The Impact of Diversity on Career Transitions over the Life Course

There are many aspects of diversity that impact career transitions over the life course. Whereas traditional conceptualizations of career stages emphasize a clear career path for the majority of people, modern career transitions are better characterized by both the multitude and variety of potential mobility paths. Modern career trajectories have also been linked to early developmental activities, which are similarly related to increases in diversity and other societal changes. This chapter discusses the impact of different forms of diversity on career transitions from both psychological/developmental and sociological life course perspectives, as well from a dynamic perspective where one's career transitions are dictated by lesser-planned socio-contextual and personal circumstances. The authors conclude this discussion by outlining some trends that are likely to influence career development in the future, including suggestions for future research.

Leveraging Diversity for Competitive Advantage

Competitive advantage is attained through talent development and management. Talented employees seek career advancement, change, and success. Organization leaders must integrate organization and career development into their strategic plans and can no longer exclude diverse individuals with talent nor diversity of thought. Key themes are revealed in this chapter to assist with elimination of institutional barriers that limit the success of diverse employees.

Workforce Diversity Career Development

As workforce diversity careers in organizations continue to increase in the United States, less emphasis has been placed on preparing undergraduate and graduate students with specific workforce diversity competencies to pursue these career options once they graduate. The aim of this chapter is to: 1) highlight the issues, problems, and controversies associated with this effort, 2) provide examples of workforce diversity career positions and competencies that workforce diversity professionals possess today in a variety of fields, and 3) offer recommendations regarding how institutions of higher education can begin preparing students with specific workforce diversity competencies to enter the career field of workforce diversity before they graduate.

Career Management and Human Resource Development of a Global, Diverse Workforce

Career management and human resource development that focus on developing long-term capabilities within the organization are crucial to build core competencies and competitive advantage in a global environment. This chapter examines career management and human resource development factors of global competencies in management and leadership. Recent trends and research indicate that successful career management systems utilize organizational practices, processes, and people with capabilities for proactive decision making, information sharing, analysis, critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork, and innovation. Career management in a fast-changing environment must include continuous learning, cross-cultural and social understanding, communication skills, ability to differentiate and integrate information, tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity, positive attitude, and openness to learning new things. Human resource development in a global economy should include global understanding and competencies necessary for managing a global workforce. The author discusses trends and best practices of 21st century leadership for developing capabilities for competitive advantage through human resources.

The Postmodern Approach to Career Counseling for Contemporary Organizations

The intensified globalization and diversity in contemporary workplaces, along with other social and economic changes, have escalated the need for reconsidering and changing traditional approaches to career counseling. The purpose of this chapter is twofold. First, it examines common career counseling practices adopted by organizations. Second, it introduces a nontraditional approach, postmodern approach, to career counseling and explores its effectiveness in meeting changing organizational needs in the globalized world. To achieve these objectives, the chapter begins with a brief overview of career counseling in organizations. Next, current workplace career counseling practices are examined. Following that, an alternative approach by introducing the postmodern approach to career counseling is proposed and the impact of the postmodern approach on the individual, organizational levels, and future trends are discussed. The chapter concludes with implications for career counseling practices and recommendations for future research. This chapter benefits both practitioners and researchers interested in career counseling.

A Paradigm Shift for Diversity Management

This chapter brings to light how diversity management, a widely practiced management philosophy, has emerged from an original focus of equal opportunity and representation to a focus on a strategic and competitive business opportunity for organizations. The objective of this chapter is to represent diversity management as an organization-serving philosophy that has failed to uphold a personal, moral, and ethical obligation to the dignity and worth of its socially marginalized workforce. The goal is to recommend a paradigm shift for diversity management that responds to the social injustices experienced by marginalized employees in everyday lived career experiences that can be detrimental to career aspirations.

Integrating Diversity into Organization and Career Development

This chapter's goal is to describe the confusion that occurs within organizations where there is no clear definition of diversity from which all employees operate. Integrating diversity into organization and career development is vital but cannot occur without an operational definition of the term diversity. There is also misunderstanding between the terms career management and career development. The terms are not interchangeable, although they are treated as though they are within organizations. Eliminating the confusion and misunderstandings will assist organization leaders' efforts to integrate diversity into organization and career development.

Women from Diverse Backgrounds in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Professions

The strength of the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) talent pool is a key factor for boosting innovation. This pipeline has been weakened substantially as emerging groups of STEMs, particularly White and minority women, have failed to enter STEM professions at the same rates as White males. Moreover, once women from diverse backgrounds overcome significant hurdles during the educational process, they depart the STEM workplace at alarmingly high rates. Some of the reasons for this phenomenon are discussed in this chapter, along with some solutions about how to decrease these departures. Additionally, ways to focus on the future needs of the changing demographics of the STEM workforce are reviewed. Ultimately, the goal is to offset STEM shortages in intellectual capital and mitigate brain drain and brain migration circumstances so that the U.S. can fully leverage the contributions of high-ability women from diverse groups, eventually benefitting innovation strategies.

Understanding the Impact of Inclusion in Disability Studies Education

Educators and practitioners are faced with the transitioning and intersection of two diverse disability studies education models—the medical model and the social model—and the models' effects on career development. This chapter focuses on how individuals with disabilities were transitioned into diversity and inclusion processes and then integrated into the organization and career development structure. Once left out of the measures of performance through education, learners with disabilities, in 1997, clearly became identified in the federal and state answerability systems. This chapter advocates for the social model. Additionally, respondents show how self-identifying as a person with a disability, even anonymously, can be difficult for some people. Readers will better understand the terms diversity, disability, and inclusion through the disability studies lenses, but the question remains, Have we come a long way or are scholars and practitioners floundering in today's society and lacking understanding about diversity through unclear comprehension regarding disability?

Genderized Workplace Lookism in the U.S. and Abroad

Lookism is preferential treatment of those considered to be attractive and discrimination against those deemed less physically desirable. Value is attached to certain physical characteristics such as skin tone, height, weight, facial features, and hair color/textures. Two of the phenomena that exist under the umbrella of lookism are colorism and weightism, which are both genderized phenomenon that create social and workplace inequities. There are studies that explore physical appearance discrimination external to and within workplaces in the United States; however, there is little research on the impact of these prejudices on women abroad. Since today's global workforce is composed of women from various countries and cultural backgrounds, and their cultural values impact their career aspirations and career opportunities, organizational and career development professionals must understand the implications of both U.S. and international lookism and utilize strategies to address and prevent the related issues.