Diversity and Inclusion in Workstation Setting in USA (Essay Sample)

Diversity and Inclusion in Workstation Setting
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Diversity and Inclusion in Workstation Setting
The workplace environment, both in the USA and globally, has radically shifted and transitioned. The proportion of women in the labor force has increased globally while the number of immigrants in various nations, particularly in the USA, continue to increase magnificently (d’Albis, Boubtane & Coulibaly, 2019). The changing scope of the workforce requires an appropriate adoption of diversity awareness at the workplace for firms to enjoy benefits that arise from heterogeneous teams. This paper explores the recent demographic trends in the USA and globally, the management of heterogeneous and homogeneous teams, and the strategies necessary to promote diversity in management.
The average number of women participating in labor has been increasing over the last few decades in comparison with the 1950s. Currently, the racial diversity in the USA is so overwhelming that analysts claim that there will be no identifiable ethnic majority. In 1965, only 5% of the entire population was foreign-born, while an outstanding 15% in 2016 was foreign-born. In the USA, 46.8% of the entire workforce was women, with the women participation having increased incredibly from a mere 29.6% in 1950 (Jensen & Levin, 2020). Equally, the compensation is fairer than it was in the past, with women earning $0.83 per $1 earned by men in 2015 compared to $0.64 women earned per dollar earned by men in 1980. Due to the increasing immigrant population from Mexico and other regions, the diversity of the workforce in both agrarian and non-agricultural sectors has increased significantly in the last decades.
In most of the places universally save North Africa, India, and Middle East regions, women occupy at least 40% of the workforce. As of March 2017, women occupied over 40% of the workforce in over 80 nations, with the statistics continuing to rise (d’Albis, Boubtane & Coulibaly, 2019). However, over half of the entire women globally, accounting for 50.9%, participated in labor in 1990 compared to the smaller ratio of 47.7% of the global women population who participated in the workforce in 2019. Equally, the ratio of universal men population participating in the workforce dropped from 80.2% to 74.7% between 1990 and 2019 (Jensen & Levin, 2020). The global median workforce ages range from as low as 15 years in Niger to over 40 years nations like Japan. The average age of the workforce in 2018 was 40.5 years as of 2018, while the United States had 38.1 years (Duffin, 2020). In 2019, the universal average age of the labor force was 38.9 years, a sharp rise from 33.8 in 1990.
Managing labor forces in either homogenous or heterogeneous environments differ significantly due to the mixture of cultures and personalities among the workers. Homogeneous teams have individuals who are more similar than different based on their experiences, academic propensity, and worldview, which could come from the similar ethnic and cultural background. In contrast, heterogeneous groups involve a complex mixture of ethnic, gender, racial, cultural, and age factors among the members (Pacquiao, 2018). Heterogeneous teams have their members having a wide variety of academic achievements, experiential knowledge, and worldviews rising from their diversity.
Managing a homogeneous team is more relaxed since most of the members have more chances of participating in equally annulling character aspects in this scenario. The managers may not need to study much about the background of the team members since they have similar experiences. Equally, communicating via verbal and non-verbal approaches is more comfortable since most will understand each other. As a result, managers do not have to take acute care to reduce instances of prejudice, miscommunication, and misunderstandings. Equally, task completion is faster in homogenous groups without necessitating the need for supervisory actions from managers (Vance & Paik, 2015). Often, the progress rate is high in homogenous teams than in heterogeneous teams. However, personality conflicts can occur in either group and have as much damage to the task completion in either group.
On the other hand, managing a heterogeneous group may necessitate one to have advanced complex management skills (Vance & Paik, 2015). Managers may require an understanding of international relations and interpersonal communication to aptly communicate and receive feedback successfully without misunderstanding and miscommunication. Additionally, one may have to creatively devise ways of enabling the team members to communicate with each other, especially in the case of different ethnic groups. While managing a heterogeneous group, the manager must also put into place structures to safeguard the minority present from feeling excluded and isolated (Rahim, Oluwafemi & Afolabi, 2017). Equally, a minority group along ethnic, gender, age, or race lines can quickly feel a sense of loss of their confidence or status due to how the rest of the group treats them. Consequently, most managers