Discrimination in the Workplace: Overview

Discrimination in the Workplace According to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Discrimination charges were up slightly from last year from 99,922 to 99,947. In terms of the volume of charges by protected class, the highest percentages were: •Retaliation – 37. 4% •Race – 35. 4% •Sex/Gender – 28. 4% •ADA/Disability – 25. 8% Nine out of ten times when you go into a business meeting, the person you are encountering for the first time has already formed an impression of you based on your communication with them up to that point.

Your religion, race, height, nationality and even your gender are factors that most people make quick judgments about. Unfortunately, many of these judgments are bias and assumptions. According to Oxford dictionary, discrimination is the treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather on the individual merit. My reasons for this message are to point out the effects of racial discrimination and how it can be prevented.

Discrimination against people with different physical appearance, mental illness, or a different personal preference such as homosexuality is a position where people should never find themselves in. Discrimination affects people from all over the world. People of all ethnicities and from all different walks of life are influenced in some way by workplace discrimination. ” One of the most common elements discriminated against is a person’s ethnicity, or their race. This is called Racial Discrimination. We’ve all heard the statistics about first impressions.

When you meet someone for the first time, according to research at University of Pennsylvania 7% of their impression of you is based on what you say, 38% on how you say it, and a massive 55% on their appearance and manner. No wonder we worry about choosing our clothes for that all important meeting or job interview. What are the reasons in society that causes prejudice and discrimination? Consequently problems with discrimination are from parental discrimination, traditional labeling, and unfair generalizations. No one is born racist, sexist, or homophobic. Some parents aise their children with negative beliefs about others. This is one of the reasons why it is so hard to get rid of discrimination in our workplace. A parent who is an extremist will more than likely have negative effects on how a child will treat others. In addition traditional labeling is another cause of discrimination. Discriminatory labels have been passed down from generation to generation. For example many children engage in activities such as breaking windows, stealing fruit from other people’s trees, climbing into other people’s yards, or playing hooky from school.

In rich neighborhoods, these acts may be viewed by parents, teachers, and police as innocent aspects of the process of growing up. In poor areas, on the other hand, these same activities might be seen as tendencies towards juvenile delinquency. This sort of labeling can easily lead to workplace bias. Lastly, unfair generalizations are another cause of discrimination. After a single person of a race or sex does something injustice, people tend to group the entire race or sex with that single person’s flawed actions. This tends to happen to minorities quite often in the workplace and also in the social life.

All these things that I have listed play a significant role in molding and shaping a person character. Now I’m going to talk about the effects of racial discrimination. Discrimination at work can lead to decreased job performance and lower productivity. Workplace discrimination can impact the level of employee spirits. It goes without saying that if you witness discriminatory acts or are a victim of discrimination, the experience can be crushing. Employees who are exposed to discrimination can begin to surfer the effects of disrespect even if they are not the main target of discrimination.

In addition, researchers find evidence that discrimination has a negative impact on one’s mental health. Results from the study “Does Perceived Discrimination Affect Health, Longitudinal Relationships Between Work Discrimination and Women’s Physical and Emotional Health” reveal that women were being tested and their level of stress increased after experiencing job discrimination. In another study testing African American women, perceived racial discrimination at work led to higher levels of depression and decreased levels of psychological well-being.

These studies suggest that mental stress is caused by work discrimination. Another effect of racial discrimination is that it damages the business reputation. The U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission website contains information about discrimination lawsuits, settlements and awards. Newspapers publish stories of high-profile cases and jury trials awarding damages to plaintiffs in discrimination lawsuits. Rumors and truths spread throughout the business community, and potential applicants spread the word about businesses purported to engage in discriminatory employment practices.

Allegations of discrimination can even affect the relationship between a company and its suppliers and vendors. All of this takes its toll on an organization’s business reputation, its ability to recruit talent and, ultimately, its profitability. The saying “all publicity is good publicity” doesn’t apply when the publicity is about discrimination. On the contrary there are solutions to these problems. These steps will help guide our heart and our morals. There are many ways but I selected two main guides to help us. One way to start the change is by renewing of your minds.

We have to change our views by disciplining ourselves. Systematic judgments require more controlled processing and tend to occur when forming impressions of others that can affect our happiness or welfare. Learn to interact with people more on a personal level. Another way to stop discrimination is to report it. Any individual who is the victim of racial discrimination should not allow it to continue. You can report discrimination by documenting the incidents. Next you should report to a supervisor and show him the documentations. Lastly complain to EECO.

File a report immediately then wait for EEOC to get back to you so afterwards you can get permission to take legal action if the discrimination is clear. Exercise commitment and patience in your journey to remove stereotyping from the mind and heart. In conclusion, with this in mind learning to dig deep from other people will bring humility. We can remove the snap judgments we make about people because someday we might under authority or be in the position of authority. Because discriminatory behavior can hardly be seen I challenge you to be cautious about what is said or done in the workplace.

We can avoid being the attacker or the victim in this situation. These indications I listed are only of the few of our automatic notions about others. We should have an equal shot to an opportunity that is presented to us. ? Bibliography The Beginners Guide To Body Language. ” Photograph. http://sapientology. com/body-language/how-to-read-body-language/. Matthew Michael. 2010. Web. 7 Nov 2011. . Haworth, Abigail. “Forced to Be Fat . ” Marie Claire. 21072011: 1-3. Web. 7 Nov. 2011. . (Haworth 1-3) Anderson, M. L. and Taylor, H. F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials.

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