Special Issue Introduction: Defining The Domain Of Workplace Diversity Scholarship

Abstract

Workplace diversity crystallized as a management sub-field only when members of historically excluded groups became serious contenders for power positions in North American organizations. This article asserts power/dominance relations between identity groups as a central factor driving diversity dynamics in organizations and questions the predominance of the trait model, which locates the fundamental mechanisms driving diversity dynamics within individuals and ignores contextual factors, including power. The author argues that it is important to draw a distinction between diversity scholarship and the individual differences tradition in organizational studies in order to retain a central focus on power relations among identity groups and avoid diluting the diversity construct to the point that any group composed of non-identical individuals becomes diverse by definition.

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