"Initially prepared for the Glass Ceiling Commission, US Department of Labor"--Page iii

Throughout the history of the United States, fluctuations in cultural diversity, immigration, and ethnic group status have been closely linked to shifts in the economy and labor market. Over three decades after the beginning of the civil rights movement, and in the midst of significant socioeconomic change at the end of this century, scholars search for new ways to describe the persistent roadblocks to upward mobility that women and people of color still encounter in the workforce. In Glass Ceilings and Asian Americans, Deborah Woo analyzes current scholarship and controversies on the glass ceiling and labor market discrimination in conjunction with the specific labor histories of Asian American ethnic groups. She then presents unique, in-depth studies of two current sites-a high tech firm and higher education-to argue that a glass ceiling does in fact exist for Asian Americans, both according to quantifiable data and to Asian American workers' own perceptions of their workplace experiences. Woo's studies make an important contribution to understanding the increasingly complex and subtle interactions between ethnicity and organizational cultures in today's economic institutions and labor markets.

This encyclopedia offers a comprehensive look at the roles race and ethnicity play in society and in our daily lives. Over 100 racial and ethnic groups are described, with additional thematic essays offering insight into broad topics that cut across group boundaries and which impact on society.

Redefining the way we view business success, Pamela Laird demolishes the popular American self-made story as she exposes the social dynamics that navigate some people toward opportunity and steer others away. Who gets invited into the networks of business opportunity? What does an unacceptable candidate lack? The answer is social capital--all those social assets that attract respect, generate confidence, evoke affection, and invite loyalty. In retelling success stories from Benjamin Franklin to Andrew Carnegie to Bill Gates, Laird goes beyond personality, upbringing, and social skills to reveal the critical common key--access to circles that control and distribute opportunity and information. She explains how civil rights activism and feminism in the 1960s and 1970s helped demonstrate that personnel practices violated principles of equal opportunity. She evaluates what social privilege actually contributes to business success, and analyzes the balance between individual characteristics--effort, innovation, talent--and social factors such as race, gender, class, and connections. In contrasting how Americans have prospered--or not--with how we have talked about prospering, Laird offers rich insights into how business really operates and where its workings fit within American culture. From new perspectives on entrepreneurial achievement to the role of affirmative action and the operation of modern corporate personnel systems, Pull shows that business is a profoundly social process, and that no one can succeed alone.

Books on disability issues in the Malaysian setting are few and far between. Written from a management perspective, this book is a treasure chest of disability literature and research findings. It presents an enlightening and useful account of the organizational experiences and work outcomes of disabled people in Malaysia. For students, academics, researchers, disabled people, employers, and provider organizations who want a closer peek into the organizational lives of disabled people in the Malaysian workplace such as their relationships with superiors, and how they can get ahead in their career, this is a must-read book. Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penerbit Universiti Sains Malaysia

The Americans with Disabilities Act was heralded by its congressional sponsors as an emancipation proclamation for people with disabilities and as the most important civil rights legislation passed in a generation. This book offers an assessment of what has actually occurred since the ADA's enactment in 1990. In empirically based articles, contributors from the fields of law, health policy, government, and business reveal the unsoundness of charges from the right that the ADA will bankrupt industry, and assumptions on the left that the ADA will prove ineffective in helping people with disabilities enter and remain in the workforce.

Race, Culture and Disability: Rehabilitation Science and Practice is a guide to understanding the research and practical implications related to race, culture and disability in rehabilitation science. Edited and contributed by leading experts, this multidisciplinary work examines the intersection of the constructs of race, culture and disability in order to identify strategies for improving the effectiveness of rehabilitation practice with ethnic minority consumers. This text is an extremely timely and relevant contribution for students, researchers, and practitioners in the rehabilitation fields. Key topics covered include disability identity, psychological testing, evidence-based practice, community infrastructure, employment issues and much more.

This book introduces the difference model of disability. Framed within an affect-based understanding of the relationships between those living with impairments and others, this new model offers a reconsideration of the construct of disability itself. Disability is flexible, relational, and perceived through an acognitive lens. At a practice level, the difference model offers a framework for creating more positive and successful relationships between people with disabilities (PWDs) and others within the workplace. This includes two new tools, the Co-Worker Acceptance of Disabled Employees (CADE) Scale and the Perceived Barriers to Employing Persons with Disabilities (PBED) Scale. Designed to measure workplace attitudes, and changes to these attitudes, each of these scales provides empirical evidence in support of strategic planning and, ultimately, an increased representation of PWDs. Finally, this book considers the effects of language and technology on workplace attitudes toward disability.

This volume brings together top scholars in industrial and organizational psychology with social psychologists to explore the research and theory relating to various areas of workplace discrimination. Many of the contributors to this book participated in a conference on workplace discrimination held at Rice University in May 2000. The idea came from the realization that there had been no attempt to bring together the various literatures on the topic. Discrimination and issues of employment diversity are significant topics today in IO psychology, business, and human resource management. This edited volume examines the following components of this important discussion: how to explain discrimination in organizations; understanding discrimination against specific groups; and implications for practical efforts to reduce discrimination. This book brings together, in one volume, a review of the research on discrimination based on race, age, sexual orientation, gender, physical appearance, disability, and personality. In addition, it explores the multilevel antecedents and potential bases for a general model of discrimination in the workplace. While social psychological research and theory have provided invaluable insights, an understanding of discrimination in the workplace and solutions will require incorporating factors at the organizational level in addition to factors at the individual and group levels. Although a definitive model is not reached, the aim of this text is to facilitate future research and theory.