Women and Minorities in Today's Organizations
Great difference in treatment of women and minorities versus white men.
Glass Ceiling - A transparent barrier so strong it prevent women from moving up the corporate ladder.
The Career Track V. the Mommy Track
Mom V. Mom
Stereotyping and Discrimination
- Prejudice
- Discrimination
- Stereotyping
2. Evaluating people's credentials along dimensions relevant to their group's stereotype (a woman's social skills, a black person's sense of humor);
3. Selectively perceiving and interpreting a person's traits (an aggressive woman is abrasive, but an aggressive man is forceful);
4. Making extreme evaluations based on limited evidence (a mere acquaintance claims that a candidate is "universally disliked" when that is patently untrue).
When Does Sex Stereotyping Occur?
Sex stereotyping most frequently arises in the workplace under the following circumstances:
1. When the target is an isolated, one-of-akind, or few-of-a-kind individual in an otherwise homogeneous environment. The person's distinguishing characteristic is more likely to be a salient factor in decision making in such a situation.
2. When members of a previously excluded group move into jobs that are not traditional for their group. The lack of fit between the person's category and the occupation heightens the tendency to evaluate him or her in terms of group membership rather than individual performance.
3. When information and criteria are ambiguous. Stereotypes provide structure and meaning and are most likely to shape subjective perceptions when the data themselves are open to multiple interpretations.
Professional occupations such as attorney, doctor, accountant, and college professor are areas particularly prone to sex stereotyping. Historically, these occupations have been male-only preserves. Employment decisions, from hiring to promotions, generally involve a variety of objective and subjective factors; decisions are often made by the group the candidate would be joining. Under these circumstances, subjective judgments of interpersonal skills and collegiality are quite vulnerable to sex stereotyping. "Both the evidence and the standards for judging are a matter of interpretation, all too easily influenced by the structure of well-developed expectancies--thus a woman's criticisms of a policy are seen as picky or caustic while a man's are seen as detailed and incisive" (Wallach 1990).
Relational Barriers
Women and minorities experience limited access to or are denied access to informal communication networks.
Mentor-protege relations suffer due to the personwnating to be with someone they can relate to.
The Multicultural Organization
Issues:
Legally mandated affirmative action quotas.
Deliberate capitalization of culture and gender:
- Women and minorities would be equally represented at all levels
- Assimilation - minority members adopt the norms of the dominant culture in the org.
- Cultural Separatism - little adoption from either side.
- Pluralism -Everyone adopts norms from everyone.
Advantages of the Diverse Organization
More creativity, perspectives and ideas
Challenges of the Diverse Organization
- Negative impacts of diversity management programs
- Sexual Harassment
- Balancing Work and Home (Family)
Managing Cultural Diversity
- Strong leadership
- Education and awareness
- Correct issues within
- Audit
