The United States is one of the most diverse nations on the earth, originally conceived so, and often described as a great melting pot, as “all nations are melted into a new race of man, whose labours and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world” (St. John de Crèvecoeur, 1782). Yet, despite the country’s diverse population, the workplace remains a place of inequality as women and minorities continue to earn less than their white male counterparts (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011; U.S. Census Bureau, 2009) and advance less in managerial and professional positions (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2008). The question of workplace diversity is a polarizing debate with proponents of diversity measures arguing the business benefit of diversity (Herring, 2009) and opponents arguing that diversity programs are a form of reverse discrimination (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2008). To what degree should employers, in either government or business, seek to promote diversity and encourage equality and what are the ethical considerations of such a position? Both the government and business employers are powerful entities that can continue to enhance the dominant position of white males, or attenuate the existing dominant hierarchy by increasing diversity and working to break the glass ceiling. Given both types of institutions are granted their power by civil society, a society that is increasingly made up of minorities (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2008), it is a societal obligation, the ethical choice, and good business, to increase diversity, address equality issues in the workplace, and turn the American melting pot myth into reality.
Employers are powerful institutions that are responsible for allocation of resources like salary, benefits, bon...
... middle of paper ...
...x. In cpsaat39.pdf (Ed.). Washington DC: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
U.S. Census Bureau. (2009). Table HINC-05. Percent Distribution of Households, by Selected Characteristics Within Income Quintile and Top 5 Percent in 2009. In new05_000.htm (Ed.). Washington DC: U.S Census Bureau.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2011a). Enforcement & Litigation Statistics: All Statutes FY1997 - FY2010 Retrieved September 25, 2011, from http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/enforcement/all.cfm
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2011b). Federal Laws Preventing Job Discrimination: Questions and Answers Retrieved July 23, 2011, from http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/qanda.html
United States. (1776). In Congress, July 4, 1776, a declaration by the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled. Philadelphia: Printed by John Dunlap.
Institutions in the businesses sector are swarming in racial discrimination, much of which is covert and difficult to detect and prove. Racial discrimination excludes, marginalizes and exploits those citizens who are discriminated against, ceasing any opportunity for economic progress and development. Under certain regulations some businesses are required to diversify their workplace by hiring certain amounts of people of color, but in reality these small quotas do not do much for the overall condition of the people who are being discriminated against. Businesses that fail to take action on racial discrimination tend to have lower levels of productivity. This stems from employees not being interested in working hard, or because people with exceptional talents and skills choose to shy away from certain places of employment due to the fear of racial discrimination. Employees who feel wronged also tend to switch jobs, forcing the organization to spend more time and resources on hiring and training new employees, besides coping with the low productivity of a new employee. (Nayab)The effects of racial discrimination in the American work force could be identified with funded research on the topic. With ample data employers will be able to better understand the negative affects that racial discrimination have
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (n.d.). The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Retrieved November 20, 2014, from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mission is to enforce federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against anyone applying for employment opportunities. Discrimination will be leading to major problems in the next few years, which could cause poverty, violence, and crime. Discrimination cases are having large payouts, but the cases being are not decreasing in large amounts. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is not living up to its mission because the discrimination cases being filed are increasing in the 21st century.
Cañas, K. A. & Sondak, H. (2011). Opportunities and challenged for workplace diversity: Theory, cases, and exercises. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Payne, Angela R., and Bharat S. Thakkar. "The Hypocrisy Of Affirmative Action: Race And The Labor Market." International Journal Of Innovations In Business 1.4 (2012): 274-292. Business Source Premier. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.
Sherman, Mitchell. “Equal Employment Opportunity: Legal Issues and Societal Consequences.” Public Personnel Management. Washington: March-April 2008. Print.
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2007). Facts About the Americans with Disabilities Act. Retrieved February 18, 2008 from http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/fs-ada.html
Title vii of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (2011). Retrieved July 26, 2011, from http://www1.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/titlevii.cfm
"Myths And Facts About The Employment Non-Discrimination Act." Media Matters for America. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
...nequal pay, sexual harassment, seniority and maternity leave. The antidiscrimination laws that exist today and the cases that are successful because of them create an awareness that no employer will go unaffected if a discrimination suit is brought forth. (Jennings, 2006)
The leaders of U.S. corporations must also recognize that the makeup of the overall American work force today is vastly different from what it w...
According to Corley, Reed, Shedd, and Morehead, (2001) “the most important statue eliminating discriminatory employment practices, however, is the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act o 1972 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991.” The appropriation section o...
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (1997, January). Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Retrieved from: http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html
Diversity is a value that shows respect for the differences and similarities of age, sex, culture, ethnicity, beliefs and much more. Having a diverse organization, helps notice the value in other people and also how to teach respect to people that might not know how. The world is filled with different cultures and people that might believe in different things as you, but that doesn’t mean you need to treat them any different. It is imperative for people to grasp diversity because it’ll help people how to engage with others in a respectful yet a hospitable way.
America is often referred to as “The Melting Pot” of the world. With this appellation, it is not wrong to assume that the U.S. has one of the most diverse cultures. Conversely, a majority percentage of people in America would disagree with this sentiment and argue that the U.S. is comprised of many subgroups. These subgroups vary based on race and skin color and are hardly “melted” together. This apparent racial divide is very common in many American corporations as well. Management researchers have found that maintaining a racially diverse workforce has been proven to have many important benefits within a corporation. For example, having a racially diverse workforce can help match the culture of the customers in the economy to build trust, provide new and differing insights, and right some of the wrongs caused by racism and sexism in our society. Facilitating diversity is not easy, and many organizations have encountered challenges from attempting to do so. Fortunately, there actions that organizations can take to overcome these challenges in order to make diversity a reality.