Cultural diversity at work: The effects of diversity perspectives on work group processes and outcomes

This paper develops theory about the conditions under which cultural divers ity enhances or detracts from work group functioning. From qualitative rese arch in three culturally diverse organizations, we identified three differe nt perspectives on workforce diversity: the integration-and learning perspe ctive, the access-and-legitimacy perspective, and the discrimination-and-fa irness perspective. The perspective on diversity a work group held influenc ed how people expressed and managed tensions related to diversity, whether those who had been traditionally. underrepresented in the organization felt respected and valued by their colleagues, and how people interpreted the m eaning of their racial identity at work. These, in turn, had implications f or how well the work group and its members functioned. All three perspectiv es on diversity had been successful in motivating managers to diversify the ir staffs, but only the integration-and-learning perspective provided the r ationale and guidance needed to achieve sustained benefits from diversity. By identifying the conditions that intervene between the demographic compos ition of a work group and its functioning, our research helps to explain mi xed results on the relationship between cultural diversity and work group o utcomes.