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Discrimination, Diversity and Equal Opportunities

Discrimination, Diversity and Equal Opportunities. Women’s Average Pay as % of Men’s Earnings. ARE THERE OTHER GROUPS OF WORKERS WHO YOU THINK MIGHT BE DISADVANTAGED?. The Basis for Unequal Opportunities and Disadvantage?. Gender Race and Ethnicity Religion Disability Age

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Discrimination, Diversity and Equal Opportunities

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  1. Discrimination, Diversity and Equal Opportunities

  2. Women’s Average Pay as % of Men’s Earnings

  3. ARE THERE OTHER GROUPS OF WORKERS WHO YOU THINK MIGHT BE DISADVANTAGED?

  4. The Basis for Unequal Opportunities and Disadvantage? • Gender • Race and Ethnicity • Religion • Disability • Age • Sexual Orientation

  5. What Opportunities are Unequal? • Earnings • Occupational • Sectoral • Career development • Promotional • Involvement

  6. Key Issues • What are the arguments against inequality and for equality of treatment? • What explains inequality at the workplace? • What steps are and can be taken to deal with inequality and develop equality?

  7. What are the Arguments for Equality? • The Business Case • Better use of human resources • Wider customer base • Wider pool for recruitment • Positive image for company • Diversity leads to innovation

  8. What Explains Inequality at the Workplace? Structural conditions Discrimination Inequality Situational centered factors Person centered factors

  9. What is Discrimination? “To make a distinction” Fair and Unfair Distinctions

  10. Forms of Discrimination Direct versus Indirect

  11. The Cause of Discrimination • Psychological • personality types • personal insecurities • -learned behavior? Prejudice Discrimination • Sociological • Stereotyping • Group insecurities • Difference in cultural norms Economic - See structural

  12. Structural/Economic • Human Capital Theory • Labor market non discriminatory • If groups are disadvantaged, it is because they are less productive • Difficult to test qualifications • Segmentation • Horizontal (women in health, education, retailing) • Vertical (glass ceiling issue) • Reserve army • Unemployment higher amongst ethnic minority groups

  13. Person-CenteredExplanations • Women are less ambitious? • Women lack leadership qualities? • Women are less self confident?

  14. Situation CenteredExplanations • Less Training • Excluded from informal networks • Poor Mentoring • Poor appraisal ratings • Lack of family friendly practices

  15. Removing Inequality and Ensuring Equality The State The Organization Equality at the workplace The Individual The Trade Union

  16. The State • National Governments • Constitutional rights • Legislation

  17. The Organizational Level What actions would you suggest an organisation should adopt to help ensure equal opportunities in general and in relation to a particular group (select one of: women, ethnic group, older workers, those with particular sexual orientation)?

  18. The Organization Equal Opportunities Managing Diversity Liberal Approach Radical Approach (Jewson and Mason (1986)) Short Term Agenda Long Term Agenda

  19. Equal Opportunities • Focused on the needs of members of particular groups • Treats members of a particular group as if they all share the same characteristics and experiences • Uses special initiatives to focus attention on the issues affecting particular groups • Emphasis on the more, ethical and social issues • Led mainly by HR specialists

  20. Liberal Approach to Equal Opportunities • Assumptions • Everyone should be able to compete freely on the basis of ability • This could and should be achieved by procedural impartiality • Goal: • Equal treatment • Practical implications • Put into place fair procedures • Remove all barriers to equal competition between groups • Indicative Practices • Develop an equal opportunities policy • Ensure all practices (e.g. recruitment/selection, reward, career-advancement) do not discriminate • Consider employee friendly policies and practices

  21. Critique of Liberal Approach • Retain assumption of existing (male) management style • Ignore informality • Runs of risk of just paying “lip service” • HR job is not a line managers job

  22. Radical Approach to Equal Opportunities • Assumptions • Those for all group are the same (equally talented) • Differences in treatment must mean discrimination • Goal • Equal outcome • Practical implications • Direct action needed to deliberately make sure that those form particular groups are treated equally • Indicative Practices (the short term agenda) • Positive discrimination (quotas) • Use of targets • Retraining managers • Monitoring

  23. Critique of the (short term) Radical Approach • Legality of positive • discrimination? • Efficiency concerns • Resentments • Long term agenda • Shift societal attitudes • Changing socialisation • Shifting educational choices • Providing more welfare • support

  24. Managing Diversity • Recognizes that each and every employee is unique • Aims to be inclusive by focusing on needs of all employees • Values driven • More business-focused • Mainstreamed - part of all line managers’ jobs

  25. Managing Diversity • Ignores real patterns and causes of discrimination • Contingent- business focus makes it dependent on bottom line contribution • Part of everyone’s job/part of nobody’s job: no one to champion the issues

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