Essay on Diversity: The Ethical Choice

Burns, C., & Kerby, S. (2012, July 12). The top 10 economic facts of diversity in the workplace. Center for American Progress,

Example 3: My colleague is a wife of her husband, parent of her children, teacher for her children.

Regardless of how diversity is defined, it is an issue that is sweeping the nation. By the 21st century, racial and ethnic minorities will constitute 25% of the U.S. population, affecting the makeup of the U.S. labor force (7). By the year 2000, women will constitute 47% of the total workforce and the average age of the workforce is expected to increase from 36 in 1986 to age 39 (7). If the corporate society does not address the issue by learning how to manage diversity, they will fail.

Jopwell is a recruiting firm which connects the minority job candidates with the Tech companies in Silicon Valley. The main issue faced by the Tech companies is that the referral candidates are not serving the purpose and they can’t find talented minority candidates suitable to their companies. The companies are aware of the benefits like increased financial returns by having diversity in their workforce. Jopwell is currently serving 45 companies by providing them a pool of thousands of talented minority candidates and has been successful in placing a significant number of candidates in these companies. The company is focussing on diversifying the whole organization by filling the non-technical roles as well like finance, marketing,

When America was founded, it was established on freedom and equality for all people. At first it was just religious freedom, but eventually freedom of speech, press, petition, and more. In time, America began to be known as a “melting pot” of cultures as more and more people came because they wanted this freedom; the more people who came though, the more problems America had. There were too many cultural discrepancies between people, and ultimately America, the country based on freedom and equality, faced challenges concerning diversity.

From Hollywood to the the social sector, diversity, rather the lack thereof, has been a topic of conversation. Although many organizations have begun to advocate for diversity, more work must be done. Across the social sector,women and people of color remain severely underrepresented in leadership positions. Organizations must become intentional about creating a diverse workforce and implementing inclusive policies that foster positive work environments. When employees feel represented and included they are happier and more likely to contribute to fulfilling the organization's mission.

I was very excited when I saw this essay prompt because diversity is actually one of the main criteria that drew me into NC State. All throughout my schooling life, for as long as I can remember, I never attended any schools that were diverse. There was always one extremely predominant race or gender, and it’s something that truly disturbed me. I am excited to attend a college that is so diverse in many aspects, that I will be able to benefit from in multiple different ways. I will be able to learn and understand new perspectives which will help me gain an open mind and heart to be able to accept different kinds of people. I will be able to familiarize myself with different backgrounds and cultures, because I am so accustomed to my own, I

The issue of discrimination is very widely discussed, so widely that laws and statutes have been enacted and are continually addressed every day. This may occur in a courtroom, on the legislative floor or at the employer’s offices, but the fact that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) receives around 80,000 discriminatory filings annually, with 99,922 in 2010, there is little wonder the amount of attention to discrimination is warranted (Walsh, 2013). According to the EEOC’s website, the discrimination claims were more than the annual averages, but less than 99,000 in 2010, at 88,788 in 2014 (“EEOC Releases Fiscal”, 2015). These figures reiterate the importance and diligence in which discriminatory acts must be handled by all parties involved.

Discrimination is nothing new to our society or is it something that should be taken lightly and for many decades our Nation has endured many conflicts that have tested the will of Americans over the decades and it is evident that as we have become more diverse so too has our workforce. Although, we are in the twenty first century the goal is to understand why prejudice and discrimination is still so prevalent and how we can do better while trying to bring together our different backgrounds, skills, and experiences still has proven to be an issue that minorities are constantly fighting as they struggle to find there place in society. Through an array of well-educated researchers showing how diversity is nothing new to our society, but if we are to continue to grow and move forward we must be able to understand that with diversification we can foster a strong and inclusive economy that is built to last and nurture a nation that will continue to lead the world as standard setter.

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” ― Maya Angelou.

Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C has it owns written policy called “Equal Employment Opportunity Policy”. It is applies to all full-time and part-time employees, law clerks, intern investigators, temporary workers, and internal and external applicants for employment. PDS is committed to all individuals to be treated with respect and dignity. The groups are protected by anti-discrimination, sexual harassment and substance abuse and include mental and physical health. They also have Drug Free Workplace Policy to prevent the staff and its clients from being damage to physical and mental health; interference with job performance; and impairment of relationships with clients and their families, coworkers, and court. PDS prohibits the discrimination against or harassment of any employee and retaliation against an

Most people assume that workplace diversity is about increasing racial, national, gender, or class representation -- in other words, recruiting and retaining more people from traditionally underrepresented "identity groups." Taking this commonly held assumption as a starting point, we set out six years ago to investigate its link to organizational effectiveness. We soon found that thinking of diversity simply in terms of identity-group representation inhibited effectiveness. Organizations usually take one of two paths in managing diversity. In the name of equality and fairness, they encourage (and expect) women and people of color to blend in. Or they set them apart in jobs that relate specifically to their backgrounds, assigning them, for example, to areas that require them to interface with clients or customers of the same identity group. African American M.B.A. 's often find themselves marketing products to innercity communities; Hispanics frequently market to Hispanics or work for Latin American subsidiaries. In those kinds of cases, companies are operating on the assumption that the main virtue identity groups have to offer is a knowledge of their own people. This assumption is limited -- and limiting -- and detrimental to diversity efforts. What we suggest here is that diversity goes beyond increasing the number of different identity-group affiliations on the payroll to recognizing that such an effort is merely the first step in managing a diverse workforce for the

The first thing to acknowledge about diversity is that it can be difficult. In the U.S., where the dialogue of inclusion is relatively advanced, even the mention of the word “diversity” can lead to anxiety and conflict. Supreme Court justices disagree on the virtues of diversity and the means for achieving it. Corporations spend billions of dollars to attract and manage diversity both internally and externally, yet they still face discrimination lawsuits, and the leadership ranks of the business world remain predominantly white and male.

From our research, we identified three different perspectives on workforce diversity that people embrace, each with different implications for a work group’s ability to realize the benefits of its cultural diversity. We use these observations here to examine critically some of the themes and basic assumptions of previous research and to propose new directions for both researchers and practitioners interested in diversity (Ely &Thomas, 2001). When organizations have a diverse economy, it makes the company strong. Once our nation has embrace the changes from the demographics that reap the economic benefits of a diverse and inclusive workforce. Burns et al. (2012) stated in their investigation that:

The discrimination-and-fairness paradigm is considered the “dominant way” of understanding diversity by most organizations. It attempts to remove discrimination and create employment equality by seeking to increase diversity among employees. Progress is measured by how well the company is able to meet its diversity number goals but avoids looking deeper at the reality behind the numbers. (Thomas & Ely p. 81)