1) What are the current “facts” in terms of progress for minorities and women in the workplace?
Involvement of minorities: In the U.S., minorities have continued to be absorbed by companies across the country. This was not always before the mid-20th century, whereby minority groups, including African Americans and Latinos, were discriminated in both public and private sectors. According to Kurtulus, since the 1960s, the government started ratifying affirmative actions with a bid to reverse the historical discrimination that largely benefited the white majority (p.217). The first labor affirmative order was established by John F. Kennedy, in 1961, whereby he gave the order 10925 that required the government agencies to avoid employing people based on race, color or nation of origin (Kurtulus p.217). It was during the same President Kennedy set up the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), to help in promoting equality in the job market. After the assassination of President Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson took over and established more affirmative actions. President Lyndon ratified the 11246 executive order that required the government to address the issue of the gender gap in employment by establishing the Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) (Kurtulus p.219). The affirmative actions were critical during the civil rights struggle because it helps to give more opportunities for people of minority groups and women.
The minority groups the U.S include the Latinas at 18.3%, the African Americans at 13.4%, and Asian American at 5.9%, while the white, who are the majority, makes approximately 76.5% of the national population (“Quick Facts United States”.” par.11). With regard to workforce, the whites make 78% of the workforce according to 2017 records, which Blacks and Asians stand at 13% and 6%, in which Hispanics make 17% (“Labor force characteristics by race and ethnicity, 2017” par.6). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the minority groups have experienced an increase in their presentation in the labor force. The Bureau explained that young people of minority groups have gained significantly in the workforce because companies have continued to embrace diversity. According to Gravier, minorities between the ages of 25 to 54 have acquired many positions in the workforce in the U.S (par.1). The increase in the number of minorities in the workforce is a presentation of the growth in diversity in the U.S corporations. However,
Involvement of women: Since the 20th century, the U.S has experienced a considerable increase in the number of women in the workforce. Since the rise of the first wave of feminism, followed, by the second and the third waves, women have considerably risen to the position of leadership not only in the political realm but also in the corporate world (Newcomb p.3). A number of women have surpassed all odds to acquire top positions in companies in the U.S. For instance, Mary T. Barra is the CEO of General Motors, Meg Whitman is the CEO of Quibi Company and a political activist, Ursula Burns is the CEO of VEON and Ginni Rometty is the current CEO of IBM (Newcomb p.6). The number of women in the top positions clearly shows that women are equally effective in the workforce.
The rise of women into leadership positions was a gradual process, which started with an increase in the number of women in the workforce. According to a report by the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of women in the labor force rose from 18.4 million in 1950 to 66.3 million in 2000 (Toosssi and Morisi p.3). From the 21st century, the number of women increased considerably. In 2015, the number of women in the labor force reached 73.5 million, amounting to 46.8 % of the total workforce (Toosssi and Morisi p.3).
Although the number of women in leadership positions has increased, the number is relatively low compared to the number of men. Women in the workforce are approximately 46.9%, while women in the managerial positions stand at 32.6% (“Women in Management: Quick Take” par.10). This shows that there still a need to increase the number of women in top positions. On the same note, there are more white women in the leadership positions, followed by Latinas, African Americans and Asian Americans (“Women in Management: Quick Take” par.10). Therefore, increasing the number of women, it would need to increase women of all races and ethnicities.
2) What lessons of diversity have been learned? What are the “best” employers doing? Here, examine case studies of employers reported as having strong diversity programs.
- What do they have in common? What do they do differently?
The lesson of diversity learned from the course is that the management has a significant role to play to successful establish diversity in the workplace. The best employers are putting the right strategies in place in order to accommodate both women and minority groups. According to Dike, the major step embraced by successful employers is the establishment of a powerful organizational culture that promotes diversity (p.10). The culture is a critical fact for the establishment of a diverse workplace because it promotes open and smooth communication combined with positive values that support tolerance.
Secondly, successful managers have continued focused on leading their employees by example in order to influence their subordinates to follow suit. The managers creating policies and incorporate them into the overall vision and mission of the organization.
The corporations that have succeeded in establishing diversity usually do things different with regard to adopting cross-cultural communication. The managers of the successful organizations as understand that cross-cultural communication is imperative for creating an equal opportunity workplace (Martin p.91). This therefore makes an organization to be more attractive to diverse groups including women and minority groups.
- Find out what we know about how well people of different racial, ethnic, gender, lifestyle, and generational groups work together. What are the common problems, if any? What concerns do managers and workers have?
Employees from diverse backgrounds work together as a team in a favorable work environment to promote the vision and the mission of an organization. In a diverse workplace, the employees establish different ideas which promote the development and innovation of an organization.
Communication: communication is of the issues facing managers with regard to establishing diversity in the workplace. Although English is the National Language, the influx of immigrants from other non-English speaking countries has presented new challenges for managers (Adsera and Mariola p.7). The presence of employees speaking in different foreign languages can challenge the management with regard to establishing a strong team that can help in driving the mission and the vision of the organization.
Intolerance: the managers are faced with the challenges of dealing with intolerant employees that are not ready to embrace fellow employees as part of the company. Some employees are not usually ready to embrace people of different racial groups, support the women in the leadership position (Dike p.40). This challenges the managers with regard to creating a favorable environment for all the employees.
In a diverse workplace, managers are usually concerned with how employees from diverse backgrounds will relate with each other. Because of the high risk of experiencing cases of discrimination in a diverse workplace, the managers are usually concerned on how to select the best measure to counter prejudice before it occurs (Dike p.17). Early planning is a good step towards ensuring smooth operations of an organization that has embraced diversity.
- Get specific data on how the “glass ceiling” affects the careers of women and minorities in various occupational settings. Analyze the data and develop the implications.
Embracing diversity in an organization can be hindered by the barriers established by the top management that have a strong influence on the decision-making process. Glass ceiling is a metaphor used to identify the barriers that hinder corporations from fully embrace the diversity that comes with equality (Roman p.4). For instance, in some companies, women can not be promoted to higher positions despite their qualifications being equal to men. According to Roman, glass ceiling, barriers are established by the management that has negative beliefs towards a given group (p.11). According to a 2003 report by the Federal Glass Ceiling Commission, approximately 7-9% of the top management was women. In a different report by the Wall Street Journal, in 2005 only 3% of the top executives were made of people of minority groups. According to Allen, the glass ceiling also contributes to the difference in wage, therefore hindering diversity (par.1). For instance, in 2017, women in the workforce earned 82% to that wages earned by their male counterparts (Allen par.1).
- Take a critical look at the substance of diversity training programs. What do these programs try to accomplish, and how? Are they working or not, and how do we know?
Diversity training programs focus on bridging the gap between people of different backgrounds. For instance, the management can focus on creating measures to ensure equal pay as well as promote equal promotion opportunities. The programs help to establish a favorable work environment for strong diverse teams. Effective diversity training programs help to counter issues such as discrimination which can affect the performance of an organization (Bezrukova p.209). Therefore, diversity training is important for managers to align other employees with the goal of promoting diversity in the organization especially in this globalized world.
Diversity training is effective in promoting diversity in an organization because it equip employees with strategies on how to co-exist with other employees from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, diversity training is an imperative step towards addressing promoting diversity in an organization.
What are your personal recommendations/conclusions?
Developing policies: In order to embrace diversity in an organization, the management should establish policies that favor diversity. Putting the right policies in place is an important step towards creating measures to counter the challenges that come with a diversified workplace (Sharma p.7). For instance, when hiring people of minority races such as African Americans, having the right policies can help to protect them from discrimination. Embracing diversity means setting the right structures in the place to ensure that the workplace is favorable for employees of all backgrounds (Schermerhorn and Daniel p.272). The managers have a huge responsibility of setting the right measures in place to promote employee integration. Effective steps can be achieved by aligning the diversity policies with the mission and the mission of the organization.
Enhancing communication: Embracing diversity in an organization can attract retaliation from other staff members, therefore the need to establish good communication measures. According to the argument by Forbes Coaches Council, achieving diversity in an organization is not the sole role of human resource management (par.3). In this regard, the management should attract extensive support from other staff members. Through communication, the management can help other staff members to understand the importance of diversity. This can promote extensive support from other members, by helping the people of minority groups and women to appropriately feel accepted in the organization. Additionally, working along with other staff members can help in preventing issues of discrimination against other groups in the organization (Forbes Coaches Council par.9). This strategy can very important especially in an organization that is strongly attached to traditional belies that are against women, and other racial groups.
Employee training: The newly hired employees can be faced with diverse challenges in trying to assimilate into the organization. To counter such a scenario, the human resource management should create training opportunities for the new hires. According to the Forbes Coaches Council, the management should develop training sessions to help the new employees to withstand the challenges that come with working with other employees (Forbes Coaches Council par.9). For instance, the University of California offers its employees with training programs to enhance their adoption of diversity in the organization. The training process should include getting feedback from employees and the ideas for enhancing diversity in the organization.
