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The focus on diversity and inclusion in Australian and overseas organisations can be viewed, over time, as a continuum. Organisations are gradually moving from the understanding of diversity as a compliance issue to one of valuing diversity and the richness of experience that it provides. Emerging inclusive workplace practices focus on engaging the entire workforce regardless of characteristics that might be perceived to be incongruent with traditional expectations of what constitutes an ‘ideal worker’. Organisations need to take positive steps to ensure equal employment, promotion opportunities support for diverse groups of employees. Diversity programs are proactive and aim to achieve a diverse and heterogeneous workforce that values employee differences, these contribute to the local as well as global community. Students in this course will engage with the diversity literature in order to fully understand the implications of the regulatory, social and business environment for the area of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

This course sets the scene by exploring concepts of diversity as they relate to inclusion strategies within organisations. Cases and examples exploring inclusion best practice are examined. Students are encouraged to reflect on their personal understandings of inclusion, and explore the changing face of diversity and inclusion within organisations. Students will explore the importance of successful and seamless inclusion as an outcome of diversity management. This is achieved though the development of insight into individual and group aspects of diversity, participants will reflect on their values, context and practice as these relate to the workforce diversity and inclusion literature and practice.

On successful completion of this course students should be able to:

1. critically examine aspects of the changing nature of diversity and inclusion in the organisational context;
2. debate and research contemporary issues in workforce diversity and inclusion;
3. appraise the issues that influence on-going development of diversity management theory and practice within the organisational context;
4. critically evaluate the perspectives on workforce diversity and inclusion.