Demographic dissimilarity and workplace inclusion

This study examined the relationship between individual demographic dissimi larity from co-workers and three indicators of inclusion by an organization : decisionmaking influence, access to sensitive information, and job securi ty. Data from 345 individuals in eight work units showed that individual di ssimilarity in race and gender were negatively associated with inclusion, a nd the effect of race dissimilarity was more pronounced for whites than for non-whites. In contrast, individual dissimilarity in tenure and education level were positively associated with inclusion, and these effects were mor e pronounced for those with greater tenure and greater education, respectiv ely. Overall, the results suggest that whether being different hinders or h elps organizational inclusion may depend on whether that difference is visi ble and whether it reflects job expertise. Further, they suggest that, when being different is a hindrance, it may be hardest on those who have tradit ionally been the majority in organizations.