Managing diversity and equality in the workplace

DIVERSITY AND FAIR
TREATMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Prejudice.................................................................................................................................1
Origins of Prejudice................................................................................................................1
Types of Prejudice..................................................................................................................1
Stereotyping and its effects on public services.......................................................................1
Discrimination........................................................................................................................1
Direct and Indirect Discrimination.........................................................................................1
Lawrence inquiry and institutional racism.............................................................................2
Allport’s Scale of Discrimination...........................................................................................2
Implication of Discrimination for public services..................................................................2
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................2
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Diversity can be referred to as the extent of differences prevailing among the individuals
who are a part of a purposefully and well-defined group. Such differences can be on the basis of
religion, age, gender, socio economic backgrounds, intelligence, sexual orientation, genetic
attributes, caste, creed, personality, behaviour etc. (Brady, and et. al., 2015).
Prejudice
Prejudice can be defined as the preconceived or irrational opinions that consequently lead
to provision of preferential treatment to some along with unfavourable biasses towards other
individuals.
Origins of Prejudice
Prejudice can be said to be a universal human experience having a number of origins,
namely, social, psychological, cultural and evolutionary.
Types of Prejudice
There are several types of prejudice that are generally observed in today’s era based on
aspects such as race, nationality, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation and socio-economic
status of an individual.
Stereotyping and its effects on public services
One of the most universally known types of prejudice is stereotyping which can be
defined as the over generalised ideology or belief about a specific set of people. It has a number
of implications for public services. The government in today’s modern era intend to undertake
such measures and steps that are largely aimed at eradicating this social evil.
Discrimination
This is a practice which refers to making a distinction among a group on the basis of
factors such as race, age, gender, sexual orientation etc.
Direct and Indirect Discrimination
Direct discrimination takes place when an individual is treated worse than any other
individual owing to the following things:-
 The individual has a protected characteristic.
 Somebody is of the opinion that an individual has protected characteristic (Barak, 2016).
1

 An individual is associated with the person having protected characteristic.
Indirect discrimination takes place when a policy that applies upon everyone in the same
manner but particularly disadvantages a specific section of people who carry a protected
characteristic and a person is disadvantaged for being a part of that group.
Lawrence inquiry and institutional racism
The enquiry conducted into the murder of a guy aged 18 years, named Lawrence defined
institutional racism as a form of racism that is expressed in the practice of political and social
institutions (Dwertmann, Nishii and Van Knippenberg, 2016). This is illustrated in disparities
related to income, employment, housing, political power, healthcare, criminal justice, wealth,
education etc.
Allport’s Scale of Discrimination
This scale can be referred to as the measurement of signs of prejudice witnessed within a
society. This is also known as Allport's Scale of Prejudice and Discrimination as it was proposed
by Gordon Allport.
Implication of Discrimination for public services
Discrimination largely impacts upon public services as government has strictly restrained
individuals, groups or organisations to engage in the practice of discrimination. The political
system has devised anti discrimination laws to prevent this social evil. Owing to this, if an entity
indulges in this social evil, it has to bear negative consequences for the same.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it can be concluded that prejudice and discrimination
are two unlikely aspects that must be avoided by the enterprise so as to ensure welfare of the
workforce. Also, it has been analysed that prejudice as well as discrimination have a significant
impact upon the business operations of public service entities as they are the ones who devise the
laws.
2

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Dwertmann, D.J., Nishii, L.H. and Van Knippenberg, D., 2016. Disentangling the fairness &
discrimination and synergy perspectives on diversity climate: Moving the field
forward. Journal of Management, 42(5), pp.1136-1168.
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications.
Brady, L.M. and et. al., 2015. It's fair for us: Diversity structures cause women to legitimize
discrimination. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 57, pp.100-110.
3