Critical Reflection on Managing Diversity, Racism and Gender

Running Head: CRITICAL REFLECTION 1
Critical Reflection
Author’s Name
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Introduction

CRITICAL REFLECTION 2
Critical Reflection
Introduction
When a person takes a look at the society, they are able to see people of different sex,
race, religion and national originality. Migration and globalization have fueled diversity in many
countries that at some point viewed themselves as homogenous. With these dynamics in the
population, the society is heterogeneous and needs of all people must be met in the workplace
regardless of their demographic differences. Also, profit organizations target diverse customers,
and research shows that to attract diverse customers the workforce must be diverse (Hughes,
2015). It is due to that organizations are finding it necessary to manage diversity, as a way to
increase their competitiveness and promote cohesiveness that facilitates a favorable business
environment. Fundamentally, as a student of international tourism management, business
management, I am really challenged on how to build a diverse workforce that is tolerant and
respectful to customers in future. However, now that I have some knowledge of HRM, culture
and society, I believe that I am able to hire and manage diverse employees for organizational
success.
Evolution from EEO to Managing Diversity, similarities and differences
. With diverse people present in the work environment, equal employment opportunity,
became unavoidable concept. Roberson, Ryan, & Ragins, (2017) give a critical insight into the
rise of diversity managing, by alluding it to the formational of EEO laws. These EEO laws, at
first protected some classes of race, ethnicity and sex. Little focus was given to other issues like
age, religion, disability among other key differences like national originality. What the point

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these authors are trying to drive is that EEO opened the door for diversity issues in the
workplace, by recognizing population differences. Later, in 1990s, the word diversity became
common, and this set stage for managing diversity. According to Agocs, & Burr, (1996)
managing diversity principally was a response to demographic changes. The women were
increasing in number, immigrants and racial minorities were also increasing in the workplace.
The client population was also becoming diverse and therefore, managing diversity became an
essential aspect of in the workplace (Hughes, 2015). Nevertheless, EEO and managing diversity
similarly promotes inclusivity. EEO requires that the employer does not discriminate against any
person during hiring based on their sex, race or religion. The objective of EEO is to ensure that
every member of the community, whether minority or majority is able to have an opportunity in
the job market. More importantly, when EEO gives all people an opportunity to offer their
services either in the public or private sectors, the workforce becomes diverse. Generally, the key
similarity between EEO and managing diversity is that it promotes inclusivity in organization.
However, managing diversity is an end product of EEO. It is EEO that gives diverse people
opportunities in an organization, and therefore managing diversity will be required to maintain
relationships, discipline and tolerance in the diverse team.
Racism
Racism and gender are some of the issue that personally I believe is core in managing
diversity. Especially racism, it is one issue that seems to dominate others when it comes to
diversity. According to Grosfoguel, (2016) racism is a global hierarchy of superiority and
inferiority along the line of the human that are perpetuated economically, culturally and
politically as well as reproduced for centuries by colonial world system, Christian-centric

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modern, patriarchal western-centric or capitalist systems. In another definition, Grosfoguel,
(2016) discusses racism as the dehumanization to the materiality of domination by the world-
system. Essentially, what this author indicates is that racism is where one race feels dominant
over the other. The ethnocentrism or economic, cultural and political domination fuel racism and
reproduce it all the time. In essence, when one race feels superior to the other, they become racist
according to Boxill, (2013). Besides, the definition of racism is not as that of the early 19th
century, where racism was only considered in terms of skin color. Boxill, (2013) and Grosfoguel,
(2016) agree that racism is widely used to explain the discriminatory and racially unfair actions,
practices beliefs, desires, groups, social institutions, persons and groups. In a nutshell, any
feeling that one is superior to the other; especially by racially discriminating against the other
person is racism.
Racism is unacceptable, and that is why there is has been a committed attempt to
illegalize it. In the research of Ashe, & Nazroo, (2017) the authors indicate equality and diversity
as the drivers of push for racism illegalization. When one race feels superior, it becomes
impossible to achieve diversity. Human behavior can only be controlled through legal actions,
which is why laws have been passed, implemented and enforced to make racial discrimination
punitive and illegal. Racism is a social construct, and if law is put in place it would be easier to
decrease or eliminate it. According to Ronald, & Rand, (2018) the law can be applied to
eliminate anti-social behavior. Similarly, the law can be used to regulate racial slurs or
discrimination. Laws exist to promote order and unity in the society, therefore this being a social
problem, which permeates in various social institutions, law can be used to eliminate racism.
Notably, racism can be structural or institutional. In the assessment of the research by Lukachko,
Hatzenbuehler, & Keyes, (2014), structural racism occurs, due to laws that fail to regulate