Affirmative Action: Legally mandated programs whose aim is to increase the employment opportunities of groups who have been disadvantaged in the past (Simons, Vasquez, & Harris, 1993, p. 239).
African American: Relating to the black persons of America whose ancestry derive from Africa. Does not traditionally include white South African descendants and descendants of Arabs from Northern African nations such as Libya and Tunisia. Persons having similar experiences, cultural heritage, and ancestry of former slaves in the United States (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Asian American: Relates to first generation and beyond Americans whose ancestors derive from Asia (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Assumptions: Taking things for granted about others. Something accepted or supposed true without proof or demonstration (Simons et al., 1993, p. 239).
Awareness: Bringing to one's own conscious mind that which is only unconsciously perceived; for example, becoming conscious of the real differences among people and a sense that these differences may have to do with how people are or should be treated by others (Simons et al., 1993, p. 239).
Backlash: Negative reactions to the development of power by women and minorities can be characterized as a form of backlash. This may be called diversity backlash when applied to organizations. This type occurs when minority members are perceived as attempting to develop power by individual or collective means. Diversity backlash can be characterized as a preemptive strike against the development of power of groups lacking power in organizations. Typically, it occurs before power has actually been obtained by minority groups; it is a reaction to the threat of loss of power by the majority group (Chemers et al., 1995, p. 106).
Bias: Preference or an inclination to make certain choices, which may be positive (bias towards excellence) or negative (bias against people), often with a resultant unfairness to someone (Simons et al., 1993, p. 240).
Blacks: See African American.
Class: Level of economic status; members of similar status possess similar cultural, political, and economic characteristics and principles (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Crosscultural: Involving or mediating between two cultures--one's own and that of another (Simons et al., 1993, p. 240).
Culture: The organization of beliefs, languages, habits, and traditions of a civil society that is socially transmitted (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Cultural Values: An integrated system of rules, regulations, behaviors, and ways of communicating for a specific group of people. A set of norms that define a feeling of differentiating "us" from "them (Simons et al., 1993, p. 240).
Disability: Any condition which results in functional limitations that interfere with an individual's ability to perform his or her customary work (Akabas, Gates, & Galvin, 1992, p. 3).
Disadvantaged: Having less than sufficient resources to fund all of basic needs; without expendable income. A group that severely lacks economic and social resources (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Discrimination: To prejudge, differentiate; often cause for many court cases about violation of civil rights in workplace and housing (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Diversity: Diversity refers to the presence of differing cultures, languages, ethnicities, races, sexual orientations, religious sects, abilities, classes, ages, and national origins of the peoples in an institution or community such as a school, workplace, neighborhood, and so on (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Diversity Training: Diversity training is frequently referred to as training and education to raise awareness about individual differences and the changes in the workforce and to create behavior changes that are required to effectively manage and work within a more diverse workforce (Hanover, 1993; Wheeler, 1994).
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO): Legally mandated guidelines whose objective is to guarantee that all people, whatever their background, are treated equally and fairly in such matters as pay, promotion, dismissal, and so on (Simons et al., 1993, p. 241).
Ethnicity: Belonging to a religious, racial, national, or cultural group; may be a subgroup of a larger group--for example, Jews, Caribbean Americans, Koreans (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Gay: Male who is attracted to other males (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Gender: Sexual classification; defined as male, female, or neutral (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Globalization: The internationalizing of a country, group, business, or social structure through the mixture of peoples or technology (Simons et al., 1993, p. 242).
Harassment: A course of conduct directed at a specific person that causes substantial emotional distress in such a person and serves no legitimate purpose. The term is used in a variety of legal contexts to describe words, gestures, and actions which tend to annoy, alarm, and abuse (verbally) another person; for example, the use of obscene or profane language or the natural consequence of which is to abuse the hearer or reader and is unlawful harassment under the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. 15. U.S.C.A. sec. 1692 (d) (2) (Black, 1990, p. 717).
Hispanics: This term is often used to refer collectively to all Spanish speakers (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Immigrant: A person who resides in a country other than that of his or her origin. Also called nonnative, outlander, outsider, alien (antecedent: emigrant) (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Latino: This term is used to refer to people originating from, or having a heritage related to, Latin America, in recognition of the fact that this set of people is actually a superset of many nationalities. Since the term Latin comes into use as the least common denominator for all peoples of Latin America. In recognition of the fact that some romance language (Spanish, Portuguese, French) is the native tongue of the majority of Latin Americans, this term is widely accepted by most. However, the term is not appropriate for the millions of native Americans who inhabit the region (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Lesbian: Woman who is attracted to other women (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Managing Diversity: To manage diversity is to empower or enable employees. Managing diversity prescribes approaches that are philosophically broad enough to encompass all dimensions of diversity. Managing diversity also emphasizes the managerial skills and policies needed to optimize and emphasize every employee's contribution to the organizational goals (Henderson, 1994a, p. 8; Thomas, 1992, p. 315).
Minorities: The term minority is used to describe groups of race or ethnicities that represent a small percentage of the overall population of a nation/state/continent (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
People of Color: The term people of color is used by multiculturalists and educators to define minority individuals. Other people are less likely to use this term (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Prejudice: Exerting bias and bigotry based on preconceptions (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Race: Classification of people based on common nationality, history, or experiences (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Racism: The act of one in power exerting biased and prejudiced behavior over another. The notion that one's race is superior over another race (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Racist: A person with a closed mind toward accepting one or more groups different than one's own origin in race or color (Simons et al., 1993, p. 242).
Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is as a type of employment discrimination, which includes sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature prohibited by federal law (Black, 1990, p. 1375).
Stereotypes: To categorize ideas, people, or objects based on a typecast or standardized prototype, lacking any room to account for individuality (University of Maryland Diversity Database, 1996).
Transcultural: Grounded in one's own culture but having the culture-general and culture-specific skills to be able to live, interact, and work effectively in a multicultural environment (Simons et al., 1993, p. 245).
Values: Set of internal instructions based in culture and personal experience, which determine acceptable behavior for a group or individual. Such cultural priorities can be expressed in terms of moral, family, organizational, or even national values--namely, what a group considers important or desired behaviors for its members (Simons et al., 1993, p. 245).
Valuing Diversity: Valuing diversity means being responsive to a wide range of people unlike oneself, according to any number of distinctions: race, gender, class, native language, national origin, physical ability, age, sexual orientation, religion, professional experience, personal preferences, and work style (Carnevale & Stone, 1994, p. 24).
Reverse Discrimination: This is a relatively new concept. It is a claim used to characterize any preference for others over those in the dominant group. This claim has been used frequently to oppose Affirmative Action and support dissent and resistance to change within many mainstreams in the organizational culture (Loden & Rosener, 1991, p. 128).
Working with Diversity: Working with diversity is a term that is sometimes used in the place of managing diversity. Working with diversity calls forth the challenge to be curious, inquire, interact, reflect, and experiment. It requires individuals to be respectful, curious, patient, and willing to learn (Leach et al., 1995, p. 3).