Gender Diversity and Corporate Governance

Gender diversity in the workplace has been an issue receiving a tremendous amount of attention both in academia and in the popular press. The research to date has tended to focus on the obstacles to promotion of women at lower and middle management levels, often referred to as a glass ceiling effect. However, most research on the subject has been mainly restricted to the definition of gender, by biological determination, that is, male and female, rather than by social construction. This chapter addresses the impact of gender diversity leadership and firms’ performance. In addition, it offers a synopsis of selected research examining the LGBT-supportive workplace policies and firms’ outcomes. Further, the chapter identifies priorities for future research that can advance our understanding on this research area, and the broader field of financial studies, encompassing the growing interest in the boundaries between the economic, the psychological and the social areas.

Paradigm Shift in the Concept of Workforce Diversity: A Key to increase the Organizational Efficiency

Workplace diversity refers to the commonalities and contrasts among individuals at work in terms of class, nationality, age, ethnic heritage, academic background, physical capabilities and impairments, gender, interpersonal, and psychological variables. As a result, organizations must create an environment that is compatible with the diversification of their workforce in order to improve their efficiency in this globalised era. The goal of managing workforce diversity is to build and keep a favorable work environment where each employee's contributions are recognized. This reseаrсh рарer сritiсаlly аnаlyses wоrkfоrсe diversity аnd its раrаdigm shift оver time in the соntext оf аn оrgаnizаtiоn. Furthermore, this planned research intends to investigate of workplace diversity and its impact on an organization's efficiency. This study's research will be solely collected from secondary sources. The reseаrch study's findings will be beneficial to the organization since they provide some guidelines and recommendations that can be utilized to develop effective раrаdigms for managing diversity in the workplace. The proposed research study concludes with the belief that appropriate handling of workplace diversity may lead to more committed, pleased, and high-performing employees, as well as make the organization a more efficient workplace.

A CONTENT ANALYSIS ON DIVERSITY AND PERSON WITH DISABILITIES IN CSR-AWARDED COMPANIES IN MALAYSIA

Diversity is a concept that includes individuals from different categories and centrally aims at creating an inclusive community that values and utilises all members' talents. Diversity in the workplace has long been recognised as beneficial to the organisation’s whole performance. Apart from creating an inclusive environment, having a diverse workforce means having a different set of skills, ideas, attitudes, knowledge, and thus giving a higher chance for an organisation to be in a competitive advantage. Despite all the advantages, persons with disabilities (PWD) as one of the diversity categories have always been excluded from entering the labour market. Therefore, the aim of this study is to do a systematic empirical investigation on PWD’s employment within the organisations by examining the annual report of the CSR-awarded organisations in Malaysia to evaluate how far these organisations are reporting their diverse workforce and accepting the inclusion of PWD in the companies. The quantitative content analysis method was used in this study. 14 published annual reports of CSR-awarded companies from the year 2019 were selected as a sample. Employees with PWD were recorded by two companies, with percentages of 0.18 percent and 0.05 percent, respectively. The result shows the employment data on disability among companies that have won CSR awards in Malaysia are scarce. The companies tend to place more emphasis on other diversity categories, especially on gender and age group. It is suggested for future research to explore the employment of PWD from the perspective of corporate social responsibility since anything related to PWD should be addressed through social imperatives.

Authentic Compliance with a Symbolic Legal Standard? How Critical Race Theory Can Change Institutionalist Studies on Diversity in the Workplace

This review essay introduces critical race theory to the organizational analysis of diversity in the workplace. One central finding of the empirical institutionalist literature examining diversity in organizations is the apparent failure of diversity, as a value adopted by the organization, to transform practices of discrimination and exclusion in the workplace. Scholars in this field implicitly accept the narrative about diversity as a substantive civil rights value, associating its presence with racial justice ideals. A critical analysis of this legal concept inspired by the lessons of critical race theory highlights the problematic legal construction of diversity and its role in justifying and reinforcing racial hierarchies. Adding to existing neo-institutionalist literature, I suggest that, alongside an investigation into employers’ compliance practices with diversity precepts, attention should be paid to the limitations inherent in the legal standard of diversity itself.

Diversity in the workplace

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Increased globalization has led to increased diversity. This can have positive effects for the workplace in terms of increased variety of knowledge, skills and experience. However, there can also be negative impacts of diversity in terms of reduced social cohesion, poor communication and increased conflict. Diversity management can help to reduce the negative effects and capitalize on the positive effects of diversity, in order to enhance organizational performance. Diversity needs to be context-specific, taking into account a wider range of individual attributes, and needs to be supported by diversity at the top management level in order to maximize organizational effectiveness. Originality The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Making diversity a workplace asset

Purpose Diversity in the workplace has scope to function as a double-edged sword. Firms must recognize different forms of diversity and their scope to vary in how they shape employee well-being. A focus on measures that increase employee perceptions of inclusion can alleviate the detrimental impact on affective outcomes of diversity. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings Diversity in the workplace has scope to function as a double-edged sword. Firms must recognize different forms of diversity and their scope to vary in how they shape employee well-being. A focus on measures that increase employee perceptions of inclusion can alleviate the detrimental impact on affective outcomes of diversity. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

Discouraging gender-biased job seekers by adapting job advertisements

PurposeSocially responsible organizations strive to foster gender diversity values in the workplace. As women, relative to men, tend to fall victim to gender discrimination more frequently, organizations can promote gender diversity in the workplace by either increasing female employment or discouraging job seekers who resist gender diversity from applying for positions. While more attention has been devoted to the former approach, less attention has been given to the latter.Design/methodology/approachA between-subjects experiment is conducted to test the hypotheses. Participants are randomly assigned to one of five conditions that feature different numbers of women in job advertisements.FindingsFor male job seekers who hold a male breadwinner ideology, their job pursuit intentions decrease as the number of women in job advertisements increases. Perceived person-organization fit acts as the mediating influence.Practical implicationsJob advertisements are purposed to attract job seekers who share similar values. Men who embrace male-dominant values are likely to resist and thwart the progress of gender diversity in the workplace. This study informs practitioners of how by strategically adapting job advertisements, organizations can discourage individuals who are likely to be a poor fit from applying for vacant jobs.Originality/valueThis study focuses on gender discrimination and resistance in a job seeking context from a social dominance perspective. The study informs organizations of the potential benefits of strategically adapting job advertisements.