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Voice, Agency, and Engagement: Narratives of Negative Work Experiences from Employees from Traditionally Muted Groups
Unformatted Document Text:  1 VOICE, AGENCY, AND ENGAGEMENT: NARRATIVES OF NEGATIVE WORK EXPERIENCES FROM EMPLOYEES FROM TRADITIONALLY MUTED GROUPS With diversity of employee backgrounds increasing in the workforce in the United States (Judy & D’Amico, 1997), there is a resulting need for people from different backgrounds to be able to work together constructively. While there are many beneficial outcomes as a result of increased diversity (e.g., more diverse ideas and perspectives), increased contact may also result in an increase in conflict (Cox, 1993; Oetzel, Burtis, Chew, & Perez, 2001). The current project explores the negative experiences of employees from traditionally muted groups working in multicultural workplaces in order to better understand what factors they perceive as making their experiences negative and preventing them from achieving and maintaining a sense of constructive engagement with the organization, the people, and the work. Previous studies of intercultural work communities and diversity in the workplace have examined specific dimensions of communication behavior (e.g., Larkey, 1996), diversity strategies (e.g., Cox, 1993) and organizational policies and attitudes relating to diversity (Ely & Thomas, 2001), but have not adequately addressed how people perceive their experiences in diverse workplace communities. Employees enter organizations with different personal experiences, but may also have different expectations of power based on their cultural background. Some groups have traditionally had more access to power and resources, while members of other groups have less. While an individual’s experiences may be unrelated to their group’s history of power, group membership may influence how employees are treated by managers and peers. Employees with less access to power because of their cultural background may be given fewer opportunities to be heard in the workplace (Kramare, 1981). Specifically, the purpose of this study is to explore perceptions of negative job experiences by members of traditionally-muted groups and address the importance of employees’ perceptions of whether or not their ideas and feelings are recognized by others in the workplace. This work is grounded in the recognition that researchers need to look at the lived experiences of people from diverse backgrounds in organizations in order to understand how they themselves describe the quality of their experience. Literature Review The current study is grounded in the assumption that cultural group membership may influence interpersonal interactions in the workplace and that members of different groups have different levels of

Authors: Meares, Mary.
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VOICE, AGENCY, AND ENGAGEMENT:
NARRATIVES OF NEGATIVE WORK EXPERIENCES FROM EMPLOYEES
FROM TRADITIONALLY MUTED GROUPS
With diversity of employee backgrounds increasing in the workforce in the United States (Judy &
D’Amico, 1997), there is a resulting need for people from different backgrounds to be able to work together
constructively. While there are many beneficial outcomes as a result of increased diversity (e.g., more diverse ideas
and perspectives), increased contact may also result in an increase in conflict (Cox, 1993; Oetzel, Burtis, Chew, &
Perez, 2001). The current project explores the negative experiences of employees from traditionally muted groups
working in multicultural workplaces in order to better understand what factors they perceive as making their
experiences negative and preventing them from achieving and maintaining a sense of constructive engagement with
the organization, the people, and the work.
Previous studies of intercultural work communities and diversity in the workplace have examined specific
dimensions of communication behavior (e.g., Larkey, 1996), diversity strategies (e.g., Cox, 1993) and organizational
policies and attitudes relating to diversity (Ely & Thomas, 2001), but have not adequately addressed how people
perceive their experiences in diverse workplace communities. Employees enter organizations with different personal
experiences, but may also have different expectations of power based on their cultural background. Some groups
have traditionally had more access to power and resources, while members of other groups have less. While an
individual’s experiences may be unrelated to their group’s history of power, group membership may influence how
employees are treated by managers and peers. Employees with less access to power because of their cultural
background may be given fewer opportunities to be heard in the workplace (Kramare, 1981). Specifically, the
purpose of this study is to explore perceptions of negative job experiences by members of traditionally-muted
groups and address the importance of employees’ perceptions of whether or not their ideas and feelings are
recognized by others in the workplace. This work is grounded in the recognition that researchers need to look at the
lived experiences of people from diverse backgrounds in organizations in order to understand how they themselves
describe the quality of their experience.
Literature Review
The current study is grounded in the assumption that cultural group membership may influence
interpersonal interactions in the workplace and that members of different groups have different levels of


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