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Example research essay topic: Sense Of Pride Women And Minorities - 1,674 words

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Managing diversity in the workplace is a subject that has gained increased attention among managers during the last two decades. After all, the impact of affirmative action and equal employment opportunity programs on the nation's work force is undeniable. Women and minorities were the first to dramatically alter the face of the economic mainstream, while gays, persons with disabilities and senior citizens followed not far behind. The result is a diverse American labor force representing a microcosm of our society - yet one that continues to struggle with its identity. Diversity as a social condition is not new to the U. S.

Founded by immigrants, the nation has always been a merger of cultures and, as such, has undergone periods of discomfort as the world's melting pot. In the 1850 s, for example, Chinese and Irish laborers were brought over to lay the tracks for the transcontinental railroad, which raised the anger of those who had arrived a hundred years earlier. (History Channel. com). At the turn of the century, waves of immigrants arrived on American shores from Southern and Eastern Europe at a rate of a million a year. These unprecedented numbers caused American Federation of Labor president, Samuel Gompers, to complain in 1907: "Cheap labor, ignorant labor, takes our jobs and cuts our wages. " (Games AFL). Today, men, women and families from Southeast Asia, Latin America, Middle East, and the Caribbean leave economic and political turmoil behind in hopes that America will provide a more secure future.

And these immigrants face many of the same obstacles as their predecessors once they arrive. Furthermore, due to tight labor market and thriving information technology industry, many companies import labor from abroad. Skilled professionals from Canada, Australia, Europe, Asia, and Middle East arrive by the thousands to work for emerging technology companies. New Immigration laws and quotas make it easier for technically skilled professionals to work in the U. S. The Americans with Disabilities Act also made it possible for employers to hire more disabled workers and the surging technology market is a welcoming place.

Disabled people with high technical skills enter the workforce with growing ease. Senior citizens also return to work in growing numbers and the new technology allows more friendly working conditions to easily assimilate the needs of the elderly workforce. The growing divorces rate forces greater numbers of homemakers to retrain and gain technical skills for entering the job market. Faster, streamlined educational programs and training offers a greater number of young people to enter the job market faster, without waiting to get a college education. Furthermore, the advances in computer technology attract young people because they have an affinity for computers. Ostensibly, the modern American workplace is a simmering pool of diversity.

Despite the similarities between current circumstances and those of earlier eras, a wide gulf exists that can be traced to the civil rights movement of the 1960 s. Focused in its early years on racial equality, the movement widened its scope to include equality based on gender, age, sexual orientation and disabilities. And as members of these various groups struggled for recognition, they developed a new sense of pride in what made them distinctive. This sense of pride in diversity has led the nation to where it is today. Despite the nation's increasing heterogeneity, diversity is encountering varying degrees of resistance among different sectors of U. S.

industry But like it or not, diversity is not going to disappear. And as always, the workplace is the primary arena for social change. It is important to identify various dimensions of workplace diversity. The first dimension involves primary levels of diversity.

That is, people with disabilities, gender, race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, creed, religion, and age are primary dimensions of diversity. These basic groups require the greatest degree of management dexterity and attention because they play an important part in workforce interrelationships and communication. These areas are also more prone to conflicts and negative reaction among employees. Managers must recognize that there is a need to train, inform, and sensitize their employees to deal with issues relating to this type of diversity. Consequently, managers must recognize the effects of diversity in their firms and plan to deal with potential conflicts and they must also recognize the different strengths of individuals and groups so that they cay utilize their skills more effectively. The second dimension of diversity deals with individuals from different social strata.

For example, education levels differ among various employees. This may result in conflicts between less skilled or educated workers and more affluent and more educated staff members. There is a need to develop training programs to deal with these issues and to create an environment where there is opportunity for learning and skill acquisition. Mentoring and on-the-job training of less skilled workers through courses, assistant programs, and continuing education programs may even the gap between different employees.

However, it is important to recognize potential and use the skills already at hand to create a more efficient team environment where each members contribution carries some value and contributes to the organizational goals. Economic status is as important an issue as is education. Various employees come from different economic background. Their views and manner may differ, along with their expectations and motivations in daily routine and overall purpose.

Nevertheless, they have to work together. There are potential problems and differences of conduct, motivation, and initiative. Managers have to get to know their people and develop ways of using their differences for the benefit of the organization. The focus should be on the positive aspects of individuals, and on merging the best qualities people have to form effective teams. Managing conflict is also very important.

One thing managers should recognize is that there will always be a potential for conflict and their job is to intervene and resolve diversity issues early and quickly. Statistics graphically show the extent of diversity in the workplace. Minorities, immigrants and women already make up more than 50 percent of today's work force Workforce 2000, a landmark study published by the Hudson Institute and funded by the U. S. Department of Labor, further stated that: Immigrants, women and people of color accounted for 85 percent of the net growth in the labor force throughout the 1990 s. Women will accounted for more than 47 percent of the total work force, and 61 percent of all American women will be employed, by the year 2000.

By the end of the 1990 s, African-Americans comprised up to 12 percent of the labor force, Hispanics 10 percent and Asians four percent. The U. S. work force will continue to mature. People 35 to 54 represent up to 51 percent of the work force by the end of year 2000 while those 16 to 24 years old will decline to only eight percent. (Workforce 2000). The 1980 s emphasis on corporate culture added a new criterion to hiring standards In addition to judging a candidate's job qualifications, companies have also attempted to evaluate whether that individual would be a "good fit. " But the "good fit" factor often leaves a lot of room for personal interpretation. "We " ve all heard, and some of us have said, 'I don't care who I hire - or work with - as long as they " re the best qualified, '" observes Joan Steinau Lester, author of The Future of White Men and Other Diversity Dilemmas. "This of course brings up the question, how do we recognize the best? (Lester 49). "In real life, we all tend to hire people much like ourselves, " she continues. "Those are the people we instinctively recognize as 'qualified. (Lester 50) They speak like us she explains, walk like us, dress like us and have similar cultural references (Lester 50).

These people are part of our world. We know them. And we automatically know how to evaluate them. (Lester 50). "It's a stretch to see the qualifications of people who are different, " admits Lester. "Unfamiliarity all too often means discomfort and even mistrust. " (Lester 50). Ernest Drew, chief executive officer of chemical giant Hoechst Celanese, experienced firsthand the value of diversity when he attended a conference for the corporation's top 125 officers.

Mostly white men; they were joined by 50 lower-level employees, women and minorities. Conference attendees broke into problem solving teams, some mixed by race and sex, others all white and male. The primary issue was the impact of Hoechst's corporate culture on the company and what changes could be made to improve results. Listening to findings presented by each of the teams was quite a revelation for Drew. (Drew 15). "It was so obvious that the diverse teams had broader solutions, " he remembers. "They came up with ideas I'd never even thought of before. For the first time, we realized that diversity is strength as it relates to problem solving. Previously, we just thought of diversity as the total number of minorities and women in the company - like affirmative action.

Now we truly understand that we need diversity at every level of the company where decisions are made. " (Drew 17). Battling to maintain profit margins and, in some cases, to just survive, many small firms have dismissed diversity as a challenge more relevant to large corporations. However, even if you live or do business in a relatively homogeneous community, you can be sure not everyone is alike. "Small businesses, like any others, have to look at diversity from an internal and external perspective, " asserts Anita Rowe, diversity consultant and co-author of Managing Diversity: A Complete Desk Reference and Planning Guide. "Internal because you have staff and chances are good that people will differ from each other in some way, such as educational level, age, parental status or physical attributes. "If people don't feel included and that their concerns are germane, " Rowe warns, "the cost to your company can be high - in terms of commitment, satisfaction and high turnover (it's costly to recruit and train). ."..


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Research essay sample on Sense Of Pride Women And Minorities

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