Handbook of Workplace Diversity

Citation

Tatli, A. (2006), "Handbook of Workplace Diversity", Equal Opportunities International, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 160-162. https://doi.org/10.1108/02610150610679583

For nearly two decades diversity and multiculturalism have become popular areas of academic and practitioner interest particularly in the “developed” countries. Handbook of Workplace Diversity is a very timely publication in terms of critically revisiting the phenomenon of workplace diversity. The book is a collection of 21 articles by authors who come from different theoretical and scholarly traditions, and who are important contributors to the diversity literature. The editors of the book, Konrad, Prasad, and Pringle all of whom are already well‐known by their critical work on diversity, after presenting the spectrum in which “diversity” is defined in the literature, put forward the book's definition of the term as “those differences that has been systematically discriminated against, irrespective of whether or not they receive legal protection” (p. 2). Choices regarding the definitions of concepts in the social sciences are of a political nature as well as academic and scientific. Editors of the book acknowledge the political and power implications of different preferences regarding the definition of diversity. Hence, this valuable collection, by conceptualising workplace diversity in terms of not only being “different”, but also “having been systematically discriminated” promises a critical account of workplace diversity alternative to the liberal workplace diversity literature. The book meets this promise with its 21 chapters by offering important insights that challenge the individual‐based understanding of diversity which is the dominant tendency in the mainstream diversity management literature as it originated in the US. Another contribution of the book is that unlike most of the books on diversity that are based solely on the US experience, this book brings together authors who write about and study workplace diversity in the context of different countries and cultures. The books pay homage to the fact that the meaning and content of workforce diversity vary with the historical, cultural, and legal dynamics in a given society.

The book is divided into three sections and with its 21 articles investigates the issue of workplace diversity from different perspectives in multiple contexts. The chapters in the book cover topics such as globalisation, unionisation, business case as well as both qualitative and quantitative studies. Furthermore, the chapters map out workplace diversity at multiple levels with some chapters focusing on interplay of workplace diversity with macro historical structures inter‐group relationships whereas inter‐group relations are the unit of analysis in others.

The first section of the book provides a structural framework for the book by outlining different theoretical perspectives on workplace diversity in its seven chapters. The first chapter in this section focuses on psychological perspectives on workplace diversity. At the intersection of psychological and organisational literature, Kulik and Bainbridge introduce theoretical models of social cognition, review the workplace diversity literature based on these models and conclude by stating the strengths and weaknesses of psychological perspectives in relation to workplace diversity research. The second chapter by Kossek, Lobel, and Brown, maps out the HRM perspectives of workplace diversity by looking at the interplay between workplace diversity; HRM procedures and operations; and organisational outcomes. In the next chapter, Litvin critically examines the vocabulary and meaning of the business case for diversity which she defines as a mega discourse using critical discourse analysis. She asserts the necessity of developing an alternative discourse for diversity which will engender change in organisational power structures and which is based on increasing opportunities for all to develop themselves and on an alternative conceptualisation of the purpose of organisations. In Chapter 4, Billing and Sundin emphasise the political nature of diversity and outline the paradigm shift from managing equality to managing diversity in the Scandinavian context with particular attention to gender. The next chapter by Prasad presents the potential contribution of postcolonial theory as a critical research perspective to our understanding of complexities of workplace diversity in the West. In a similar vain, the next chapter by Jones and Stablein introduces the ways in which critical theory and poststructuralist perspectives may enhance the theory and practice of workplace diversity. The last chapter of the section presents the challenges brought by globalisation into conceptualisation of workplace diversity. Mir, Mir and Wong critically revisit the phenomenon of global workforce and workforce diversity as well as models of international management and globalisation. They conclude with a discussion of the future implications of new formations of labour and work due to the internalisation of the economic sphere on global diversity research and practice.

The second section of the book maps out methods for studying workplace diversity in three chapters. In the first chapter of the section, Harrison, and Sin examine the methodological inconsistencies in the workforce diversity research in relation to meaning and measurement of diversity variables. The authors focus on team and group level diversity and review the most commonly used diversity indices. The next chapter offers insights into the potential contribution of feminist qualitative research on workplace diversity. Thurlow, Mills, and Mills start with outlining philosophical and methodological grounds of feminist qualitative research methods. They, then, briefly explore different qualitative research techniques ranging from content analysis, historiography, narrative analysis and discourse analysis to life histories, interviews, observation, and ethnography. The authors also discuss the issue of reflexivity in feminist research and challenges of using qualitative methodologies. Last chapter of the section returns back to quantitative methodologies for workforce diversity research. Focusing on five domains of diversity scholarship, that is, social identification, diversity readiness and resistance, discrimination and harassment, organisation practices, and organisation climate, Mason, Konrad, and Linnehan offer an overview of quantitative literature and on the basis of that they present five tables for identifying most valid and reliable measures according to the nature of the research questions.

Eleven chapters in the last section, titled “Dimensions of workplace diversity, capture the diversity and complexity of the workplace diversity research. Thematically, these chapters problematise the issue of workplace diversity at micro, meso, and macro levels, and range greatly in scope and focus from trade unionism (Greene and Kirton) and critical diversity management (Sinclair) to transnational anti‐racist feminism (Mirchandani and Butler) and men, masculinities and power (Hearn and Collinson). Similarly, different strands of workplace diversity are discussed in this last section of the book ranging from sex and gender (Benschop); to race and ethnicity (Proudford and Nkomo); to age and ageism (Perry and Parlamis); homophobia and heterosexism (Creed); disability (Stone‐Romero, Stone, and Lukaszewski); class (Scully and Blake‐Beard); and appearance and obesity (Bell and Mclaughlin). The section brings together studies from North America, the European Union and Australia, some of which are based on literature reviews and theoretical discussions, whereas some others feed by case study research, statistical data or historical evidence. Methodologically, the section reflects the multiplicity of research perspectives in the diversity scholarship by bringing together positivist, and reflexive and non‐positivist works.

In summary, Handbook of Workplace Diversity brings different genres of workplace diversity research together with an aim to initiate a dialogue between different theoretical and methodological traditions. This book does not provide a shorthand description of diversity or prescriptions about how to “manage” diversity, but enhances our understanding of the complexity and multi‐dimensionality of the issue and invites us to be critical and creative. This makes this collection a very valuable reference book for the researchers and students of workplace diversity, equality, and discrimination. The book is equally valuable for diversity practitioners who aim to initiate organisational change and for the policy makers who shape the equality and diversity agenda in their countries. I strongly recommend this book as one of the most useful and inspiring books that is presently available in the area of workplace diversity and diversity management.