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Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace

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Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management

Part of the book series: Management and Industrial Engineering ((MINEN))

Abstract

Diversity is not new, or complicated, but sometimes appears, or is made to appear, to be both. In the organizational context, diversity appears to have rapidly increased in recent years, which is attributable to a number of factors. Similarly, the concept of inclusion does not need to be feared as complicated, as individuals simply wish to be allowed to be themselves. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a broad discussion of the concepts of diversity and inclusion in the workplace to assist the reader with better understanding diversity and inclusion , and what they may mean for organizations. This chapter also aims to assist the reader in thinking about both differences and similarities among employees, and how these can be leveraged, and accommodated, by the organization .

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland

    Deirdre O’Donovan

Authors
  1. Deirdre O’Donovan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deirdre O’Donovan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Carolina Machado

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    J. Paulo Davim

Testing Your Knowledge

Testing Your Knowledge

1.1 Answer the Following Questions as True (T) or False (F)

Select True or False for the following statements. Answers are included after the Reference Section.

  1. 1.

    Diversity is a new phenomenon, which emerged in the last 20 years or so.

    True False

  2. 2.

    Inclusion is solely concerned with helping employees who do not belong feel that they do belong.

    True False

  3. 3.

    Organizations should primarily be concerned with inclusion at an individual level.

    True False

  4. 4.

    Some employees believe they should have an active role in their own inclusion.

    True False

  5. 5.

    An individual’s diversity impacts how they perceive inclusion.

    True False

  6. 6.

    Diversity and inclusion present different benefits, and so should be dealt with separately.

    True False

  7. 7.

    Awareness based diversity training and skills based training can be used to support each other, and help to begin inclusion efforts.

    True False

  8. 8.

    Once a culture of inclusion has been established, employees should in future feel included.

    True False

  9. 9.

    Organisations should avoid asking employees what diversity and inclusion means to them, and what would help them feel included, as it is impossible to make every employee happy.

  10. 10.

    The Learning and Effectiveness Paradigm for managing diversity concerns incorporating diversity into how work is done, and is the most closely matched paradigm to inclusion.

    True False

1.2 Answers

  1. 1.

    False

  2. 2.

    False

  3. 3.

    False

  4. 4.

    True

  5. 5.

    True

  6. 6.

    False

  7. 7.

    True

  8. 8.

    False

  9. 9.

    False

  10. 10.

    True

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O’Donovan, D. (2018). Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace. In: Machado, C., Davim, J. (eds) Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management. Management and Industrial Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66864-2_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66864-2_4

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