Workplace Discrimination

Reluctance to come to terms with more serious and entrenched forms of privilege is why most diversity programs produce limited

Prejudice in the workplace has come a long way in recent decades. But it’s still there, despite decades of activism, legislation and human resources programs to counter it and to promote an appreciation of diversity. Prejudice comes in qualitatively different forms, such as — racial profiling, religious, obesity, sexual orientation, age, immigrants, and gender — that have to be managed in different ways.

Unfortunately, many workplaces have utilized the colorblind approach that emphasizes peoples’ similarities rather than their differences, in order to “treat everyone the same.” The rhetoric behind these tactics are that differences lead to problems between one another, marginalized groups must assimilate into the dominant culture, individual culture must be abandoned, and that there are absolutely no biases at play, although this only leaves marginalized employees more untrusting of their straight, white, male coworkers. Colorblindness also allows those who perpetuate microaggressions to be excused from holding accountability for expressing offensive beliefs and biases. Those offended may ultimately leave their job or their performance will decline. During recruitment, heterosexist and racial biases determines who is “qualified” (218). Companies who adopt a colorblind tactic have very low retention rates because although overt, prejudicial instances may be addressed, covert ones are ignored and deemed as

Racism is defined as prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior. In the workforce, the issue of racism and discrimination has been brought to the center of conversations around the world. Companies claim to be “colorblind” and not hire somebody based on their race or gender, but the employment rates among minorities and women around the world is significantly lower than the majority in the given country. There is also the growing issue of minorities, such as blacks in america, making significantly less money than whites. This issue affects people all around the world who happen

This research paper addresses the importance of diversity training in the workplace. Having realized how pertinent workplace discrimination is globally, this paper will give a broad look into the various ways that diversity is displayed in the workplace. The diversity issues involving gender, sexuality, race, age, culture and religion will be explored,

Reverse discrimination first gained notoriety in the 1970’s and has blossomed into a serious concern as to whether the protection of minorities discriminates against the majority (Does Affirmative, 2009). The affirmative action law was written to protect individuals of all races not just minorities. Managers should be educated on the positive impact of discrimination through professional development trainings and seminars, implementing white papers is a great way to deal with discrimination in the workplace. Meritocracy and diversity often seem to be at odds and a certain tension arises when the two are considered when hiring decisions are made (Walton, Spencer, & Erman, 2013). Jerry Falwell Sr. once said your greatest opportunity is often

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.

The United States is one of the most diverse nations on the earth, originally conceived so, and often described as a great melting pot, as “all nations are melted into a new race of man, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world” (St. John de Crèvecoeur, 1782). Yet, despite the country’s diverse population, the workplace remains a place of inequality as women and minorities continue to earn less than their white male counterparts (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011; U.S. Census Bureau, 2009) and advance less in managerial and professional positions (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2008). The question of workplace diversity is a polarizing debate with proponents of diversity measures arguing the business benefit of

While the world has unanimously advanced and is more accepting of change, the workplace continues to be a place of discrimination, prejudice and inequality. Discrimination is broadly defined to ‘distinguish unfavourably’, isolate; and is context based (Pagura, 2012). Abrahams (1991) described the workplace as an ‘inhospitable place’ where gender disparity and wage gaps persist (Stamarski & Son Hing, 2015). Among other states and countries, the Australian government actively implements and passes laws to protect and maintain equal employment rights. While the objective of these laws is ‘to eliminate discrimination,’ the regulatory mechanisms in the legislation are largely ineffective at achieving this ultimate goal (Smith, 2008). However,

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)

This paper will assess my personal experience with prejudice in the workplace, including the implications of the situation to the organization in terms of its stakeholders, reputation, and its legal responsibilities. Furthermore, I will analyze the negative effects the discriminatory behavior had on morale and functioning of coworkers and employees. Lastly, I will recommend three action steps that I would have taken as a manager to avoid the situation, in addition to three steps to render the situation.

Managing diversity and equality effectively in the workplace is the core responsibility of any organization in the contemporary business world. Shen, Chanda, D’Netto and Monga (2009) conducted a survey whose results revealed the massive diversity within the British society in terms of ethnicity, nationality and religion. As a result, the Equality Act of 2010 was formulated and became law whose provisions focus on legal protection against discrimination based on gender re-assignment, marriage, civil partnership, age, disability, sexual orientation, religion, pregnancy and maternity, sex and beliefs (Monks, 2007). Therefore, managing diversity in the workplace is critical towards the achievement of equality and discrimination free working environment. Bhatia (2008) observed that the ability to understand, accept, value, acknowledge and celebrate differences among people with respect to race, sexual orientation, religion, age, ethnicity and mental ability within an organization is crucial in eliminating discrimination. Discrimination refers to the tendency of denying equal treatment to people believed to be members of the same social group (Ozbilgin, 2009). In other words, discrimination in the work place is related to denial of equal treatment in terms of promotion, compensation, career development, training and empowerment. Therefore, managing diversity in the work place is crucial towards the achievement of a discrimination free working environment and the

Workplace diversity policies have emerged among countless companies, in an attempt to increase diversity among its workers. While noble in idea, the effect it is having is ultimately questionable. In a very recent study conducted by Dover, Kaiser, and Major, its overall effect to company diversity is negligible (John Moyer, 2016). The study went on to demonstrate “diversity policies can blind white men to racism and sexism at work and also lead to resentment (Moyer, 2016, p. 1).” This idea is reinforced via Reddit commenters’ anecdotes and an older study (Moyer, 2016). The study demonstrated how whites felt threatened by companies that had workplace diversity policies compared to companies that didn’t (Moyer, 2016, p.2). In essence, as the country increases in diversity, white people feel more threatened (Moyer, 2016, p.3).

Nowadays, with increasing variety in organizations, several inequalities in the workplace have happened. In spite of the regulation policies which have limited inequalities on the workplace, it still exists, because of personal characteristics, such as gender, age and different race (Allan, C & Mcphail, R & Wilkinson, A 2008, p. 225). Inequality in the workplaces can be defined as the unfair discrimination relating to things, such as wage differentials between men and women, unfair practices and unfairness opportunities, particularly with regard to employment of people of different ethnic origins (Grainge, 2007, online). C2E TODAY (Committed 2 Equality) shows that in spite of large UK companies declaring that they have eliminated inequalities in the workplace around 77 per cent of them have little or no equality practices. Even though small companies’ situation is more serious, 97.5 per cent of them have no equality practices in place (Committed 2 Equality, 2008, online). This paper will analyze several inequalities exist on the workplace with the use of real facts for concentrating on gender, age and race, and demonstrate the role of the participants within employments relations by discussing the responses from the state, employers and unions.

Discrimination comes in many forms. Discrimination and diversity are closely linked considering the reasons behind discrimination are what makes up the definition of diversity. Not only is discrimination made against gender, race, and religion, but it is also made of age, disabilities, appearance and in a lot of cases, women who are pregnant too. This is very much a reality for many employers. There are laws protecting acts of discrimination. This topic is so sensitive, that many employers implement diversity and discrimination into their mission statements. Many companies make it their practice to host training sessions to prevent discrimination from happening, then there are many companies who can’t afford such training for their