Culture and Diversity at Work Lectures
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course, Diversity in the Labour Market, Diversity
in Organisations
Social psychological processes that play a role in the field of work and organisations with
regard to culture and diversity
- World is getting more and more diverse (gender, ethnicity, etc)
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
● Surface level diversity
- Differences among group members in overt, biological characteristics that are
typically reflected in physical features
- E.g. age, gender, and race / ethnicity
● 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 of diversity:
- Effective decision making
- Innovation
- Economic growth
Challenges
- Bias in recruitment
- Selection
- Promotion
TRANSPARENCY IS KEY
Diversity and the labour market
History of diversity in the workplace
● Workplace was domain of white males
, ● Assimilation (need to be similar to ingroup you are going to) of others into this
environment as opposed to integration (can keep a lot of your own identity)
● Changes in population:
- Changes in working population
- Changes in consumer base / clientele
What has changed?
● More female employees
● More etnic minorities (globalisation)
● More employees with disabilities (ramps)
● More explicitly and open gay and lesbian individuals (LGBTQ+)
● Increasingly international workforce
● Need to maintain older employees (pensions and retirement)
● Other forms of diversification
Examples of diversity on the work floor
1) Gender
Gender equality index: measure of gender equality on a workplace (100 = 50/50, perfect
score)
● Low participation of women compared to men
● Few full-timers among women compared to men (maybe part time is good?)
● Few women in higher positions (management functions)
● High gender segregation in sectors
2) Ethnicity
Who is considered to have a migration background?
- One or two parents born abroad
Western and non-western immigrants?
Socioeconomic positions and status
3) Older workers
● Participation older workers (women and men) is growing
● Average compared to other european countries
● Nevertheless participation is still low
● Unemployment in older workers is higher than younger workers
Importance of diversity for organisations
Diversity makes things more innovative
, - More perspectives
- More creativity
- Better outcome
- More money
Why organisations work with diversity
1) Moral reasons
● Equal treatment
● Equal opportunity
● Equal outcomes
Is equality always what we want? Or is it equity?
Moral reasons = economic power
Not always clean: cruelty free? Fair trade?
2) Societal reasons
● Emphasize good outcomes that aren’t necessarily moral
● Focus on consequences of inequality (practical)
3) Compliance
The action or fact of complying with a wish or demand
Companies do what they have to even if they don’t actually want to (according to rules)
4) Synergetic reasons
● Relationship employee and organisation
● Personal and business economic growth
● Employee satisfaction
● Harmony among employees
5) Business-economic reasons
The business-case for diversity (better financial outcome)
1) Attract diverse employees
2) Increase service to diverse populations
3) Increase retention of employees
4) Improve relations between employees
5) Increase creativity and productivity
6) Reduce lawsuits /legal challenges
7) Enhance reputation
, Changing approach to diversity at work
Old Perspective New Perspective
Focus on recruitment Working with diversity
Moral arguments Business-economic reasons
Burden Benefit
Ethnicity / gender All kinds of differences
White males as guilty Universality of bias
Learning about culture has advantages Learning about people as individuals
“Golder Rule”: treat others like YOU want to “Platinum Rule”: treat others like THEY
be treated want to be treated
Assimilation Pluralism (integration)
What working with diversity is NOT…
… just cultural differences
… just employee selection
… just reducing requirements
… just simply blaming white males
Summary
● Substantial and growing diversity in the population
● Less diversity in labour market - especially at highest levels
- Differences in labour participation and position regarding gender, ethnicity,
and age
● Organisations increasingly working with diversity
- Different reasons
- Shifting approach
Lecture 2: How Human Behaviour Leads to Different Outcomes for Different
Groups: Triple Jeopardy
Triple jeopardy: different things responsible for determining different outcomes for different
groups
Discimination, different treatment, etc = people assume people have negative intentions…
not always the case / not required
Lecture 1: Introduction to the Course, Diversity in the Labour Market, Diversity
in Organisations
Social psychological processes that play a role in the field of work and organisations with
regard to culture and diversity
- World is getting more and more diverse (gender, ethnicity, etc)
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
● Surface level diversity
- Differences among group members in overt, biological characteristics that are
typically reflected in physical features
- E.g. age, gender, and race / ethnicity
● 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 of diversity:
- Effective decision making
- Innovation
- Economic growth
Challenges
- Bias in recruitment
- Selection
- Promotion
TRANSPARENCY IS KEY
Diversity and the labour market
History of diversity in the workplace
● Workplace was domain of white males
, ● Assimilation (need to be similar to ingroup you are going to) of others into this
environment as opposed to integration (can keep a lot of your own identity)
● Changes in population:
- Changes in working population
- Changes in consumer base / clientele
What has changed?
● More female employees
● More etnic minorities (globalisation)
● More employees with disabilities (ramps)
● More explicitly and open gay and lesbian individuals (LGBTQ+)
● Increasingly international workforce
● Need to maintain older employees (pensions and retirement)
● Other forms of diversification
Examples of diversity on the work floor
1) Gender
Gender equality index: measure of gender equality on a workplace (100 = 50/50, perfect
score)
● Low participation of women compared to men
● Few full-timers among women compared to men (maybe part time is good?)
● Few women in higher positions (management functions)
● High gender segregation in sectors
2) Ethnicity
Who is considered to have a migration background?
- One or two parents born abroad
Western and non-western immigrants?
Socioeconomic positions and status
3) Older workers
● Participation older workers (women and men) is growing
● Average compared to other european countries
● Nevertheless participation is still low
● Unemployment in older workers is higher than younger workers
Importance of diversity for organisations
Diversity makes things more innovative
, - More perspectives
- More creativity
- Better outcome
- More money
Why organisations work with diversity
1) Moral reasons
● Equal treatment
● Equal opportunity
● Equal outcomes
Is equality always what we want? Or is it equity?
Moral reasons = economic power
Not always clean: cruelty free? Fair trade?
2) Societal reasons
● Emphasize good outcomes that aren’t necessarily moral
● Focus on consequences of inequality (practical)
3) Compliance
The action or fact of complying with a wish or demand
Companies do what they have to even if they don’t actually want to (according to rules)
4) Synergetic reasons
● Relationship employee and organisation
● Personal and business economic growth
● Employee satisfaction
● Harmony among employees
5) Business-economic reasons
The business-case for diversity (better financial outcome)
1) Attract diverse employees
2) Increase service to diverse populations
3) Increase retention of employees
4) Improve relations between employees
5) Increase creativity and productivity
6) Reduce lawsuits /legal challenges
7) Enhance reputation
, Changing approach to diversity at work
Old Perspective New Perspective
Focus on recruitment Working with diversity
Moral arguments Business-economic reasons
Burden Benefit
Ethnicity / gender All kinds of differences
White males as guilty Universality of bias
Learning about culture has advantages Learning about people as individuals
“Golder Rule”: treat others like YOU want to “Platinum Rule”: treat others like THEY
be treated want to be treated
Assimilation Pluralism (integration)
What working with diversity is NOT…
… just cultural differences
… just employee selection
… just reducing requirements
… just simply blaming white males
Summary
● Substantial and growing diversity in the population
● Less diversity in labour market - especially at highest levels
- Differences in labour participation and position regarding gender, ethnicity,
and age
● Organisations increasingly working with diversity
- Different reasons
- Shifting approach
Lecture 2: How Human Behaviour Leads to Different Outcomes for Different
Groups: Triple Jeopardy
Triple jeopardy: different things responsible for determining different outcomes for different
groups
Discimination, different treatment, etc = people assume people have negative intentions…
not always the case / not required
