Diversity Management Experienced by Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Transgender Employees in Finland
Ailio, Outi (2012)
Ailio, Outi
2012
Kuvaus
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Tiivistelmä
There are different views on what is considered diversity. It can be seen as only the aspects protected by laws, or people can be seen as diverse in all ways possible. Different views on what is considered diversity can be divided to narrow-based and broad-based definitions as well as definition based on a conceptual rule. Furthermore, definitions of what is considered an important aspect differ greatly. Different aspects of diversity can also be divided to visible and invisible and with the latter stereotypes and prejudices play a more significant role. Diversity can be also seen as layered, consisting of aspects on different levels of an individual.
Instead of concentrating on anti-discrimination like its previous forms, diversity management voluntarily aims at creating an all-inclusive working culture, where diversity is seen positive already on the strategic level. It leads to competitive advantage, better quality of organizational life and thus will be good for business. Diversity management efforts tend to fail due to lack of information, development and training or not implementing diversity management into the organization’s strategy. Sexual minorities face institutional discrimination based on heterosexism of the society which sees heterosexuality as the only moral lifestyle and a norm. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi, transgender) people carry a lot of stigmas related to their invisible feature and based on the invisibility heterosexuals might also be considered homosexuals. In order for an LGBT individual to feel comfortable at work and reach their full potential as an employee, a feeling of security and acceptance of their sexual orientation needs to be created so that employees can be openly out and concentrate their energy on the work itself.
Discrimination is the unbeneficial treatment of someone based on an irrelevant feature. Discrimination has many different definitions, for example individual and institutional as well as perceived and intended. The process of discrimination includes the effect of stereotypes and prejudices and is an automatic, pragmatic, socially constructed and somewhat controllable. Theories explaining discrimination include the taste-theory where people have an internally or externally caused motivation to discriminate and statistical theory, where people discriminate due to imperfect information. Experiencing discrimination is highly subjective and this makes it an interesting topic to do research on. A quantitative research is conducted of the the diversity management experiences of LGBT employees in Finland based on data from an online-questionnaire.
Instead of concentrating on anti-discrimination like its previous forms, diversity management voluntarily aims at creating an all-inclusive working culture, where diversity is seen positive already on the strategic level. It leads to competitive advantage, better quality of organizational life and thus will be good for business. Diversity management efforts tend to fail due to lack of information, development and training or not implementing diversity management into the organization’s strategy. Sexual minorities face institutional discrimination based on heterosexism of the society which sees heterosexuality as the only moral lifestyle and a norm. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi, transgender) people carry a lot of stigmas related to their invisible feature and based on the invisibility heterosexuals might also be considered homosexuals. In order for an LGBT individual to feel comfortable at work and reach their full potential as an employee, a feeling of security and acceptance of their sexual orientation needs to be created so that employees can be openly out and concentrate their energy on the work itself.
Discrimination is the unbeneficial treatment of someone based on an irrelevant feature. Discrimination has many different definitions, for example individual and institutional as well as perceived and intended. The process of discrimination includes the effect of stereotypes and prejudices and is an automatic, pragmatic, socially constructed and somewhat controllable. Theories explaining discrimination include the taste-theory where people have an internally or externally caused motivation to discriminate and statistical theory, where people discriminate due to imperfect information. Experiencing discrimination is highly subjective and this makes it an interesting topic to do research on. A quantitative research is conducted of the the diversity management experiences of LGBT employees in Finland based on data from an online-questionnaire.