Managing a Diverse Workforce 91
the monkey was simply hung up to dry after being found at a fi re scene
(Gay, 2008).
- There are only 110 Hispanic city managers in the United States.
Fifty of them are located in Texas. Out of 581 managers in Texas, only 6.8
percent are Hispanic and 91 percent of them are male (Benavides, 2006).
More than 35 percent of Texas ’ s population is Hispanic (U.S. Census Bu-
reau, 2006b).
◆◆◆
For organizations to be successful and minimize conflicts among
employees in today ’ s multicultural workplaces, they must comply with the
laws governing equal employment opportunity and understand the role that
individual differences can play in an organization.
Glass Ceilings
The term glass ceiling refers to the artificial barriers that block the
advancement of women and minorities to upper - level managerial
and executive positions within organizations. Such obstacles must be
eliminated.
Studies have shown that African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics,
and women are underrepresented in upper - level supervisory, manage-
ment, and senior executive positions of federal employment (Cornwell &
Kellough, 1994; U.S. General Accounting Offi ce, 2003; Guy, 1993; Hsieh &
Winslow, 2006; Kim, 1993; Kim & Lewis, 1994; Lewis, 1988, 1994; Naff
& Kellough, 2002, 2004; Page, 1994, Riccucci, 2002; Sisneros, 1992;
Swift, 1992 – 1993; U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, 1992). A recent
study found that the diversity of the Senior Executive Service (SES) is
not going to change much over the next few years unless agencies step
up their efforts to recruit and promote minorities in the service. There
will be a change in the number of white women, who will essentially
replace white men leaving the government (U.S. General Accounting
Office, 2003). In 2007, legislation was introduced by Representative
Danny K. Davis (D - Illinois) and Senator Daniel K. Akaka (D - Hawaii)
to promote greater diversity in the SES. Of the 6,349 career SES mem-
bers, the General Accounting Offi ce counted 325 African American men,
221 African American women, 164 Hispanic men, 65 Hispanic women,
