Description
Book SynopsisThe significance of this proposed Rowman & Littlefield handbook is its utility in understanding both the present-day and future implications of workplace diversity and stratification. The handbook will encompass a comprehensive review of theoretical and empirical research from a variety of disciplines, as well as emerging themes on workplace diversity and stratification in organizations and institutions in the United States. The focus will be on engaging various theoretical and practical implications of the impact of diversity on individuals within the institution, the organization, and the resulting social, psychological, cultural, political and economic effects on society. In order to engage in deep dialogue about workplace diversity and stratification, the handbook will include thorough analyses of its historical development, present-day implications and future trends. The multiplicity of workplace diversity research provides critical perspectives from leading scholars in various fields of study including Sociology, Psychology, Management, Economics, Social Policy, Entrepreneurship, Gender Studies, Religious Studies, and Geography. Although the primary focus of the handbook will be to examine workplace diversity and stratification within the context of the United States, the editor will ensure that comparative analyses situating diversity in a global context will be included as appropriate. This comprehensive academic handbook will be crucial for both readers and users interested in a wide range of critical issues, while narrowing in on specific intersecting topics that engage challenging and complicated issues which will spark further insightful dialogues.
Timeliness and Importance
Diversity and Inclusion has become a key catchphrase in every organization and institution, ranging from corporations, academic institutions, political machines and more. Marketing tools and promotional selling points often invoke the relevance of diversity and inclusion as a means of signaling opportunity and access for all. However, even with the overuse of diversity and inclusion mantras there often lies its underwhelming results. The growing rates of diversity and inclusion requirements within institutional practices suggests that diversity and inclusion will not fade into the background. People are demanding that organizations be held accountable to the diversity and inclusion mission statements on their websites. This proposed handbook is timely because there is a growing demand for diversity to become more than a buzzword, to understand the value that diversity brings and find concrete ways of developing policies and practices that will make diversity an intrinsic part of any organizational culture. This academic handbook will be a rich and valuable resource for researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, company leadership and boards, clients, customers, and anyone interested in understanding what workplace diversity and stratification mean for everyday people, institutions, and society as a whole and how to endeavor towards reaching that goal.
Table of ContentsOutline/Table of Contents
Foreword
- Introduction: The introduction will lay out the goals of the handbook; situate the context of workplace diversity and stratification in the United States; and provide a broad overview of the contents of the handbook
Theoretical Foundations of Diversity and Stratification
The following chapters specifically engage theories derived from various discipline research on diversity and stratification, including race/gender/class/ and how varying identities that intersect create disadvantage or advantage to particular groups.
- Critical Diversity Perspective: this perspective examines all forms of social inequality, oppression, and stratification that revolve around issues of differences
- Race, Gender & Authority in the Workplace: sociological approaches to job authority in determining social inequality in the workplace
- A Psychological Perspective: conceptualizing workplace diversity through stigma theory and research in order to social value and attributes which become consequential to both individuals and organizations
- A Business Management Perspective: social capital and social network theories in examining diversity and productivity in business management
Key Sites of Contention
The following chapters will tackle specific issues in diversity research, from debates on inclusion, quotas, race/ethnicity, gender, age, ability, language/culture, and sexual identity.
- Diversity: A Culture of Inclusion?: understanding what diversity research actually is and how inclusion becomes the central focus in promoting integrated practices within organizations; defining diversity and inclusion as more than a buzzword
- The Problem with Quotas: Doing the Bare Minimum to Achieve Diversity: efficacy of best practices or policies (i.e. affirmative action) to promote diversity in workplaces
- Managing workplace Diversity: The Role of Race in America: social policies designed to increase equality of opportunity in the workplace; managerial responses to diversity, ethnoracial and gender stratification at work, the determinants of and rewards for job authority, effects of diversity on work outcomes
- Gender Parity in the Boardroom: examination of how gender diversity on corporate boards influence corporate governance outcomes that subsequently impact performance
- Bridging the Gap Between Generations: Value in Difference: examining the multiplicative effects of workplace discrimination and health on life satisfaction
- Equitable Accommodations: Challenges Employees with Physical and Mental Disabilities Face: exploration of the ways in which employees with physical and or mental disabilities face continued challenges navigating space and access within organizations
- LGBTQ+ Diversity: Language and Communication: this chapter will explore the usage of language to communicate difference in gender and sexuality within professional organizations, including challenges LGBTQ+ members face attempting to bring their whole selves to work; and combating unconscious bias
Empirical Diversity/Stratification Studies
The following chapters will engage various studies that examine diversity in specific professional settings, including education, medicine, law, corporations, religious institutions, entrepreneurship, and human resources research
- Faculty of Color in Higher Education: examining the challenges faculty of color in higher educational institutions, including hiring, review processes and tenure and promotion
- Black Medical Professionals: intersection of race, gender, work, and inequality in the medical field
- Diversity in Law Firms: influence of race and gender on advancement prospects of lawyers in elite firms
- Corporations: Gender Equity and Mentorship: obstacles women face in corporations securing mentors and sponsors in the workplace
- Black Women in the Church: this chapter will discuss how Black women today navigate the male-dominated space of professional ministry
- Entrepreneurship and Diversity: this chapter examines issues, challenges and opportunities related to diversity within entrepreneurship ecosystems
- Human Resources and the Impact of Diversity: exploring the impacts felt by organizations that understand the importance of not just espousing the notion of diversity but enacting the principles; how organizations will respond to the satisfaction of their market that has become increasingly stratified; and are the choices of diversity and stratification mutually exclusive for those focused on viability as long-term concern
Diversity in the Larger Context
The following chapters will discuss diversity and inclusion in the broader context of organizational practices, effectiveness of policies and programs, implications for workplace changes and value derived
- Mitigating Bias in the Workplace: this chapter will focus on reducing discrimination in the workplace
- Organizational Effectiveness: developing organizational capability and enhancing effectiveness through the strategic management of people, particularly diverse work teams
- Implications of Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace: this chapter will explore exactly what the benefits and drawbacks of having diversity and inclusion initiatives in organizations, exploring the effectiveness of programs
- The Meaning of Diversity in the Workplace: the value of diversity, how this affects the organization as a whole, who/how do organizations benefit from diversity; expectations of the organization (Does Diversity Pay?)
