STEREOTYPES AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY

IN THE WORKPLACE

GENITA MCKINNEY

NOVEMBER 7, 1996

The composition of today's workforce, and that of years to come, is constantly changing. There

are more and more women and people of different ancestries entering into the working world.

These various people, which make up the "melting pot" of corporate America, are very much

individualistic. These individuals come from distinct backgrounds and have various attitudes

and work styles. The task for managers, and all employees alike, is to learn how to deal with

these differences and instill a sense of cultural diversity in the workplace.

I believe that one of the biggest obstacles in dealing with such a diverse workforce is breaking

through people's conceived attitudes about those who are different from themselves. No matter

how much a person believes that he/she is open-minded, there is some degree of prejudice in us

all. These prejudices come from stereotypes that people believe are true, or some that they have

at least heard. Because of these stereotypes, people's attitudes are reflected in their actions

toward others.

I decided to write about this topic because of something that a lady, I will call her Jane, said to

me at work. Jane was making a comment about a coworker who does not shave her legs or under

her arms on a regular basis. In the midst of the conversation, Jane stopped in mid-sentence and

said, "I probably shouldn't talk about this to you since you all don't shave either." I immediately

took offense by her use of the phrase of "you all" and I asked her what she meant by that. Jane

then came back and asked me did Black women shave.

At first, I took offense to her comments; but, then I laughed at her. She asked me why I was

laughing and I told her that it was because of her ignorance. I then proceeded to ask her if she

knew any Black women personally that didn't shave and she said no, it was just something she

had heard. Her lack of knowledge about Black people and a stereotype that she believed had

caused her to make that statement, which I could not get out of my mind.

I wanted to pursue the issue of stereotypes that people hold and the issue of cultural diversity by

conducting a survey of my coworkers. I had to go through the proper channels and ask Human

Resources if I could pass out the survey. After a very short review of the survey by both the

Manager and Director of Human Resources, I was told no. Their rejection of my interest in the

attitudes of my co-workers disappointed me, but it also made me realize that this is an issue that

my company is not ready, or willing to address.

The other thing that sparked me to write on this issue was my observance that there are several

White people in my organization who, while talking to me, don't know how to refer to Black

people. They don't know whether to say Black, Afro-American or African American. There have

been several instances when I have been in a conversation with a White person and they want to

tell me that a person is of color, they become nervous in their speech and begin to whisper. It's

as if they think they are going to say the wrong word and are afraid of offending me.

Why is it that people try to avoid the issue of cultural diversity? I believe it is due to these

conceived as true stereotypes and a lack of knowledge and understanding of other cultures.

People need to take off the rose-colored glasses and realize that these issues need to be

addressed in order to give the workplace a more copesetic atmosphere.

The only way that companies are going to be able to deal with this changing workforce is to

adopt the first step of Alcoholics Anonymous and to admit there is a problem. They need to

realize that people are individuals and at times they may have to be dealt with in different ways.

This is where cultural diversity training comes into play. All levels of the company needs to

involved in this training. This training will heighten the awareness of cultural differences and

provide ways in which to deal with them.

After people have been made aware of the cultural differences comes the task of working on the

conceived stereotypes and attitudes. This will probably be a difficult adjustment because

attitudes come from people's belief systems. These beliefs have been formed over an individuals

lifetime; therefore, if they are able to be changed it won't be easy. Even if the stereotypical

attitudes can't be changed, I believe that with proper training, people will become more aware of

their attitudes and therefore change the things they say and the way the treat other people.

http://cbpa.louisville.edu/bruce/rflct600/person.htm

Managing Diversity

http://ollie.dcccd.edu/mgmt1374/book_contents/4directing/trng/divers.htm

VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION POLICY ON DIVERSITY

http://www.va.gov/publ/direc/health/direct/195102.htm

The Impact of Diversity Courses: Research from Pennsylvania State University

http://www.inform.umd.edu/diversityweb/Digest/W00/research.html