Introductory description

This is an elective module available for WBS and non-WBS students. To find detailed availability and to apply for this module, log in to my.wbs.ac.uk using your normal IT login details and apply via the my.wbs module application system. Once you’ve secured a place on my.wbs you should apply via your home department’s usual process, which usually takes place via eVision. Note that you do not require the module leader’s permission to study a WBS module, so please do not contact them to request it.

This module looks at the way different groups of people experience working life and explore the extent to which women and minority groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, disabled people, older/ younger workers) experience disadvantage within organisations and the labour market. Various explanations for this disadvantage will be considered, in relation to both the supply side (e.g. human capital theory, attribution theory, and the demand side (e.g. dual labour market theory, workplace discrimination). We will examine conceptual approaches to equality and diversity and their implications for the way that ‘difference’ is understood and the sometimes conflicting explanations for why different experiences occur and persist. The module also focuses on the different approaches taken by governments and organisations to address the disadvantage women and minority groups encounter. These steps include the introduction of equal opportunities policies and practices, the business case for diversity, legislative remedies and the role of trade unions. Reasons why these potential solutions have typically met with limited success will also be discussed.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

This module looks at the way different groups of people experience working life and explore the extent to which women and minority groups (e.g., ethnic minorities, disabled people, older/ younger workers) experience disadvantage within organisations and the labour market. Various explanations for this disadvantage will be considered, in relation to both the supply side (e.g. human capital theory, attribution theory, and the demand side (e.g. dual labour market theory, workplace discrimination). We will examine conceptual approaches to equality and diversity and their implications for the way that ‘difference’ is understood and the
sometimes conflicting explanations for why different experiences occur and persist. The module also focuses on the different approaches taken by governments and organisations to address the disadvantage women and minority groups encounter. These steps include the introduction of equal opportunities policies and practices, the business case for diversity, legislative remedies and the role of trade unions. Reasons why these potential solutions have typically met with limited success will also be discussed.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Understand equality, diversity and inclusion both conceptually and in terms of workplace interventions.
• Understand how people's experience of work and career outcomes differ according to gender, ethnicity, disability, age, migrant status, religion, social class and sexual identity.
• Explore theoretical frameworks that are helpful to understand diverse employeesâ distinct career outcomes and experiences of work.
• Understand stereotyping, discrimination and social identity and the way they operate inside the workplace.
• Critically examine approaches to achieving equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
• Challenge simplistic explanations of inequality in the workplace.
• Critically evaluate different forms of diversity and inclusion interventions.

Indicative reading list

Kirton, G and Greene, A-M (2022) The Dynamics of Managing Diversity and Inclusion: A Critical Approach, Routledge, (5th
edition).
Ahmed, S (2012) On being included: racism and diversity in institutional life. Durham and London: Duke University Press
Connell, R.W. (1987) Gender and Power. Cambridge: Polity.
Greene, AM and Kirton, G (2009) Diversity Management in the UK: Organizational and Stakeholder Perspectives, Routledge.
Dean, D. and Liff, S. (2010): Equality and Diversity: The ultimate industrial relations concern. In T. Colling and M. Terry (eds.),
Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice, 3rd edn. Wiley-Blackwell.
Liff, S. (2003) The Industrial Relations of a Diverse Workforce. In P.K. Edwards (ed.) Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice,
2
nd edition.
Young, I. (1990 [2011]) Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton.
Virdee, S. (2014) Racism, Class and the Racialized Outsider. Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Crompton, R. (2006) ‘Class and Family’, Sociological Review 54(4): 658–76.
Platt, L. (2019) Understanding Inequalities: Stratification and Difference. Polity Press.
Acker, Joan (2006). Inequality Regimes: Gender, Class and Race in Organizations. Gender and Society 20(4): 441-464.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé. 1991. Mapping the Margins: intersectionality, identity politics, and violence against women of color. Stanford
Law Review 43(6).
Collins, P.H.2015: Intersectionality’s Definitional Dilemmas, Annual Review of Sociology, 41:1–20.
Johnson, Allan G. (1997, 2005). The gender knot. Unraveling our patriarchal legacy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Jewson, N. and Mason, D. (1986) The theory and practice of equal opportunities policies: liberal and radical approaches,
The Sociological Review, 34 (2), 307-334.
O’Reilly, J., Smith, M, Deakin, S. and Burchell, B. 2015: Equal pay as a moving target: international perspectives on forty years of
addressing the gender pay gap, Cambridge Journal of Economics, 39 (2).
Reay, D. (2020) The Perils and Penalties of Meritocracy: Sanctioning Inequalities and Legitimating Prejudice, The Political
Quarterly, 1-8.
O’Cinneide, C. and Liu, K. (2015) Defining the limits of discrimination law in the United Kingdom: Principle and pragmatism in
tension. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 15(1-2) 80–100.
Noon, M (2010) The shackled runner: time to rethink positive discrimination? Work, Employment and Society, 24 (4).
Dickens, L. 1999: Beyond the Business Case: a Three-Pronged Approach to Equality Action, Human Resource Management
Journal 9(1): 9-19. Very influential article.
Tassabehji Rana, Harding, Nancy, Lee, Hugh and Dominguez-Pery, Carine (2021). From female computers to male computers:
Or why there are so few women writing algorithms and developing software. Human Relations, 74(8), 1296–1326.
Dobbin, F. and Kalev, A. (2016) Why diversity programs fail. And what works better. Harvard Business Review, 52-60.
Hoque, K. and Bacon, N. (2014) ‘Employer disability practice in Britain: assessing the impact of the Positive About Disabled
People ‘Two Ticks’ symbol’. Work Employment and Society 28 (3): 430-451.

Subject specific skills

Be aware of the relevant legislative requirements and of Equality bodies, their remit, approach, and role.
Understand how social identity related disadvantages, stereotyping and discrimination plays out in different national and cultural contexts of the UK, Europe and North America.

Transferable skills

Communication skills: summarise key arguments and evidence.