For instance, U.S. job applicants
in ­Muslim-identified religious attire who applied for hypothetical retail jobs had
shorter, more interpersonally negative interviews than applicants who did not wear
Muslim-identified attire.78 One’s own religious commitment predicts whether or
not an employee will intervene when observing religious discrimination.79
Faith can be an employment issue wherever religious beliefs prohibit or
encourage certain behaviors. The behavioral expectations can be informal, such
as employees leaving work early on Christmas Eve. Or they may be systemic, such
as the Monday to Friday workweek, which accommodates a Christian tradition
of not working on Sundays and a Jewish tradition of not working on Saturdays.
Religious discrimination has been a growing source of discrimination claims in
the United States, partially because the issues are complex. Recently, Samantha Elauf,
who was turned down for employment because she wears a hijab (a head scarf), sued
for religious discrimination. “I learned I was not hired by Abercrombie because I
wear a head scarf, which is a symbol of modesty in my Muslim faith,” she said. She
was not aware of the organization’s rule against head coverings and did not mention
her reason for the scarf. Should employers be required to deduce why applicants
dress as they do and then protect them? Even the Supreme Court is not certain.80
Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity
While much has changed, the full acceptance and accommodation of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) employees remains a work in progress. In the United States, a Harvard University study sent fictitious but realistic résumés to 1,700 actual entry-level job openings. The applications were identical with
one exception: Half mentioned involvement in gay organizations during college,
and the other half did not. The applications without the mention received 60 percent more callbacks than the ones with it.81 Another study suggests that the hirability
perceptions of lesbian and gay candidates made by women are actually higher than
those for heterosexuals, suggesting that the bias is complicated and nuanced.82
Perhaps as a result of perceived discrimination, many LGBTQ employees
do not disclose their status. For example, John Browne, former CEO of British
Petroleum (BP), hid his sexual orientation until he was 59, when the press threatened to disclose that he was gay. Fearing the story would result in turmoil for the
company, he resigned. Browne wrote recently, “Since my outing in 2007, many
societies around the world have done more to embrace people who are lesbian,
gay, bisexual, or transgender. But the business world has a long way to go.”83
U.S. federal law does not prohibit discrimination against employees based on
sexual orientation, although 29 states and more than 160 municipalities do. For
states and municipalities that protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation, roughly as many claims are filed for sexual orientation discrimination as
for sex and race discrimination.84 Some other countries are more progressive: For
instance, Australia has laws against discriminating on the basis of sexual preference,
and the United Kingdom has similar laws regarding sexual orientation.85 However,
the distinctions in these laws may not be broad enough—researchers have acknowledged a new acronym, QUILTBAG, to describe individuals who are queer/questioning, undecided, intersex, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, asexual, or gay.86
The rights and freedoms of LGBT citizens are significantly influenced by
the prevailing cultural traditions and religions of people living in some regions
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of the world, such as the Middle East and some Asian countries. Several Middle
Eastern countries have received strong international criticism for discriminating against this group. The Human Rights Watch believes the main argument
can be made by framing the situation of people in terms of their rights violation and protection. Southern and East Africa, the Middle East, and South
Asia remain very conservative in this regard while Western Europe tends to be
permissive and has prohibited discrimination at the workplace based on sexual
orientation.87 As a first step in the United States, the federal government has
prohibited discrimination against government employees based on sexual orientation. The EEOC recently held that sex-stereotyping against lesbian, gay,
and bisexual individuals represents gender discrimination enforceable under
the Civil Rights Act of 1964.88 Even in the absence of federal legislation, many
organizations have implemented policies and procedures that cover sexual orientation. IBM, once famous for requiring all employees to wear white shirts
and ties, has changed its ultraconservative environment. Former vice president
Ted Childs said, “IBM ensures that people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or
Should I come out at work?
I’m gay, but no one at my workplace
knows it. How much should I be willing to tell? I want to be sure to have
a shot at the big positions in the firm.
— Ryan
Dear Ryan:
Unfortunately, you are right to be concerned. Here are some suggestions:
• Look for an inclusive company
­culture. Apple CEO Tim Cook said,
“I’ve had the good fortune to work
at a company that loves creativity
and innovation and knows it can
only flourish when you embrace people’s differences. Not everyone is so
lucky.” Recent research has focused
on discovering new methods to
counteract a discrimination culture
in the United States, the United
Kingdom, and Australia.
• Choose your moral ground. Do you
feel you have a responsibility to
“come out” to help effect social
change? Do you have a right to keep
your private life private? The balance is a private decision. A recent
study by the U.S. Human Rights
Campaign indicated that only half
of LGBT employees nationwide disclose their status.
• Consider your future in top management. Corporate-level leaders are
M02_ROBB3069_18_GE_C02.indd 90
urged to be open with peers and
employees. As Ernst & Young global
vice chairperson Beth Brooke said
about her decades of staying closeted, the pressure to be “authentic”
adds stress if you are keeping your
gay status a secret.
• Weigh your options. The word from
people at the top who are gay (some
who have come out and others who
have not) is mixed. Brooke said,
“Life really did get better” after she
announced her status in a companysponsored video. Mark Stephanz, a
vice chairman at Bank of America
Merrill Lynch, agreed, remarking that
“most people still deal with you
the same way they always do.” Yet
Deena Fidas, deputy director for the
largest LGBT civil rights group in the
United States, reported that being
gay in the workplace is still “far from
being a ‘nonissue.’”
• Be aware of international and national
laws. Sadly, some nations and states
are intolerant. You will need to study
the laws to be sure you will be safe
from repercussions when you reveal
your status.
So think about your decision from both
an ethical and a self-interested point of
view. Your timing depends not only on
Career OBjectives
what you think are your ethical responsibilities but also on your context—
where you work, the culture of your
organization, and the support of the
people within it. Thankfully, globalization is ensuring that the world becomes
increasingly accepting and fair.
Good luck in your career!
Sources: Based on M. D. Birtel, “‘Treating’ Prejudice: An Exposure-Therapy Approach to Reducing Negative Reactions Toward Stigmatized
Groups,” Psychological Science (November
2012): 1379–86; L. Cooper and J. Raspanti,
“The Cost of the Closet and the Rewards of
Inclusion,” Human Rights Campaign report
(May 2014), http://hrc-assets.s3-websiteus-east-1.amazonaws.com//files/assets/
resources/Cost_of_the_Closet_May2014
.pdf; N. Rumens and J. Broomfield, “Gay Men
in the Police: Identity Disclosure and Management Issues,” Human Resource Management
Journal (July 2012): 283–98; and A. M. Ryan
and J. L. Wessel, “Sexual Orientation Harassment in the Workplace: When Do Observers
Intervene?” Journal of Organizational Behavior
(May 2012): 488–509.
The opinions provided here are of the managers and authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of their organizations. The
authors or managers are not responsible for
any errors or omissions, or for the results
obtained from the use of this information.
In no event will the authors or managers, or
their related partnerships or corporations
thereof, be liable to you or anyone else for
any decision made or action taken in reliance
on the opinions provided here.
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transgender feel safe, welcomed and valued within the global walls of our business. . . . The contributions that are made by [gay and transgender] IBMers
accrue directly to our bottom line and ensure the success of our business.”89
IBM is not alone. Surveys indicate that more than 90 percent of Fortune 500
companies have policies that cover sexual orientation. As for gender identity,
companies are increasingly adopting policies to govern the way their organizations treat transgender employees. In 2001, only eight companies in the Fortune 500 had policies on gender identity. That number is now more than 250.
Among the Fortune 1000, however, some noteworthy companies do not currently have domestic-partner benefits or nondiscrimination clauses for LGBT
employees, including Berkshire Hathaway, currently number 4 in the Fortune
rankings of the largest U.S. companies.90 Some companies claim that they do
not need to provide LGBT benefits for religious reasons. Recently, the U.S.
Supreme Court allowed that Hobby Lobby, a retail arts and crafts chain, does
not need to provide contraception insurance coverage due to the religious
objections of its founding family, and many fear that this ruling will pave the
way for overt LGBT discrimination by organizations.91 Some organizations that
claim to be inclusive don’t live up to the claim. For example, a recent study of
five social cooperatives in Italy indicated that these so-called inclusive organizations actually expect individuals to remain quiet about their status.92
Thus, while times have certainly changed, sexual orientation and gender
identity remain individual differences that organizations must address in eliminating discrimination and promoting diversity.
Cultural Identity
We have seen that people sometimes define themselves in terms of race and ethnicity. Many people carry a strong cultural identity as well, a link with the culture
of family ancestry or youth that lasts a lifetime, no matter where the individual
may live in the world. People choose their cultural identity, and they also choose
how closely they observe the norms of that culture. Cultural norms influence
the workplace, sometimes resulting in clashes. Organizations must adapt.
Workplace practices that coincided with the norms of a person’s cultural
identity were commonplace years ago, when societies were less mobile. People
looked for work near familial homes and organizations established holidays,
observances, practices, and customs that suited the majority. Organizations
were generally not expected to accommodate each individual’s preferences.
Thanks to global integration and changing labor markets, today’s organizations do well to understand and respect the cultural identities of their employees, both as groups and as individuals. For foreign managers interacting with
subordinate employees in the United Arab Emirates, avoiding conflict and confrontation is paramount. Managers rarely disappoint their subordinates with
a simple “no,” believing that blunt truth sometimes destroys harmony. While
Italian and French managers may be familiar with such indirectness, Americans
and Australians may come across as brutally candid.93
An organization seeking to be sensitive to the cultural identities of its
employees should look beyond accommodating its majority groups and instead
create as much of an individualized approach to practices and norms as possible. Often, managers can provide the bridge of workplace flexibility to meet
both organizational goals and individual needs.
MyLab Management Watch It
If your instructor has assigned this activity, go to www.pearson.com/
mylab/management to complete the video exercise.
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Ability
the relevance
2-5 Demonstrate
of intellectual and physical
abilities to OB.
ability An individual’s capacity to perform
the various tasks in a job.
Contrary to what we were taught in grade school, we weren’t all created equal
in our abilities. For example, regardless of how motivated you are, you may not
be able to act as well as Leonardo DiCaprio, play basketball as well as LeBron
James, or write as well as J. K. Rowling. Of course, all of us have strengths and
weaknesses that make us relatively superior or inferior to others in performing certain tasks or activities. From management’s standpoint, the challenge
is to understand the differences and thus increase the likelihood that a given
employee will perform the job well.
What does ability mean? As we use the term, ability is an individual’s current
capacity to perform the various tasks in a job. Overall abilities are essentially
made up of two sets of factors: intellectual and physical.
Intellectual Abilities
intellectual abilities The capacity to do
mental activities—thinking, reasoning, and
problem solving.
Exhibit 2-2
Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform mental activities—thinking, reasoning, and problem solving. Most societies place a high value on intelligence, and for good reason. Smart people generally earn more money and
attain higher levels of education. They are also more likely to emerge as leaders
of groups. However, assessing and measuring intellectual ability are not always
simple. IQ tests are designed to ascertain a person’s general intellectual abilities, but the origins, influence factors, and testing of intelligence quotient (IQ)
are controversial.94 So, too, are popular college admission tests, such as the
SAT and ACT, and graduate admission tests in business (GMAT), law (LSAT),
and medicine (MCAT). The firms that produce these tests do not claim that
they assess intelligence, but experts confirm that they do.95
The seven most frequently cited dimensions making up intellectual abilities are number aptitude, verbal comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive
reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial visualization, and memory.96 Exhibit 2-2
describes these dimensions.
Dimensions of Intellectual Ability
Dimension
Description
Job Example
Number aptitude
Ability to do speedy and accurate
arithmetic
Ability to understand what is read
or heard and the relationship of
words to each other
Accountant: Computing the sales tax on a set of items
Ability to identify visual similarities
and differences quickly and
accurately
Ability to identify a logical sequence
in a problem and then solve the
problem
Ability to use logic and assess the
implications of an argument
Ability to imagine how an object
would look if its position in space
were changed
Ability to retain and recall past
experiences
Fire investigator: Identifying clues to support a charge of arson
Verbal comprehension
Perceptual speed
Inductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning
Spatial visualization
Memory
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Plant manager: Following corporate policies on hiring
Market researcher: Forecasting demand for a product in the
next time period
Supervisor: Choosing between two different suggestions
offered by employees
Interior decorator: Redecorating an office
Salesperson: Remembering the names of customers
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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2
general mental ability (GMA) An overall
f­actor of intelligence, as suggested by the
positive correlations among specific intellectual ability dimensions.
93
Intelligence dimensions are positively correlated, so if you score high on
verbal comprehension, for example, you are also more likely to score high on
spatial visualization. The correlations aren’t perfect, meaning people do have
specific abilities that predict important work-related outcomes when considered individually. However, they are high enough that researchers also recognize a general factor of intelligence, general mental ability (GMA).97 Evidence
supports the idea that the structures and measures of intellectual abilities generalize across cultures. Someone in Venezuela or Sudan, for instance, does not
have a different set of mental abilities than a U.S. or Czech individual. There
is some evidence that IQ scores vary to some degree across cultures, but those
differences become much smaller when we take into account educational and
economic differences.98
Jobs differ in the demands they place on intellectual abilities. Research
consistently indicates a correspondence between cognitive ability and task performance. Where employee tasks are highly routine and there are few or no
opportunities to exercise discretion, a high IQ is not as important to performing well. However, that does not mean people with high IQs cannot have an
impact on traditionally less complex jobs.99
It might surprise you that the intelligence test most widely used in hiring
decisions takes only 12 minutes to complete. It’s the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test. There are different forms of the test, but each has 50 questions and the
same general construct. Here are two questions to try:
• When rope is selling at $0.10 a foot, how many feet can you buy for
$0.60?
• Assume the first two statements below are true. Is the final one true, false,
or not certain?
a. The boy plays baseball.
b. All baseball players wear hats.
c. The boy wears a hat.
The Wonderlic measures both speed (almost nobody has time to answer
every question) and power (the questions get harder as you go along), so the
average score is quite low—about 21 of 50. Because the Wonderlic is able to
provide valid information cheaply (for $5 to $10 per applicant), many organizations use it in hiring decisions, including Publix supermarkets, Manpower
staffing systems, BP, and Dish satellite systems.100 Most of these companies
don’t give up other hiring tools, such as application forms or interviews. Rather,
they add the Wonderlic for its ability to provide valid data on applicants’ intelligence levels.
While intelligence is a big help in performing a job well, it doesn’t make
people happier or more satisfied with their jobs.101 In fact, research suggests
that those with higher cognitive ability and who are high performers in the
workplace might be victimized, bullied, and mistreated by their peers due to
envy and social comparison.102
Physical Abilities
physical abilities The capacity to do tasks
that demand stamina, dexterity, strength, and
similar characteristics.
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Although the changing nature of work suggests intellectual abilities are
increasingly important for many jobs, physical abilities have been and will
remain valuable. Research on hundreds of jobs has identified nine basic abilities needed in the performance of physical tasks.103 These are described in
Exhibit 2-3. High employee performance is likely to be achieved when the
extent to which a job requires each of the nine abilities matches the abilities of
employees in that job.
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PART 2 The Individual
Exhibit 2-3
Nine Basic Physical Abilities
Strength Factors
1. Dynamic strength
2. Trunk strength
3. Static strength
4. Explosive strength
Ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously
over time
Ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk
(particularly abdominal) muscles
Ability to exert force against external objects
Ability to expend a maximum of energy in one or a series of
explosive acts
Flexibility Factors
5. Extent flexibility
6. Dynamic flexibility
Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible
Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements
Other Factors
7. Body coordination
8. Balance
9. Stamina
Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different
parts of the body
Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off
balance
Ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged
effort over time
In sum, organizations are increasingly aware that an optimally productive
workforce includes all types of people and does not automatically exclude anyone on the basis of personal characteristics. The potential benefits of diversity
are enormous for forward-thinking managers. For example, a pilot program of
software company SAP in Germany, India, and Ireland has found that employees with autism achieve excellent performance in precision-oriented tasks like
debugging software.104 Of course, integrating diverse people into an optimally
productive workforce takes skill. We will discuss how to bring the talents of a
diverse workforce together in the next section.
Implementing Diversity Management
Strategies
how organizations
2-6 Describe
manage diversity effectively.
diversity management The process and
programs by which managers make everyone
more aware of and sensitive to the needs and
differences of others.
Having discussed a variety of ways in which people differ, we now look at how
a manager can and should manage these differences. Diversity management
makes everyone more aware of and sensitive to the needs and differences of
others.105 This definition highlights the fact that diversity programs include
and are meant for everyone. Diversity is much more likely to be successful
when we see it as everyone’s business than when we believe it helps only certain
groups of employees.
Attracting, Selecting, Developing, and Retaining
Diverse Employees
One method of enhancing workforce diversity is to target recruitment messages to specific demographic groups that are underrepresented in the workforce. This means placing advertisements in publications geared toward those
groups; pairing with colleges, universities, and other institutions with significant
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numbers of underrepresented minorities, as Microsoft is doing to encourage
women to undertake technology studies;106 and forming partnerships with
associations like the Society of Women Engineers or the National Minority Supplier Development Council.
Research has shown that women and minorities have greater interest
in employers that make special efforts to highlight a commitment to diversity in their recruiting materials. Diversity advertisements that fail to show
women and minorities in positions of organizational leadership send a negative ­message about the diversity climate at an organization.107 Of course, to
show the pictures, organizations must actually have diversity in their management ranks.
Some companies have been actively working toward recruiting less-­
represented groups. Etsy, an online retailer, hosts engineering classes and provides grants for aspiring women coders and then hires the best.108 McKinsey
& Co., Bain & Co., Boston Consulting Group, and Goldman Sachs have also
actively recruited women who left the workforce to start families by offering
phase-in programs and other benefits.109
Diversity in Groups
Most contemporary workplaces require extensive work in group settings. When
people work in groups, they need to establish a common way of looking at
and accomplishing the major tasks, and they need to communicate with one
another often. If they feel little sense of membership and cohesion in their
groups, all group attributes are likely to suffer.
In some cases, diversity in traits can hurt team performance, whereas in others it can facilitate performance.110 Whether diverse or homogeneous teams
are more effective depends on the characteristic of interest. Demographic
diversity (in gender, race, and ethnicity) does not appear to either help or hurt
team performance in general, although racial diversity in management groups
may increase organizational performance in the right conditions.111
Teams of individuals who are highly intelligent, conscientious, and interested in working in team settings are more effective. Thus, diversity on these
variables is likely to be a bad thing—it makes little sense to try to form teams
that mix in members who are lower in intelligence or conscientiousness, and
who are uninterested in teamwork. In other cases, diversity can be a strength.
Groups of individuals with different types of expertise and education are more
effective than homogeneous groups. Similarly, a group made entirely of assertive people who want to be in charge or a group whose members all prefer to
follow the lead of others will be less effective than a group that mixes leaders
and followers.
Regardless of the composition of the group, differences can be leveraged to
achieve superior performance. The most important factor is to emphasize the
similarities among members.112
Expatriate Adjustment
According to a 2013 survey by Mercer, a global consulting firm, 70 percent
of multinational organizations were expecting to increase short-term international assignments and 55 percent were looking to increase their long-term
assignments. These organizations note that they do so in order to provide
technical and managerial skills not available locally, provide career and leadership development opportunities, ensure knowledge transfer, and fulfill specific project needs.113 The experience of moving to a different country and
adjusting to its new cultural, interactive, and work-related norms is a major
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PART 2 The Individual
undertaking for both the expatriate (i.e., the employee on international assignment) and the host country nationals. If it is not handled properly, poor adjustment can result in employee dissatisfaction, poor performance, prejudice, and
misunderstanding.114
Several factors can be targeted to ensure that the adjustment process goes
smoothly. For one, feelings of empowerment along with the motivation to
interact with those of other cultures were found in one study to be related to
ease of adjustment, increased satisfaction, and reduced intentions to leave prematurely.115 Although adjustment tends to increase over time in a curvilinear
fashion for all expatriates, those with previous culture-specific work experience
as well as higher self-esteem and self-efficacy tend to adjust and be promoted
more quickly.116 A review of 66 studies on nearly 9,000 expatriates suggests that
­several other factors work in concert to affect different forms of adjustment,
including language ability, relational skills, role clarity and autonomy, organizational support, and familial support.117 These studies suggest that organizations should select employees for international assignments who are capable
of adjusting quickly and then ensure they have the support they need for their
assignment.
Effective Diversity Programs
Organizations use a variety of diversity programs in recruiting and selection
policies, as well as training and development practices. Effective, comprehensive workforce programs encouraging diversity have three distinct components.
First, they teach managers about the legal framework for equal employment
opportunity and encourage fair treatment of all people regardless of their
demographic characteristics. Second, they teach managers how a diverse workforce is better able to serve a diverse market of customers and clients. Third,
they foster personal development practices that bring out the skills and abilities
of all workers, acknowledging how differences in perspective can be a valuable
way to improve performance for everyone.118
Most negative reactions to employment discrimination are based on the
idea that discriminatory treatment is unfair. Regardless of race or gender, people are generally in favor of diversity-oriented programs, including affirmative
action programs (AAPs), to increase the representation of minority groups
and to ensure that everyone has a fair opportunity to show their skills and
abilities.
Organizational leaders should examine their workforce to determine
whether target groups have been underutilized. If groups of employees are
not proportionally represented in top management, managers should look for
any hidden barriers to advancement. Managers can often improve recruiting
practices, make selection systems more transparent, and provide training for
those employees who have not had adequate exposure to diversity material
in the past. The organization should also clearly communicate its policies to
employees so they can understand how and why certain practices are followed.
Communications should focus as much as possible on qualifications and job
performance; emphasizing certain groups as needing more assistance could
backfire.
Research also indicates that a tailored approach will be needed for international organizations. For instance, a case study of the multinational Finnish
company TRANSCO found it was possible to develop a consistent global philosophy for diversity management. However, differences in legal and cultural
factors across nations forced the company to develop unique policies to match
the cultural and legal frameworks of each country in which it operated.119
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EasyJet has a hugely diverse workforce and employs people from 50 different nationalities. These employees
give valuable insights into the different
markets and destinations in which the
airline operates.
Alex Segre/Alamy Stock Photo
Summary
This chapter looked at diversity from many perspectives. We paid particular
attention to three variables—biographical characteristics, abilities, and diversity
programs. Diversity management must be an ongoing commitment that crosses
all levels of the organization. Policies to improve the climate for diversity can be
effective, and diversity management can be learned.
Implications for Managers
Increase awareness of stereotypes, how they are perpetuated, and how
covert discrimination can manifest in organizations.
●● Understand your organization’s antidiscrimination policies thoroughly
and share them with all employees.
●● Assess and challenge your own stereotype beliefs to increase your objectivity.
●● Fully evaluate what accommodations a person with disabilities will need
and then fine-tune a job to that person’s abilities.
●● Seek to understand and respect the unique biographical characteristics of each individual; a fair but individualistic approach yields the best
performance.
●● Look beyond readily observable biographical characteristics and consider the individual’s capabilities before making management decisions;
remain open and encouraging for individuals to disclose any hidden
disabilities.
●● Strive to promote diversity in recruitment and selection practices.
●● Develop a comprehensive diversity management program that weaves
diversity considerations into the organization’s operations.
●●
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PART 2 The Individual
Affirmative Action Programs Have Outlived Their Usefulness
POINT
U
.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is arguably the
Court’s strongest supporter of affirmative action—in theory.
In a recent case upholding the Michigan ban on affirmative
action for underrepresented races in state university admission practices, Justice Sotomayor refused to use the term. “Affirmative action,”
she said, has the connotation of “intentional preferential treatment
based on race alone.” Yes, it does. Isn’t that the point?
Affirmative action programs (AAPs) were needed to get the process of workplace diversity started, but that was all a long time ago.
The practice, now outlawed in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan,
Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and Washington, raises the
percentage of minority individuals but does not create a positive
diversity climate. Here’s why:
Affirmative action lowers the standards for everyone by shifting
the criteria for hiring from experience, education, and abilities to
quotas based on race or other nonperformance attributes. Performance standards for the organization are then effectively lowered.
Groups not helped by the initiative will be resentful, which can lead
to workplace discrimination. Individuals “helped” into the organization also suffer from perceptions of low self-competence (“I don’t
know if I would have made it here if not for AAP”) and stereotype
threat (“I’m afraid others can’t see me as competent because
I was let in by the AAP”).
●● Research indicates that minorities are not helped by AAP in pursuing higher education. In fact, a large-scale study showed that
minority law students who attended schools best matched to their
LSAT scores performed better than those who went to higher-ranked
schools than their scores would warrant without affirmative action.
●● Some of the world’s AAPs have resulted in strife. For example, Sri
Lanka has suffered from civil wars partially caused by affirmative
action that further polarized the Tamils and Shinalese. In Africa,
the quota system to help blacks created a climate of race entitlement and marginalization of Indians. In fact, most countries have
struggled with issues arising from affirmative action policies.
●●
Affirmative action has outlived its usefulness in creating diversity, and it is time to create true equality by focusing on merit-based
achievements.
COUNTERPOINT
A
ffirmative action was enacted to ensure equality, and it’s still
needed today. When the United States was considering the
issue for black minorities back in 1965, President Lyndon B.
Johnson said, “You do not take a person who, for years, has been
hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line
of a race and then say, ‘You are free to compete with all the others,’
and still justly believe that you have been completely fair.” Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. agreed that, in order to create equal opportunity, proactive measures are needed as long as some people remain at a disadvantage. Therefore, what we should be asking is: Are minority groups
faring as well as majority groups in the United States? No, they are
not—not by any indicator.
South Africa has affirmative action for blacks through the Equal
Employment Act; China has “preferential policies” that require that
ethnic minorities and women be appointed to top government positions; Israel has a class-based affirmative action policy to promote
women, Arabs, blacks, and people with disabilities; India has a policy of reservation, a form of affirmative action, for underrepresented
castes; Sri Lanka has the “standardization” affirmative action policy
to help those in areas with lower rates of education; Malaysia’s New
Economic Policy (NEP) provides advantage for the majority group, the
Malays, who have lower income; Brazil, Finland, France, New Zealand,
and Romania have education AAPs; Germany’s Basic Law has AAPs
for women and those with handicaps; Russia has quotas for women
and ethnic minorities; and Canada’s Employment Equity Act provides
affirmative action to women, the disabled, aboriginal people, and visible minorities.
To be certain, fairness is in the eye of the beholder. Affirmative
action provides opportunity, but then it is up to the individual to meet
the expectations of schools or employers. As blogger Berneta Haynes
wrote, “I’m not ashamed to admit that without affirmative action, I’m
not certain I would be on the precipice of the law career that I’m at
right now. As an African-American woman from a poor family, I have
little doubt that affirmative action helped me get into college, earn a
degree, and enroll in law school.”
If we change anything about affirmative action, we should expand
the program until the achievements of underserved groups fully match
those of long-overprivileged groups.
Sources: Based on D. Desilver, “Supreme Court Says States Can Ban Affirmative Action: 8 Already Have,” Pew Research
Center Thinktank (April 22, 2014), http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/22/supreme-court-says-states-canban-affirmative-action-8-already-have/; B. Haynes, “Affirmative Action Helped Me,” Inside Higher Ed (March 12, 2013),
www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/03/12/affirmative-action-helped-me-and-benefits-society-essay; D. Leonhardt,
“Rethinking Affirmative Action,” The New York Times (October 13, 2012), www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/sunday-review/
rethinking-affirmative-action.html?pagewanted=all; L. M. Leslie, D. M. Mayer, and D. A. Kravitz, “The Stigma of Affirmative
Action: A Stereotyping-Based Theory and Meta-Analytic Test of the Consequences for Performance,” Academy of Management Journal 57, no. 4 (2014): 964–89; and B. Zimmer, “Affirmative Action’s Hazy Definitions,” The Wall Street Journal
(April 26–27, 2014), C4.
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Diversity in Organizations CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER REVIEW
MyLab Management Discussion Questions
Go to www.pearson.com/mylab/management to complete the problems marked with this icon
.
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW
2-1 What are the two major forms of workplace
2-4 How do other differentiating characteristics ­factor
2-2 How does workplace discrimination undermine
2-5 What are the relevant points of intellectual and
2-3 How are the key biographical characteristics
2-6 How can organizations manage diversity
diversity?
organizational effectiveness?
­relevant to OB?
into OB?
physical abilities to organizational behavior?
effectively?
APPLICATION AND EMPLOYABILITY
Diversity, in a variety of forms, is important to the application of OB in the workplace. First, workplace discrimination can undermine the effectiveness of an organization
and can lead to many poor outcomes. Beyond biographical characteristics, other factors such as intellectual and
physical abilities are important to OB. Knowledge of diversity in OB can help you and your organization manage
diversity effectively and can help you work effectively with
coworkers who may be different than you in a variety of
ways. In this chapter, you improved your critical thinking
skills and learned various ways to approach issues of social
responsibility through encountering how even minor elements of one’s appearance (e.g., baldness) can affect
perceptions in the workplace, the considerations to make
when deciding whether one should come out at work, and
the usefulness and ethics surrounding affirmative action
programs. In the following section, you will have more
opportunities to develop these skills by recognizing the differences and similarities between you and your classmates,
considering how moral licensing and tokenism operate in
organizations, determining whether diversity training is
effective, and examining the so-called encore career.
EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE Helping Each Other and Finding Out
We Aren’t That Different
Break into teams of four or five while trying to maximize
internal diversity. Student take turns sharing with the others
a problem that they are currently facing in their lives. Any
problem can be presented; the only requirement is that the
problem should be meaningful and important for the presenter. It can be a problem that students are facing at school,
at work, in their sports or leisure activities, or in their personal
life. Sample problems are: How can I find an internship? How
can I improve my language abilities? Where could I travel
for the weekend? And so forth. After each request is shared,
all the other team members are asked to use their intellect,
experience, network, or skills to figure out if they can help
resolve the problem. Each problem must be discussed for a
maximum of 7 minutes, and the presenter is invited to write
down the advice received. After all the students’ problems are
discussed, team members are invited to discuss if and to what
extent they are facing, or have faced in the past, problems
similar to those of their classmates, regardless of their country
of origin or educational background. The following questions
can help in the team discussion (remind them that all information discussed will remain in the room):
2-7. Do you think that sharing personal problems and
helping one another can create a positive climate
that favors inclusion and appreciation of each
other? What does this exercise teach you about
how to manage diversity at work?
2-8. How could this experience be replicated in the
workplace for discussing organization-related problems faced by people from different departments?
Would you consider establishing a weekly meeting
based on this exercise? Discuss the reasons for and
reasons against establishing such a ritual.
Source: Inspired by the reciprocity ring exercise described in A. Grant, Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success (Orion Publishing Co., 2013).
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