Essay on Diversity: The Ethical Choice

I picked this topic because I find it very interesting. Diversity in the work place is an issue but there are more and more improvements on this every year. Now days it isn’t just women being left out of the workplace because people believe that women can’t do a man’s job, you see other issues like women companies who don’t hire men because of judgment. Diversity in the work place is a pretty big issue in this day but for companies to stay competitive with other companies then it is time for them to make some changes in their company. Now diversity in a company isn’t just men vs. women, it goes much higher then that like race, religion etc… Now in this paper I am going to tell you the benefits, challenges, and some tools that companies can

Slowly, society is changing its views about diversity. Beginning with strong legislation regarding anti-discrimination in the workplace, laws have been established, in the United States, from the Civil Rights Act and Title VII of 1964 (which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, and natural origin), Age Discrimination Act of 1967, Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, just to name a few. These, and a multitude of other laws, have been created as a need to comply with equal opportunity employment objectives as well as a personal feeling of wanting to “do the right thing.” Now, many decades later, it’s not just doing the right thing but rather doing the “smart thing”. With a global economy, a technological revolution, and both customers and suppliers coming from diverse backgrounds, it makes

From Hollywood to the the social sector, diversity, rather the lack thereof, has been a topic of conversation. Although many organizations have begun to advocate for diversity, more work must be done. Across the social sector,women and people of color remain severely underrepresented in leadership positions. Organizations must become intentional about creating a diverse workforce and implementing inclusive policies that foster positive work environments. When employees feel represented and included they are happier and more likely to contribute to fulfilling the organization's mission.

Regardless of how diversity is defined, it is an issue that is sweeping the nation. By the 21st century, racial and ethnic minorities will constitute 25% of the U.S. population, affecting the makeup of the U.S. labor force (7). By the year 2000, women will constitute 47% of the total workforce and the average age of the workforce is expected to increase from 36 in 1986 to age 39 (7). If the corporate society does not address the issue by learning how to manage diversity, they will fail.

Burns, C., & Kerby, S. (2012, July 12). The top 10 economic facts of diversity in the workplace. Center for American Progress,

I was very excited when I saw this essay prompt because diversity is actually one of the main criteria that drew me into NC State. All throughout my schooling life, for as long as I can remember, I never attended any schools that were diverse. There was always one extremely predominant race or gender, and it’s something that truly disturbed me. I am excited to attend a college that is so diverse in many aspects, that I will be able to benefit from in multiple different ways. I will be able to learn and understand new perspectives which will help me gain an open mind and heart to be able to accept different kinds of people. I will be able to familiarize myself with different backgrounds and cultures, because I am so accustomed to my own, I

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” ― Maya Angelou.

Example 3: My colleague is a wife of her husband, parent of her children, teacher for her children.

Discrimination is nothing new to our society or is it something that should be taken lightly and for many decades our Nation has endured many conflicts that have tested the will of Americans over the decades and it is evident that as we have become more diverse so too has our workforce. Although, we are in the twenty first century the goal is to understand why prejudice and discrimination is still so prevalent and how we can do better while trying to bring together our different backgrounds, skills, and experiences still has proven to be an issue that minorities are constantly fighting as they struggle to find there place in society. Through an array of well-educated researchers showing how diversity is nothing new to our society, but if we are to continue to grow and move forward we must be able to understand that with diversification we can foster a strong and inclusive economy that is built to last and nurture a nation that will continue to lead the world as standard setter.

Jopwell is a recruiting firm which connects the minority job candidates with the Tech companies in Silicon Valley. The main issue faced by the Tech companies is that the referral candidates are not serving the purpose and they can’t find talented minority candidates suitable to their companies. The companies are aware of the benefits like increased financial returns by having diversity in their workforce. Jopwell is currently serving 45 companies by providing them a pool of thousands of talented minority candidates and has been successful in placing a significant number of candidates in these companies. The company is focussing on diversifying the whole organization by filling the non-technical roles as well like finance, marketing,

The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm is considered the “dominant way” of understanding diversity by most organizations. It attempts to remove discrimination and create employment equality by seeking to increase diversity among employees. Progress is measured by how well the company is able to meet its diversity number goals but avoids looking deeper at the reality behind the numbers. (Thomas & Ely p. 81)

From our research, we identified three different perspectives on workforce diversity that people embrace, each with different implications for a work group’s ability to realize the benefits of its cultural diversity. We use these observations here to examine critically some of the themes and basic assumptions of previous research and to propose new directions for both researchers and practitioners interested in diversity (Ely &Thomas, 2001). When organizations have a diverse economy, it makes the company strong. Once our nation has embrace the changes from the demographics that reap the economic benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce. Burns et al. (2012) stated in their investigation that:

Most people assume that workplace diversity is about increasing racial, national, gender, or class representation -- in other words, recruiting and retaining more people from traditionally underrepresented "identity groups." Taking this commonly held assumption as a starting point, we set out six years ago to investigate its link to organizational effectiveness. We soon found that thinking of diversity simply in terms of identity-group representation inhibited effectiveness. Organizations usually take one of two paths in managing diversity. In the name of equality and fairness, they encourage (and expect) women and people of color to blend in. Or they set them apart in jobs that relate specifically to their backgrounds, assigning them, for example, to areas that require them to interface with clients or customers of the same identity group. African American M.B.A. 's often find themselves marketing products to innercity communities; Hispanics frequently market to Hispanics or work for Latin American subsidiaries. In those kinds of cases, companies are operating on the assumption that the main virtue identity groups have to offer is a knowledge of their own people. This assumption is limited -- and limiting -- and detrimental to diversity efforts. What we suggest here is that diversity goes beyond increasing the number of different identity-group affiliations on the payroll to recognizing that such an effort is merely the first step in managing a diverse workforce for the

The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. In the U.S., where the dialogue of inclusion is relatively advanced, even the mention of the word “diversity” can lead to anxiety and conflict. Supreme Court justices disagree on the virtues of diversity and the means for achieving it. Corporations spend billions of dollars to attract and manage diversity both internally and externally, yet they still face discrimination lawsuits, and the leadership ranks of the business world remain predominantly white and male.

The need to understand diversity is also driven by women in the workplace. Today's workforce has the highest levels of employment participation ever by women. The number of dual income families and single working mothers has increased. Change in the family structure means that there are fewer men and women in traditional family roles (Zweigenhaft and Domhoff, 1998). Therefore, diversity issues cut across both race and gender.