Managing Diversity

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Managing Diversity

No two humans are alike. People are different not only in gender, culture, race, social and psychological characteristics but also in their perspectives and prejudices. Society had discriminated on these aspects for centuries. Women and minority groups were denied of their due rights. But not any more. Since 1960s, when federal legislation prohibited employment discrimination, minorities and female applicants have become the fastest-growing segment in the work force. Diversity makes the work-force heterogeneous. The work-force diversity used in the corporate world today is the varied characteristics of employees working in same organization. Despite the magnitude of the ethical, legal, economic, social, and political dimensions that define diversity initiatives in the workplace, the fields of human resource development and continuing professional education have yet to develop an integrated vision for creating more inclusive work environments. There are issues being raised. Dominant groups are not fully prepared to accept the reality. There are communication problems as well. But then there are enormous benefits as well. Keeping these aspects in mind, this paper will highlight various issues related to diversity.

What is Diversity

Workforce diversity refers to the varied personal characteristics that make the workforce heterogeneous . Diversity is not merely related to sex alone. With passage of time, organizations are becoming more diverse in terms of race, age, sexual orientation, and ethnicity. In addition to these aspects, dimensions of diversity in organizations have now expanded to national, regional or other geographical areas of origin, educational background, family status, income, military exper...

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Henderson, George. Cultural Diversity in the Workplace: Issues and Strategies. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1994.

McInnes, R. "Workforce Diversity: Changing the way you do business." Diversity World. March 28, 2006. http://www.diversityworld.com/Diversity/workforce_diversity.htm

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