Attitudes toward other workers:
Challenges of diversity

Week 5, Friday

Psychology 360
Outline
I. Changing workforce
II. Opportunities through diversity
III. Challenges: Sexual harassment
Changing workforce
Nineteenth and early twentieth centuries:
wave of immigration, from Europe and Asia
Wilson = “melting pot”
In the sixties:
Martin Luther King, Jr = “level playing field”
 Kennedy & Johnson = 1964 Civil Rights Act
Results of Changes
legal access to jobs
increasing diversity
new challenges
backlash against affirmative action
Opportunities through diversity
Look for arguments in favor of greater diversity:
 inevitability, better use of talent pool, source of variety and creativity, better response to world markets
Impact of changes in those entering the workforce:
U.S. born white males will drop from 47% of those entering the workforce in 1985 to only 15% by 2000
Can you accept the status quo?
Challenges: Sexual harassment
quid pro quo harassment = sexual activity as a condition of employment
environmental harassment = creation of a workplace that is offensive and hostile
History of Harassment Law
1964 - Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
1980 - EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) guidelines
1991 - Anita Hill testimony in Clarence Thomas hearing
What Constitutes Harassment?
office has Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader calendar on the wall
worker receives low rating for not partying with boss
boss seals an important deal by kissing subordinate
workers talk constantly in sports metaphors
How to respond
document incidents
find witnesses/evidence
utilize existing policies
say no
get support

Copyright © 1996, The Regents of the University of Michigan, All rights reserved.
Revised - November 4, 1996