Managing Diversity

at Work
 What is
diversity?
 The Concept of Diversity
• Any mixture of components
characterized by similarities and
differences. The components of a
diversity mixture include
differences and similarities
between and among races, ages,
genders, educational levels,
religious affiliations, geographical
origins and work styles. (Thomas,
1995)
• Significant changes in
the composition of the
workforce such as the
increasing number of
women, racial
minorities, senior
workers and
immigrants. (Johnston
and Packer, 1987)
• Diversity can also
be regarded as
the broad
spectrum of
variation that
distinguishes
among the
human resources
 Equality vs. Diversity
Diversity derives from
the idea of fairness and
treatment based on the
recognition, valuing and
harnessing of differences
in religion, race, gender,
sexuality etc.
Discrimination
• To unfairly treat a person or
group of people differently
from other people or groups.
• To notice and understand that
one thing is different from
another thing: to recognize a
difference between things.
Equality
• The quality or state of being
equal: the quality or state of
having the same rights,
social status, etc.
Fairness
• Agreeing what is
thought to be right or
acceptable.
• Treating people in a way
that does not favour
some over others.
“It is not our differences
that divide us. It is our
inability to recognize,
accept and celebrate these
differences.”
Having Diversity
versus Managing
Diversity
Managing diversity implies
proactive efforts on the part
of all organizational members
to respond effectively to the
challenges posed by diversity
in workgroups.
Valuing Diversity versus
Managing Diversity
Valuing diversity starts from the
position that people’s differences
are an asset rather than a
burden to be tolerated.
(Meyerson and Fletcher,2000)
Managing diversity focuses on
building diversity management-
related skills and challenging
policies or strategies.
Simple ways to manage
diversity in the workplace
• Connect
• Creative Collaboration
• Constant Communication
Diversity in the classroom may include:

• Students coming from diverse

socioeconomic backgrounds
• Lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender
(LGBT) students
• Students with learning and physical
disabilities
• Students with different learning styles
• Gifted students
 Ways of managing diversity in the
classroom

• Highlight the diversity of your

classroom to the students.
• Get to know your students and build
relationships with them.
• Provide an array of different learning
tools
 Benefits of
Diversity
Management
• Generating fresh ideas

Organizations may
need new ideas to
thrive, and such ideas
may stem from hiring
employees from many
diverse backgrounds.
• Improving
firm/organizational
growth.
Mismanaged diversity may
prevent employees from
improving their abilities and
increasing motivations to get
things done, thereby decreasing
their job satisfaction, job
performance and organizational
productivity.
 Enhancing
firm/organization image
• Managing diversity has been
considered a vital managerial
responsibility to improve both
the welfare of society as a whole
and the interests of the business
organization. Thus, failure to
respond to social norms and
values can undermine the
company image and discourage
potential employees. from
References:
https://peopledevelopmentmagazine.com/2016/1
0/13/diversity-increases-performance
/
http://www.innovationmanagement.se/imtool-arti
cles/why-diversity-is-the-mother-of-creativity
/
https://www.schooliseasy.com/2016/08/3-ways-
manage-diversity-classroom
/
Managing Workforce Diversity, Byeong Yong