Organizations face myriad barriers and obstacles to effectively increasing and embracing diversity in their workplaces. Some of these barriers stem from people in the organization who are resistant to changing the organization to make it more diverse. This activity is important because resistance to this type of change is an attitude that managers will come up against frequently, and managers should be able to recognize when this occurs so that they can manage the organization and its employees through this challenging but very important type of change. The goal of this exercise is to challenge your knowledge of the barriers to diversity.
Stereotypes and Prejudices
Fear of Discrimination Against Majority Group Members
Resistance to Diversity Program Priorities
A Negative Diversity Climate
Lack of Support for Family Demands
A Hostile Work Environment for Diverse Employees
First, hover over the terms to read examples of barriers to diversity in action. Then, click and drag each term to indicate the specific barrier to diversity its example best depicts.