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Diversity in the Workplace: Eye-Opening Interviews to Jumpstart Conversations about Identity, Privilege, and Bias
Contemporary and humanistic teachings for building true workplace diversity
In order to create an inclusive working environment, it is important for companies to understand the experiences that diverse employees face in the workplace. Diversity in the Workplace is a guided tour of what it means to be a minority in today’s labor force.
Containing 25 real-life interviews, including stories of trailblazers fighting inequality, you’ll be exposed to a slice of life you may not have been privy to. Whether you’re a member of a marginalized community or a manager looking to equalize an unbalance, this book explores real-world issues in a modern-day work dynamic.
Diversity in the Workplace includes:
Exploring intersectionality―Learn about each of the five major diversity identities shaping disparity at work: Race, Gender, LGBTQ+, Age & Ability, and Religion & Culture.
Key takeaways―Each section is followed by summaries that encourage reflection and action.
Deep dive―Learn tips on how to have progressive conversations with colleagues, and build awareness with key terms such as “unconscious bias.”
Move toward a more fair and bias-free future with Diversity in the Workplace.
In order to create an inclusive working environment, it is important for companies to understand the experiences that diverse employees face in the workplace. Diversity in the Workplace is a guided tour of what it means to be a minority in today’s labor force.
Containing 25 real-life interviews, including stories of trailblazers fighting inequality, you’ll be exposed to a slice of life you may not have been privy to. Whether you’re a member of a marginalized community or a manager looking to equalize an unbalance, this book explores real-world issues in a modern-day work dynamic.
Diversity in the Workplace includes:
Exploring intersectionality―Learn about each of the five major diversity identities shaping disparity at work: Race, Gender, LGBTQ+, Age & Ability, and Religion & Culture.
Key takeaways―Each section is followed by summaries that encourage reflection and action.
Deep dive―Learn tips on how to have progressive conversations with colleagues, and build awareness with key terms such as “unconscious bias.”
Move toward a more fair and bias-free future with Diversity in the Workplace.
128 pages, Paperback
First published March 31, 2020
71 people are currently reading
263 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
April 24, 2020
This book misses the boat. I was excited to request a review copy of this book from the publisher, as I have done quite a bit of research on sexism in the workplace, especially in the realm of academia and the arts.
This book is mistitled: it should read "Diversity in the California Tech Workplace." The vast vast majority of interviews were of California-based tech employees, and others were tech employees with unspecified work locations. There were a few interviews of people in other careers, but they were few and far between. Even the reference section included majority-tech podcasts. This all would have been fine if the book had been titled correctly.
The section on ageism in the workplace only covered youth-based ageism, and didn't have any nontraditional second-career employee or person entering the workplace or switching jobs over the age of 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60. Though I know young people can be condescended to on the job, that doesn't compare with the near-impossibility of people near retirement age finding a new position when faced with unemployment. It also doesn't compare with the growing sense of irrelevance and difficulty in navigating the career workplace after 40, especially for women who were more family-focused in younger life. These issues weren't even covered, so the "ageism" section was particularly odious, to me.
In the religious discrimination section, three of the five interviews were of Christians...the least-discriminated-against religious group in this country. No one of pagan or Buddhist backgrounds were covered. In the gender category, two interviewees disparaged white women and white feminism, but there was no voice from a straight white woman to discuss the diversity of being in a male-dominated field while being aware of her own privilege. There wasn't a section on size discrimination, or even a story about being fat in the workplace. California has a huge fat activism community, especially in tech!
Finally, there was a dearth of information about diversity in workplaces elsewhere in the US. How can one truly describe diversity in the most liberal place in the nation without getting a good viewpoint of those who work in other fields throughout the nation. What about the Midwest? The South? The East Coast? I have lived all over the country, and can say clearly that biases have different ramifications and contexts in Nebraska, Illinois, Maine, or New Mexico. This was a short book, but also seems put together without a breadth of career paths and topics. The tech industry seems far removed from most industries in this country.
This book is mistitled: it should read "Diversity in the California Tech Workplace." The vast vast majority of interviews were of California-based tech employees, and others were tech employees with unspecified work locations. There were a few interviews of people in other careers, but they were few and far between. Even the reference section included majority-tech podcasts. This all would have been fine if the book had been titled correctly.
The section on ageism in the workplace only covered youth-based ageism, and didn't have any nontraditional second-career employee or person entering the workplace or switching jobs over the age of 40, 45, 50, 55, or 60. Though I know young people can be condescended to on the job, that doesn't compare with the near-impossibility of people near retirement age finding a new position when faced with unemployment. It also doesn't compare with the growing sense of irrelevance and difficulty in navigating the career workplace after 40, especially for women who were more family-focused in younger life. These issues weren't even covered, so the "ageism" section was particularly odious, to me.
In the religious discrimination section, three of the five interviews were of Christians...the least-discriminated-against religious group in this country. No one of pagan or Buddhist backgrounds were covered. In the gender category, two interviewees disparaged white women and white feminism, but there was no voice from a straight white woman to discuss the diversity of being in a male-dominated field while being aware of her own privilege. There wasn't a section on size discrimination, or even a story about being fat in the workplace. California has a huge fat activism community, especially in tech!
Finally, there was a dearth of information about diversity in workplaces elsewhere in the US. How can one truly describe diversity in the most liberal place in the nation without getting a good viewpoint of those who work in other fields throughout the nation. What about the Midwest? The South? The East Coast? I have lived all over the country, and can say clearly that biases have different ramifications and contexts in Nebraska, Illinois, Maine, or New Mexico. This was a short book, but also seems put together without a breadth of career paths and topics. The tech industry seems far removed from most industries in this country.
August 31, 2020
Very interesting book about a range of diverse issues people have at school/work and throughout their lives. Most interviews are from people working in tech in California. Would have liked a bit more of a range but other than that, good read!
September 30, 2020
Issues exposing unconscious bias have gripped my home country, the United States of America. Books like this help us address these issues in quiet pages before they escalate onto the street. Williams collects interviews from a diverse group of people in the workplace. Together, these can serve as ways for workers to understand their colleagues nearby.
She groups these interviews into five parts: Race, women, LGBTQ+, age and ability, and religion and culture. The latter two categories are under-appreciated forms of diversity, so I appreciate her conscientiousness in including them. Within each category, she presents interviews with several individuals, each representing a common type. Some individuals display intersectionality – that is, they simultaneously represent more than one type. Finally, these individuals represent different professional industries.
For instance, she individually interviews a black gay male at a non-profit, a Muslim Indian female lawyer, and a older female businessperson in tech. None of these interviews are particularly compelling on their own. Spanning a few pages each, they do not gain much depth, but together, they serve to paint a broad, diverse picture of the tapestry of the American workforce.
Reviews often mention Williams’ bias towards tech, and I concur completely. I work in the tech industry, so this bias does not bother me personally. It may bother other readers, however. It’s a good introduction, but deep dives must be reserved for the bibliography at the end. Some introductions fall short in their breadth; fortunately, this does not. It’s a quick read that will show a broad shoreline, but won’t boldly challenge many presuppositions.
She groups these interviews into five parts: Race, women, LGBTQ+, age and ability, and religion and culture. The latter two categories are under-appreciated forms of diversity, so I appreciate her conscientiousness in including them. Within each category, she presents interviews with several individuals, each representing a common type. Some individuals display intersectionality – that is, they simultaneously represent more than one type. Finally, these individuals represent different professional industries.
For instance, she individually interviews a black gay male at a non-profit, a Muslim Indian female lawyer, and a older female businessperson in tech. None of these interviews are particularly compelling on their own. Spanning a few pages each, they do not gain much depth, but together, they serve to paint a broad, diverse picture of the tapestry of the American workforce.
Reviews often mention Williams’ bias towards tech, and I concur completely. I work in the tech industry, so this bias does not bother me personally. It may bother other readers, however. It’s a good introduction, but deep dives must be reserved for the bibliography at the end. Some introductions fall short in their breadth; fortunately, this does not. It’s a quick read that will show a broad shoreline, but won’t boldly challenge many presuppositions.
March 31, 2020
This is a great primer for anyone in business, but especially people who fall into the majority. Often, straight white people (especially males) don't realize the privilege they have just because they have these physical attributes that they have no control over. Even though it's getting better, there's still a wage gap of 18% between men and women. LGBTQ+ people often don't share the same protections that straight people do. Trans people suffer from microagressions, flat-out intolerance, and denial of their gender pronouns, among many, many other discriminations.
Offering easy-to understand explanations as well as one-on-one interviews with a variety of people, this book helps bring to light the issues mentioned above and many more. I think this book can have an impact on anyone who reads it. It's especially effective for people who are hands-on with the day-to-day operations of a business or organization. If nothing else, it makes you more aware of the biases that minority populations face.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not influence my review.
Offering easy-to understand explanations as well as one-on-one interviews with a variety of people, this book helps bring to light the issues mentioned above and many more. I think this book can have an impact on anyone who reads it. It's especially effective for people who are hands-on with the day-to-day operations of a business or organization. If nothing else, it makes you more aware of the biases that minority populations face.
I received a free copy of this book, but that did not influence my review.
May 9, 2021
I know diversity, equity and inclusion will be formally part of my job again, now that I'm joining an American business. But I'm not exactly sure how the rhetoric of diversity and inclusion will work at our site, in China. Lots of employees in our institution don't have experience talking about diversity and inclusion at all, and have only the dimmest awareness of how charged the issues are in American working life today.
These 25 interviews definitely raise some good points, and have a few surprises in store. I had little awareness of what Turet's Syndrome was, so the man who talked about becoming a sales representative while dealing with the twitching and the judgement from his peers, that was quite educational for me. The main lesson from all this is that most of these employees are highly skilled professionals who just want to get their work done and continue down the road of career success, whatever that means to them, but being black or female or queer or differently abled threatens to hold them back. To combat the situation, communication and understanding, and above all having more people intersecting with these and other minority backgrounds in the work place, can continue to make American work life better for everyone.
But these are hardly new things. Criticisms from other readers on here definitely make sense -- especially that ageism is only approached from the perspective of workers that look young. That's an insulting gap for older workers. The interviews are all of exactly the same format, which starts to feel boring and a bit thin by the end. And a final summary with some tips for DEI meetings for management-level professionals would have been useful to the intended readers.
These 25 interviews definitely raise some good points, and have a few surprises in store. I had little awareness of what Turet's Syndrome was, so the man who talked about becoming a sales representative while dealing with the twitching and the judgement from his peers, that was quite educational for me. The main lesson from all this is that most of these employees are highly skilled professionals who just want to get their work done and continue down the road of career success, whatever that means to them, but being black or female or queer or differently abled threatens to hold them back. To combat the situation, communication and understanding, and above all having more people intersecting with these and other minority backgrounds in the work place, can continue to make American work life better for everyone.
But these are hardly new things. Criticisms from other readers on here definitely make sense -- especially that ageism is only approached from the perspective of workers that look young. That's an insulting gap for older workers. The interviews are all of exactly the same format, which starts to feel boring and a bit thin by the end. And a final summary with some tips for DEI meetings for management-level professionals would have been useful to the intended readers.
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July 3, 2020A collection of interviews with people from diverse backgrounds and how they've navigated professionally as a result.
It's a nice way to have a "conversation" with a lot of people that you may not ordinarily be in contact with and hear what they have to say.
Lot of emphasis on the effort or "unpaid labor", as it's presented, that people outside the dominant have to do to explain their point of view. That was a valuable insight for me.
Also a lot of discussion of intersectional impacts and how often groups are assumed to be one thing, but are often different. My internalization was if you say "I'm goth" someone might picture Robert Smith - but actually a lot of different people listen to goth music.
The interviews are predominately from the tech industry (the authors space) and they are also success stories - so it's from the perspective of overcoming.
It's a nice way to have a "conversation" with a lot of people that you may not ordinarily be in contact with and hear what they have to say.
Lot of emphasis on the effort or "unpaid labor", as it's presented, that people outside the dominant have to do to explain their point of view. That was a valuable insight for me.
Also a lot of discussion of intersectional impacts and how often groups are assumed to be one thing, but are often different. My internalization was if you say "I'm goth" someone might picture Robert Smith - but actually a lot of different people listen to goth music.
The interviews are predominately from the tech industry (the authors space) and they are also success stories - so it's from the perspective of overcoming.
June 21, 2021
We read this book at work in our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team and discussed each chapter. Perhaps because I listened to the audio (narrator was pedantic and monotone,) I didn't get as much from the book as I did from the discussions with my colleagues. The religious diversity chapter does is particularly unbalanced. There are wo interviews with people in the liquor industry about being judged by their churches for the kind of work they did. There was not enough about various religious identities (including no religion or atheism) and dominant white Christian culture. Still, some interesting perspectives.
January 17, 2022
This collection of interviews shows the real and often not as depicted side of diversity. Each section is organized by certain characteristic that the person bein interviewed identified with, and each person introduced by the other areas that also make up their identity. Some opinions expressed by these real professionals are softer than many articles that take very hard lines on identity and what is acceptable. Though they didn't all grow up in privilege most (if not all) of the people interviewed in this book attended ivy league (or similar) schools, which should give some idea of how the book skewed.
April 4, 2023
The audiobook was honestly terrible. The narrator did not make it easy to follow the interviews by the cadence/tone of voice. The hard copy was easier to follow, but the interviews themselves seemed a bit repetitive and also not well focused - I wish they had been a bit more in depth but seemed more like a high level summary of the interviews instead.
That said, we read it as a work related thing (it was the shortest book on the list so that’s why it was chosen) and it got very non-diverse colleagues to at least spend some time talking about what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes.
That said, we read it as a work related thing (it was the shortest book on the list so that’s why it was chosen) and it got very non-diverse colleagues to at least spend some time talking about what it’s like to be in someone else’s shoes.
December 15, 2020
Diversity in the workplace by Bäri A. Williams is an interesting book containing interviews about the diversity with race, women, LGBTQ+, ability, age, religion and culture. The content focuses mostly on the tech industry in California. It is a valuable book to people and companies who are trying to increase their understanding of experiences with diversity. It doesn’t just talk about the negative but also the positive sides diversity brings.
December 27, 2024
Though I do think exposure to diverse groups helps foster more inclusion and belonging, Diversity in the Workplace merely scratched the surface of the issues many marginalized groups face. I found myself wanting more examples and deeper dives into the feelings and impacts these experiences have on people. I would recommend to anyone who wants a ten thousand foot view of some of the challenges many face today.
August 15, 2020
Interviews with a diverse group of folks, mainly from tech industry in California. Some educational value. For me, it underscored the role perception has and the hurdle of communication between parties. In this book it was clear that even the well-intentioned person desiring to be inclusive could be perceived as biased, underscoring the 'no-win' situation.
April 19, 2021
While this book professes to be about diversity, the individuals interviewed for some of the dimensions of diversity lacked diversity. The section on age focused on 20- somethings. The section on religion interviewed 2 Christians in the alcohol industry. It was a quick easy read but for individuals looking for a deeper understanding of diverse peoples, the book will leave you dissatisfied.
January 5, 2022
This short little book is a good quick read for anybody who's interested in diversity and would like to find our about how people from various underrepresented groups experience the work place.
I can only give three stars though because the content is just not very diverse itself. It's entirely focused on America, with the majority of interview participants working in California and tech companies. That's not less interesting, but I would have preferred a more diverse choice to give the book more depth. Especially in the last part, which was about religion, I would have liked to see other religions than Christianity to be represented more, since they are probably the most accepted religious group in the US.
I can only give three stars though because the content is just not very diverse itself. It's entirely focused on America, with the majority of interview participants working in California and tech companies. That's not less interesting, but I would have preferred a more diverse choice to give the book more depth. Especially in the last part, which was about religion, I would have liked to see other religions than Christianity to be represented more, since they are probably the most accepted religious group in the US.
January 12, 2022
This book covered a great of topics related to diversity in the workplace. As an African-American female, I can relate to many of these issues. This book could be an excellent resource for anyone navigating a leadership position. Sadly, the very people who could benefit the most from it won’t read it. I highly recommend this book to anyone working with individuals from diverse backgrounds.
April 29, 2022
I listened to the audiobook, which was ok, but I would have appreciated having different voices read the different interviews. I probably would have better enjoyed the physical book. But well worth reading all these stories. I think there is good food for thought here and great steps for moving forward. Excellent!
September 9, 2021
Longer review TC. An interesting book featuring interviews with interesting people. I just wish a problematic bully like Charlotte Clymer wasn't one of them. Makes me wonder about the other interviewees and the author's judgment.
December 9, 2024
I think the book is very good. One thing that I think is a limitation of the book however is the primary focus on the tech industry. The title is about diversity in the workplace and their are many different types of workplaces. I would say about 50% of the stories are from people in tech.
March 11, 2020
I received a complimentary copy.
I enjoyed the q&a sections and learning about the ways people view bias etc. The interviews are shorter but really make an impact on the topics discussed.
I enjoyed the q&a sections and learning about the ways people view bias etc. The interviews are shorter but really make an impact on the topics discussed.
March 24, 2021
Hearing stories first hand from people really does highlight realities better than most studies can.
June 20, 2024
This is the 2024 book from our Munich Re US book club. Easy to read but since these were solely interviews, the contents were very generic and subjective - little real content.
April 25, 2024
Read this for our workplace book club. Lower rating because the majority of the interviews were with those in the tech industry, and the key takeaway sections were not particularly insightful.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews