Workplace diversity entails a scenario where the workforce of a particular organization is composed of people from various backgrounds, different human qualities, and various cultural groups. In the American military for instance, diversity can be used to mean differences in age, gender, race, or even physical ability. In an organization like this, the climate that is created in relation to diversity varies in the composition that makes it a functional unit for the government.
Dimensions that make up the diversity in the military can be categorized as primary or secondary. This mode of categorization creates a certain climate within the military set up thereby making various individuals experience differently within their working environment. Primary dimensions are the inborn characteristics of an individual like age, gender, and race among others, and they have an impact on someone’s life as they execute their military duties.
Secondary dimensions are the acquired characteristics and have varied effects on an individual and how they are treated within the working environment. Within the military setup, various individuals have shown various experiences as a result of the diversity that exists. A veteran from the Iraq or Vietnam War for instance may be treated differently by their fellows because of the effects that the war has had in their lives. A woman for instance who may have survived in the war may be treated with high respect same as their male counterparts because their experience was not easy on at all.
Military employees living in public housing projects will obviously be perceived differently from those who live in other affluent parts of the town or state. It is therefore apparently clear that the diversity
climate within the military is influenced by organizational policies that provide equal opportunities for employment, accessing resources within the organization. Additionally, it has been observed that perceptions of diverse military climate are affected by things like the level of
an individual in the organizational hierarchy, gender and ethnic background.
One experience of a military employee shows that women and minorities are more supportive than the whites and their male counterparts.
Individuals’ experience in the military climate shows that diversity is a tool that is used to define their identification factors like identity, prejudice, and stereotyping. The experience extends to affect factors within the organizational level like acculturation, structural integration,
and institutional bias. The result of this climate has created varied outcomes among the individuals affected.
In some cases, it has resulted in job satisfaction, high compensation for those who went to Iraq war, and greater mobility rates. However, those who might have suffered from ethnocentric treatment, prejudice, or discrimination have been seen to show poor work performance and an element of demoralization. It is apparently clear that diversity climate is directly related to work performance within the military. A formal element of a diverse climate in the military requires that all people should
be given fair and equal employment opportunities during the recruitment process.
This is aimed at minimizing the possibility of one group feeling high or greater than the other. Additionally, it is expected that all employees are given equal promotion opportunities in relation to how well they perform their duties. This is aimed at minimizing promotions based on race, gender, but on equity. If the American military set up is analyzed, we are able to identify that they follow their policy of providing equal opportunities to all. We are able to observe this in the way they provide opportunities even to homosexuals.