Multicultural Diversity in Workplace for

Tourism Professionals
TOPIC 1 DEVELOPMENT OF DIVERISTY
Definition of Diversity

Diversity is defined as:

•The distribution of differences among the members of a unit with respect to a common
attribute (Harrison & Klein, 2007).
•A group characteristic that reflects the degree to which there are objective and/or
subjective differences among group members (van Knippenberg& Schippers, 2007)
•Simply, any difference between the members of the team.

Types of Diversity

Surface-Level Diversity-characteristics that are noticeable when you look at someone “on
the surface”.

 Examples: sex, race, age, weight

Deep-Level Diversity-attributes that are not immediately observable.

 Examples: attitude, values, personality

Harrison and Klein (2007) proposed that there are three distinct types of diversity:
Diversity as Separation

It refers to differences on a particular attribute such as attributes, beliefs and values.

 Examples: Cultural Values, job attitudes, political beliefs

Diversity as Variety

It refers to differences in knowledge, life experiences and information among team

members.

 Examples: Differing Professional Background, functional areas and expertise.

Diversity as Disparity
It refers to differences in status or power. It could reflect the concentration of resources
including status, pay and the prestige of assignments among team members.

Faultlines

More recently, researchers had begun to examine multiple forms of diversity that can create
divisions within a team, known as faultlines.

 Faultlines–hypothetical dividing lines which divide a group into subgroups based on

the alignment of team members’ attributes. Example: A team could have an equal
number of male and female employees. Faultlineon gender might exist.


Diversity Terminologies

 Biases –tendencies, inclinations or feelings, particularly ones that are preconceived

and lack reasoning; they are often implicitly or subconsciously driven.
 Stereotypes –generalizations or beliefs about a particular group or its members
which are unjustified because they reflect over-generalizations and factual errors as
well as misattributions to other groups.
 Prejudices –unfair, negative attitude toward a social group or a person who is a
member of that group.
 Discrimination –is to treat someone in a way less desirable from the way one would
normally treat others because of their group membership.