Deck 10: Gender, Ethnicity, and Culture

Question 1

Leaders can best identify issues with which they must deal by categorizing demographic groups according to perceived negative characteristics of the group.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Given the commonalities of humans regardless of gender, ethnicity, or culture, we have more in common than we have as differences.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Individuals are best described by the general characteristics of their cultural group.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Gender is treated the same in academic research around the world.

Question 5

From a research perspective, differences between men and women are significantly greater than the differences among women themselves (i.e., women compared to other women) or among men themselves.

Question 6

"Gender-based occupational segregation" is the term to describe the clustering of women workers in certain positions and certain occupations more than in others.

Question 7

The term "glass ceiling" means that women self-impose their own limitations in professional advancement.

Question 8

The term "labyrinth" offers an alternative approach to the glass ceiling, suggesting that there is no specific barrier to professional advancement, but rather a set of variables that are complex but that have a route to the center (implying attainable goals).

Question 9

Leaders should understand that inequality has ended in the U.S. workforce because unemployment rates do not differ by racial groups.

Question 10

Unemployment rates are impacted significantly by level of education.

Question 11

The textbook reported a study in which it was found that when a significant percentage of an organization's top management comes from underrepresented ethnic groups, there is a measurable improvement in financial performance.

Question 12

In order to establish an organizational culture that is effective, leaders should require a monoculture among diverse employees.

Question 13

If cultural differences between leader and follower seem to cause a psychological departure from shared goals, the leader should emphasize common ground.

Question 14

According to our text, leaders in the United States should be respectful of cultures other than their own because it is the right thing to do, whether or not it is a legal requirement.

Question 15

Subcultures usually reinforce values of the larger organizational culture in which they live, but have additional values that are unique to the subgroup.

Question 16

Which statement is the most accurate regarding leadership and diversity?

A) Leaders must manage diversity with blindfolds on, without recognition of ethnic or cultural differences
B) Leaders play a key role in ensuring that diversity is a strength rather than a weakness
C) Leaders may occasionally engage people of different backgrounds
D) Maintaining a diverse workforce is an option, not a necessity

Question 17

If the point-of-purchase marketplace were the standard of measure for business leadership, who would dominate?

A) men
B) teenagers
C) women
D) seniors

Question 18

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the following is one of the five most prevalent occupations for women working full-time:

A) dieticians/nutritionists
B) public administration officials
C) news anchors
D) attorneys

Question 19

"Glass ceiling," a term coined in a 1986 Wall Street Journal article, refers to:

A) unequal treatment of women workers by their employers
B) a special policy to recruit women only
C) invisible barriers that prevent qualified women from advancing into executive positions
D) an advance promotion technique based on gender

Question 20

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, signed into law by President Obama, amends the following act:

A) Women's Pay Act of 1945
B) Civil Rights Act of 1964
C) Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
D) Hatch Act of 1939

Question 21

The movement of women into higher-paying positions is largely a reflection of the change in:

A) educational attainment
B) demographics
C) culture
D) job structure

Question 22

According to a study in the Catalyst series of research conducted by the Families and Work Institute, men and women:

A) have the same intensity of work values
B) now devote equal time to family and to work
C) have the same performance perceptions
D) have almost identical work values

Question 23

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, which group has the largest percentage of individuals at the doctorate level in the United States?

A) African-Americans
B) Nonresident aliens
C) Hispanics
D) Native Americans

Question 24

Over the last twenty-five years, the ethnic group that moved into self-employment at the greatest rate is:

A) African-Americans
B) non-Hispanic whites
C) Hispanics
D) Asians

Question 25

Cultural competence, according to BMO Financial Group, highlighted in the textbook, is about:

A) fostering effective and productive working relationships in cross-cultural situations based on their good understanding of diversity
B) interacting in a collegial manner with people of different cultures
C) commitment to serving diverse clients, hiring diverse staff, and establishing programs that address the needs of a diverse client population
D) seeking laws that call for equal treatment across cultures in the United States

Question 26

Looking at aggregate data on organizational results related to racial diversity in general, the text reports that a National Organizations Survey, sampling business organizations, found that racial diversity in employees and leaders is correlated with:

A) higher turnover
B) decreased sales revenue
C) excellence in the restaurant industry
D) greater market share

Question 27

A study (by Joshi et al. in 2006) of teams in a single sales organization concluded that:

A) team performance could be predicted by the proportion of people of color or team ethnic composition
B) lower proportions of minority managers in sales units led to annual salary increases by employees of color
C) gender and ethnicity-based inequalities were smaller in units with proportionately more women and people of color as managers
D) ethnicity-based inequalities of pay were lower when there were fewer managers of color

Question 28

Subcultures which develop values that contradict the core values of the larger organizational culture are called:

A) opposing cultures
B) contracultures
C) negative cultures
D) countercultures

Question 29

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 was passed in reaction to:

A) the problem of illegal immigration
B) major corporate and accounting scandals
C) the need to accommodate ethnic diversity in the workplace
D) disproportionate numbers of women in executive positions

Question 30

The percentage of companies in North America with at least one director from an ethnic minority:

A) has been high as long as corporations have existed because boards need some diversity
B) shows that not many have cultural competency
C) has increased since 2002 because of that requirement in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act
D) has been increasing steadily for almost forty years

Question 31

What fundamentals should leaders apply from this chapter? How would you use the information in this chapter as a leader?

Question 32

Enumerate at least three factors that are most important in achieving a culturally diverse organization. What is their priority order, and why?

Question 33

How did BMO Financial Group attempt to achieve the end of cultural competence? What was the company trying to achieve?

Question 34

Discuss the glass ceiling and provide evidence either that it still exists or that it no longer exists.

Question 35

What best explains an organization's commitment to promotion of candidates of color, regardless of the diversity of the top management team?