Diversity and Multiculturalism in Human Resource Management

This article defines the difference between diversity and multiculturalism. In today's workplace, the terms are used interchangeably; thus, as we progress in this section, we will use the term diversity to include people from different cultures. We will use inclusiveness to mean including people and understanding and respecting them. Diversity is a concept that focuses on differences, and we can look at power and privilege as the base for those differences. Inclusiveness has become a heated topic in the United States; thus, we must be aware of workplace issues.

Introduction

Learning Objectives

  1. Define, explain, and identify your own power and privilege.
  2. Provide reasoning as to why diversity is important to maintain profitability.

Many people use the terms diversity and multiculturalism interchangeably, when in fact, there are major differences between the two. Diversity is defined as the differences between people. These differences can include race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, background, socioeconomic status, and much more. Diversity, when talking about it from the human resource management (HRM) perspective, tends to focus more on a set of policies to meet compliance standards. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) oversees complaints in this area.

Multiculturalism goes deeper than diversity by focusing on inclusiveness, understanding, and respect, and also by looking at unequal power in society. In a report called "The 2007 State of Workplace Diversity Management Report," most HR managers said that diversity in the workplace is

  1. not well defined or understood at work,
  2. focuses too much on compliance, and
  3. places too much emphasis on gender and ethnicity.

This chapter focuses on the advantages of a diverse workplace and discusses multiculturalism at work and the compliance aspect of diversity.

Source: University of Minnesota, https://open.lib.umn.edu/humanresourcemanagement/chapter/3-1-diversity-and-multiculturalism/
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