Vocational Management, Personality, and Diversity

Vocational Management, Personality, And Diversity

During the second half of the 20th century, American social culture underwent tremendous change in relation to tolerance of diversity, particularly with respect to race, ethnicity, and culture of origin. By the dawn of the 21st century, American social culture and formal legislation affecting civil rights and employment were virtually unrecognizable in comparison to what had been permissible only a generation or two earlier. Nevertheless, racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity continue to present significant issues in society in general and also in the vocational realm in particular. Diversity also plays a significant role in the development of the personality of the individual and that presents specific challenges to supervisors and managers in the workplace.

Vocational Diversity and Personality Development

Institutionalized racism and other forms of prejudice have been substantially eliminated from modern American society in general, as well as from the vocational environment. However, minority status is still associated with various challenges and with various hardships that non-minority members of society ordinarily do not experience (Macionis, 2007). Psychologists are very familiar with the degree to which negative experiences during the formative years can leave long-lasting damage to the individual (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008). One of the most common manifestations of social pressures and prejudices that are often still consequences of minority status in the United States is a natural protective impulse to trust and prefer the company of other members of minority groups (Macionis, 2007; Schaefer, 2006). In the modern workplace, these tendencies have direct implications for personnel management, particularly in connection with the skills and sensibilities of effective supervisors and managers (George & Jones, 2008).

Employee Relations as a Function of Diversity and its Influences on Personality

In the workplace, as in many other aspects of American social culture, many members of racial, ethnic, and cultural minorities tend to prefer the company of other members of their minority groups (Macionis, 2007; Schaefer, 2006). To the extent members of diverse groups experience negative encounters and relationships early in life that are attributable to residual intolerance of diversity in society, they typically internalize various negative impressions, both of themselves in relation to self-esteem (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008) and also with respect to other members of society in relation to negative expectations and a reflexive antagonism (Schaefer, 2006).

Management Skills and Tactics in Relation to Diversity and Individual Employees