Diversity and the Odd Man (or Woman) Out

When you are a minority, it’s not easy being hired by a diversity-focused company or attending a diversity-focused school. It is common to wonder if you were only hired for your race. It’s also common to wonder if your co-workers think you were hired for your skin color. Some folks, particularly those who feel disadvantaged by diversity initiatives, will even resent you for coming in the back door, so to speak. Needless to say, the shadow of diversity initiatives hangs over you.

Does Diversity Work?

Our director stood before the group to announce a new diversity initiative from corporate headquarters. “If two candidates possessed equal qualifications and experience and one was a white male and the other an underrepresented minority,” he said clumsily, “we would hire the minority.”

A gasp of shock went up from the group, which consisted of people of Ethiopian, Egyptian, Korean, Italian, Jewish, Danish, Hispanic, West Indian, Filipino, Irish, and German descent, male and female.