The article relates to chapter Four which talk about white male perspective and white male and diversity in work place
Diversity in the workplace is gained by hiring people on the basis of their skills and qualification not on the basis of their skin color. (Ireland, 2010). Many companies make the error of going overboard and trying to rectify the diversity problem by focusing on gaining an equilibrium of ethnicity and gender. This can create the problem of scapegoating the white male since amplification is devoted to skin color and ethnicity as well as gender. By placing the focus, on the other hand, on personal qualification, the algorithm turns attention away form race to qualification causing people to forget about any such characteristics as 'white male."
Diversity encompasses race, gender, ethnic group, age, cognitive style, tenure, character, personality, background, organizational function, education, and more. Diversity in short is a brilliantly colored rainbow going far beyond that of gender and ethnicity alone. When focusing on these elements, the problem of the white male becomes superficial and petty. After all, focus should be on so many more important characteristics...
Keeping one's focus on these other characteristics and on the inherent value of the employee, eliminates the problem of scapegoating any particular individual due to membership of their race. On the contrary, the organization inevitably becomes less prejudicial even without endeavoring to work on it since focus is averted form obligation to diversify (hence focus on skin color) to attempt to focus on merit.
Ironically, one can make an adverse argument that exclusion of the White male aggravates, rather than reduce, prejudice since focus is placed on the skin color and gender of the person and a reverse attitude is taken in order to rectify a past wrong.
The best type of workplaces, therefore, are those that focus on merit rather than on concentration of a diverse workplace. Concentration on merit will likely simultaneously introduce diversity in all its different forms.
Sources
Frankel, B. (2010) Do white men really need diversity outreach? DIVERSITY Inc.
Ireland, J (2010) How to Encourage Diversity in the Workplace
http://www.livestrong.com/article/201736-how-to-encourage-diversity-in-the-workplace/
