The Diversity Perception and the Attitudes of Employees: A Study on Human Resource Professionals and Hotel Workers

Owing to globalization, the issue of diversity in social settings, particularly in the workplace presents several challenges and threats. In this context, the aim of the present study is to identify perceptions of diversity and the diversity climate within business organizations. Within this scope, factors defining diversity that are important in group and social settings are considered and the answer to the question “what do the individuals understand from diversity?” is sought. How do people view the advantages and disadvantages of homogeneous and heterogeneous (diverse) groups? What is the general perception of diversity? These questions were tested in a domestic setting, because the majority of research into diversity issues is applied to intercultural and international settings. The originality of this research is that it examines the general perception of diversity within one culture in which various sub-cultures exist. The results show significant differences among investigated groups. For instance, higher education level, managerial role, and experience abroad lead to a higher positive perception of diversity. Amongst others, culture and language are two prominent diversity factors.