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Week 7 lecture - Coggle Diagram
Week 7 lecture
Diversity and need to manage it
What is diversity
Term used to describe differences among individuals
Age, race, ethnicity, gender, physical characteristics
(height, weight etc.), mental and physical ability, personality, sexual orientation etc
Why manage diversity
28% born overseas, third highest in the world
Overseas-born residents contribute to more than
50 per cent of population growth
Indigenous Australians comprise of approximately
2.4% of the population
Over the next 50 years, approximately ¼
Australians will be 65 years or older
Is it necessary?
One of 4 core labour standards of the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) – Elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
Anti-discrimination, equal opportunity, and affirmative
action legislation in Australia
Changing composition of the labour market
Not about merely meeting ‘legal’ or ‘moral’ obligations
Social Identity Theory
Individuals validate their social identity by favouring their 'in group' at the expense of 'outgroups'. Meaning individuals will prefer to not extend themselves to other individuals that do not share similarities.
How Does This Relate to Diversity?
'In Groups' and 'Out Groups' can cause tensions in the workplace and need to be identified and managed.
Individuals in the workplace must be encouraged or feel comfortable to interact with their perceived 'Out Groups' rather than just their 'In Groups'
Social Dilemmas of workplace diversity
Managerial Participation
Managers are likely to recruit those similar to them
Those disimilar often leave, leading to a homogenous workplace
Can result in power battles
Organisational Participation
Focus on short term costs rather than long term benefits
effective recruiting barriers created from inaccurate views
Incorrect perception of the relationship between a homogenous workforce and employee turnover
Individual Participation
Success depends on how employees embrace efforts
Formation of subgroups may restrict the flow of infomation
Exclusion may lead to informal subgroups
Solutions For Social Dilemmas
The management problem
The public policy problem (Organisational)
Avoiding the creation of legislation that results in protected classes of workers
Instead, develop legislation which requires firms to develop and implement diversity initaives that result in sustainable success
Glass Ceiling
What is it
A phenomenon that limits the advancement of women
and other minority groups to senior managerial positions in organisations
only 25% of key management positions on
company boards are held by women in Australia
However, in the public service 40% of all senior
executive positions filled by women
Eastern European and Scandinavian nations lead
the way in abolishing the glass ceiling
Overcoming glass ceiling
Changing societal norms around the role of women
and eradicating gender bias
Eliminating the stigmatisation of men who choose to
stay home for family reasons
Introduction of paid-parental leave schemes
Introducing gender quotas for company boards
A more representative blend of women and men in
senior roles