Culture and Diversity at Work
Lecture notes
Lecture 1
What is diversity?
- Everything that distinguishes people from one another
- In practice: focus on gender, age, race/ethnicity, religion, tenure, educational
background, and social/functional background
- Roberge & van Dick (2010)
o Surface-level diversity
Differences among group members in overt, biological characteristics
that are typically reflected in physical features/
E.g. age, gender, race/ethnicity
o Deep-level diversity
More subtle attributes that cannot necessarily be directly and
immediately observed. Such attributes refer to members’ personalities,
attitudes, beliefs and values
E.g. sexual orientation, religious beliefs
- Benefits
o Effective decision making, innovation, economic growth
- Challenges
o Bias in recruitment, selection, promotion
o Transparency is key, because people will be motivated to address biases
- Diversity can be beneficial for organizations/society when diversity is accepted, by
addressing biases
‘De Zeven Vinkjes’; the privileged white man checks the following marks:
1. Cis male
2. White
3. Heterosexual
4. At least one highly educated or wealthy parent
5. At least one parent born in the country of residence
6. University diploma / high education
History of diversity in the workplace
- Workplace was domain of white males
- Assimilation of others into this environment (as opposed to integration)
- Changes in population:
o Changes in working population
o Changes in consumer base/clientele
What has changed?
- More female employees
- More ethnic minorities
- More employees with disabilities
- More sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQIA+)
1
, - Increasingly international workforce
- Need to maintain older employees
- And other forms of diversification
Examples of diversity on the work floor
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Older workers
Diversity on the work floor (Netherlands): Gender
- Low participation of women
- Few full-timers among women
- Few women in higher positions
o Stereotypes, less likely to be hired in these sections
- High gender segregation in sectors (women = care and service sector, men – trade
and industry)
The power of the system; Structure
- Effects of structure:
o Opportunity structure
o Power structure
o Sex-ratio
- Impact of opportunity structure on aspirations
- Impact of opportunity structure on value for social relations
- Impact of power on attention to social-emotional side of leadership
- Concept of reflected power
Diversity in the Netherlands: Ethnicity
- Who is considered to have a migration background?
o One or two parents born abroad
o Western and non-western immigrants?
o Immigration largely contributes to population growth
o The Dutch population is diverse
- CBS: new classification of background, categorization that reduces stigma
Diversity on the work floor: Older workers (55-64 years)
- Participation older workers (women and men) is growing
- Average compared to other European countries
- Nevertheless, participation is still low
- Unemployment older workers higher than younger workers
Why organizations work with diversity
1. Moral reasons
o Equal treatment
o Equal opportunity
o Equal outcomes
Moral reasons = economic power
2
, 2. Societal reasons
o Emphasize good outcomes (not necessarily moral)
For instance: prevent conflicts between racial groups
o Focus on consequences of inequality (practical)
3. Compliance
4. Synergetic reasons
o Relationship employee and organization
o Personal and business economic growth
o Employee satisfaction
o Harmony among employees
5. Business-economic reasons: The business-case for diversity
o Attract diverse employees
o Increase service to diverse populations
o Increase retention of employees
o Improve relations between employees
o Increase creativity and productivity
o Reduce lawsuits/legal challenges
o Enhance reputation
When and how diversity increases group performance
When?
- Psychological safety climate
- Salience of collective identity (we, us, not they vs us, I vs you)
How?
- Individual level (empathy and self-disclosure)
- Group level (communication, involvement, trust)
Changing approach to diversity at work
Old perspective
- Focus on recruitment
- Moral arguments
- Burden
- Ethnicity/gender
- White males as guilty
- Learning about culture has advantages
- ‘golden’ rule (managers treat employees the way they themselves want to be treated)
- Assimilation
New perspective
- Working with diversity
- Business-economic reasons
- Benefit
- All kinds of differences
- Universality of bias
- Learning about people as individuals
- ‘platinum’ rule (managers treat employees the way employees want to be treated)
- Pluralism (integration)
3
, Working with diversity is NOT just about…
- Cultural differences (e.g., Asians tend to do A because of their culture) pay
attention to structure and other elements in social environment that cause certain
behavioral patterns and inclusion-related issues)
- Employee selection whether the working environment is inclusive is very
important
- Reducing requirements it is about ensuring that the process is fair, open,
transparent, and that we consider and address potential biases in the process
Summary
- Substantial and growing diversity in the population
- Less diversity in labor market – especially at highest levels
o Differences in labor participation and position regarding gender, ethnicity, and
age
- Organizations increasingly working with diversity
o Different reasons
o Shifting approach
Lecture 2
How human behavior leads to diff erenti al outcomes for diff erent groups
Triple Jeopardy
1. Categorization and (negative) stereotyping
2. Solo status and salience of group membership
3. Token status
(negative intention not required)
Subtle, implicit expectations = different treatments for stigmatized groups
Stereotypes
Categorization of people into groups
- Categorization simplifies the world around us
- Ingroup vs outgroup
- Low status vs high status groups
Categorization of people into groups (1. Triple Jeopardy)
- What determines which categories matter?
o Salience of the category (the extent to which the category stands out, is easy
to notice, is considered relevant). For example: after a case regarding George
Floyd, the notion of racial minority/majority group becomes salient)
o Cognitive availability of the category (which category is most often or was
most recently used?)
o Cultural importance of the category (to what extent is the category considered
important in a certain cultural context?)
For example: royals vs non-royals in some cultural contexts is important
In a religious community, whether you are part of a religious group or not
is very important
4
Lecture notes
Lecture 1
What is diversity?
- Everything that distinguishes people from one another
- In practice: focus on gender, age, race/ethnicity, religion, tenure, educational
background, and social/functional background
- Roberge & van Dick (2010)
o Surface-level diversity
Differences among group members in overt, biological characteristics
that are typically reflected in physical features/
E.g. age, gender, race/ethnicity
o Deep-level diversity
More subtle attributes that cannot necessarily be directly and
immediately observed. Such attributes refer to members’ personalities,
attitudes, beliefs and values
E.g. sexual orientation, religious beliefs
- Benefits
o Effective decision making, innovation, economic growth
- Challenges
o Bias in recruitment, selection, promotion
o Transparency is key, because people will be motivated to address biases
- Diversity can be beneficial for organizations/society when diversity is accepted, by
addressing biases
‘De Zeven Vinkjes’; the privileged white man checks the following marks:
1. Cis male
2. White
3. Heterosexual
4. At least one highly educated or wealthy parent
5. At least one parent born in the country of residence
6. University diploma / high education
History of diversity in the workplace
- Workplace was domain of white males
- Assimilation of others into this environment (as opposed to integration)
- Changes in population:
o Changes in working population
o Changes in consumer base/clientele
What has changed?
- More female employees
- More ethnic minorities
- More employees with disabilities
- More sexual and gender minorities (LGBTQIA+)
1
, - Increasingly international workforce
- Need to maintain older employees
- And other forms of diversification
Examples of diversity on the work floor
- Gender
- Ethnicity
- Older workers
Diversity on the work floor (Netherlands): Gender
- Low participation of women
- Few full-timers among women
- Few women in higher positions
o Stereotypes, less likely to be hired in these sections
- High gender segregation in sectors (women = care and service sector, men – trade
and industry)
The power of the system; Structure
- Effects of structure:
o Opportunity structure
o Power structure
o Sex-ratio
- Impact of opportunity structure on aspirations
- Impact of opportunity structure on value for social relations
- Impact of power on attention to social-emotional side of leadership
- Concept of reflected power
Diversity in the Netherlands: Ethnicity
- Who is considered to have a migration background?
o One or two parents born abroad
o Western and non-western immigrants?
o Immigration largely contributes to population growth
o The Dutch population is diverse
- CBS: new classification of background, categorization that reduces stigma
Diversity on the work floor: Older workers (55-64 years)
- Participation older workers (women and men) is growing
- Average compared to other European countries
- Nevertheless, participation is still low
- Unemployment older workers higher than younger workers
Why organizations work with diversity
1. Moral reasons
o Equal treatment
o Equal opportunity
o Equal outcomes
Moral reasons = economic power
2
, 2. Societal reasons
o Emphasize good outcomes (not necessarily moral)
For instance: prevent conflicts between racial groups
o Focus on consequences of inequality (practical)
3. Compliance
4. Synergetic reasons
o Relationship employee and organization
o Personal and business economic growth
o Employee satisfaction
o Harmony among employees
5. Business-economic reasons: The business-case for diversity
o Attract diverse employees
o Increase service to diverse populations
o Increase retention of employees
o Improve relations between employees
o Increase creativity and productivity
o Reduce lawsuits/legal challenges
o Enhance reputation
When and how diversity increases group performance
When?
- Psychological safety climate
- Salience of collective identity (we, us, not they vs us, I vs you)
How?
- Individual level (empathy and self-disclosure)
- Group level (communication, involvement, trust)
Changing approach to diversity at work
Old perspective
- Focus on recruitment
- Moral arguments
- Burden
- Ethnicity/gender
- White males as guilty
- Learning about culture has advantages
- ‘golden’ rule (managers treat employees the way they themselves want to be treated)
- Assimilation
New perspective
- Working with diversity
- Business-economic reasons
- Benefit
- All kinds of differences
- Universality of bias
- Learning about people as individuals
- ‘platinum’ rule (managers treat employees the way employees want to be treated)
- Pluralism (integration)
3
, Working with diversity is NOT just about…
- Cultural differences (e.g., Asians tend to do A because of their culture) pay
attention to structure and other elements in social environment that cause certain
behavioral patterns and inclusion-related issues)
- Employee selection whether the working environment is inclusive is very
important
- Reducing requirements it is about ensuring that the process is fair, open,
transparent, and that we consider and address potential biases in the process
Summary
- Substantial and growing diversity in the population
- Less diversity in labor market – especially at highest levels
o Differences in labor participation and position regarding gender, ethnicity, and
age
- Organizations increasingly working with diversity
o Different reasons
o Shifting approach
Lecture 2
How human behavior leads to diff erenti al outcomes for diff erent groups
Triple Jeopardy
1. Categorization and (negative) stereotyping
2. Solo status and salience of group membership
3. Token status
(negative intention not required)
Subtle, implicit expectations = different treatments for stigmatized groups
Stereotypes
Categorization of people into groups
- Categorization simplifies the world around us
- Ingroup vs outgroup
- Low status vs high status groups
Categorization of people into groups (1. Triple Jeopardy)
- What determines which categories matter?
o Salience of the category (the extent to which the category stands out, is easy
to notice, is considered relevant). For example: after a case regarding George
Floyd, the notion of racial minority/majority group becomes salient)
o Cognitive availability of the category (which category is most often or was
most recently used?)
o Cultural importance of the category (to what extent is the category considered
important in a certain cultural context?)
For example: royals vs non-royals in some cultural contexts is important
In a religious community, whether you are part of a religious group or not
is very important
4
