Why culturally diverse workforce may provide greater challenges than having to manage diversity issues related to gender in the workplace.

Managing a culturally diverse workforce is more likely to entail a broader array of different characteristics, experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds than is simply having to manage diversity issues related to men and women in the workplace. Further, the principle issues relating to diversity management between men and women are relatively well established, including such dimensions as differences in pay, promotional opportunities, balancing work and family life, and sexual discrimination and harassment. 

 

A variety of laws, programs, and policies have been developed over the years to address these challenges; including anti-discrimination laws, flextime, job-sharing, telecommuting, and other programs. On the other hand, a culturally diverse workforce typically includes a wider or narrower array of individuals from different ethnic, national, and/or cultural groups. There may well be fewer obvious commonalities between these groupings than there are between men and women in general in the workplace. 

 

For example, there are three challenges for organizations trying to manage such a workforce. These include: (1) language differences, (2)natural ethnic groupings, and (3)attitudinal and cultural differences. 

 

These may lead to frustration, anger, and bitterness among subgroups of employees. Thus, the potentially greater differences between members of a culturally diverse - - workforce versus a workforce that manifests diversity primarily only on the gender dimension - - will provide more serious challenges to the manager with fewer developed and institutionalized programs and policies proven to effectively assist in their management.