Beyond the box
Diversity, mediation and new models of demographic data profiling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/mtp.29917Keywords:
diversity, mediation, data monitoring, participatory research, identityAbstract
This research study explores the value of a new methodological approach in data collection for understanding the diverse identities of mediators who constitute the College of Mediators – a national mediation professional body, with members drawn from across the UK. It forms part of a broader project to provide a much-needed critique of the standard ‘tick-box’ approach to demographic monitoring used by most organisations. Questions were designed to elicit open responses to a range of diversity strands, including age, gender identity, ethnic identity, national identity, religious or spiritual orientation, and sexual orientation. The responses gave useful insights into the ways in which mediators identify as diverse individuals, and the language they use to describe themselves. A picture emerges from this study of an organisation with a strong demographic profile. Yet within this profile, the differences expressed and the language used provide a rich source of data for investigating ‘diversity’. The responses to this study affirm the need for a new approach to the collection of demographic data. The paper concludes by drawing out themes which emerge around personal identity and the need for nuanced understanding of human experience. We offer reflections on the data which pose important questions for organisations – such as the College of Mediators – to consider about the relationship between diversity and organisational culture, and we argue for more nuanced understandings of and challenges to the concept of neutrality in mediation.
References
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Armstrong, C., Flood, P. C., Guthrie, J. P., Liu, W., MacCurtain, S. and Mkamwa, T. (2010) The impact of diversity and equality management on firm performance: beyond high performance work systems. Human Resources Management 49(6): 977–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20391
Aspinall, P. J. (2010) Short report: Concepts, terminology and classifications for the ‘mixed’ ethnic or racial group in the United Kingdom. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 64(6): 557–60. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.088294
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Aspinall, P. J. and Mitton, L. (2008) ‘Kinds of people’ and equality monitoring in the UK. Policy and Politics 36(1): 55–74. https://doi.org/10.1332/030557308783431661
Backes-Gellner, U. and Veen, S. (2013) Positive effects of ageing and age diversity in innovative companies – large-scale empirical evidence on company productivity. Human Resource Management Journal 33(3): 279–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12011
Bauman, L. J. and Adair, E. G. (1992) The use of ethnographic interviewing to inform questionnaire construction. Health Education Quarterly 19(1): 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819201900102
Bonnett, A. and Carrington, B. (2000) Fitting into categories or falling between them? Rethinking ethnic classification. British Journal of Sociology of Education 21(4): 487–500. https://doi.org/10.1080/713655371
Brewer, M. B. (2001) The many faces of social identity: implications for political psychology. Political Psychology 22(1): 115–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00229
Cameron, J. and Gibson, K. (2005) Participatory action research in a poststructuralist vein. Geoforum 36(3): 315–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.06.006
Cartwright, S. and Cooper, C. L. (2014) Towards organizational health: Stress, positive organizational behaviour, and employee well-being. In G. F. Bauer and O. Hämmig (eds) Bridging Occupational, Organizational and Public Health: A Transdisciplinary Approach 29–42. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
Cobb, S. and Rifkin, J. (1991) Practice and paradox: deconstructing neutrality in mediation. Law and Social Inquiry 16: 35–62.
Cox, T. (1993) Cultural Diversity in Organizations: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Cox, T. and Beale, R. L. (1997) Developing Competency to Manage Diversity. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Dwyer, C. (2000) Negotiating diasporic identities: young British South Asian Muslim women. Women’s Studies International Forum 23(4): 475–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(00)00110-2
Dwyer, C. (2002) ‘Where are you from?’ Young British Muslim women and the making of ‘home’. In A. Blunt and C. McEwan (eds) Postcolonial Geographies 184–99. London: Continuum.
Gatenby, B. and Humphries, M. (2000) Feminist participatory action research: methodological and ethical issues. Women’s Studies International Forum 23(1): 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(99)00095-3
Gómez, L. E. (2012) Looking for race in all the wrong places. Law and Society Review 46(2): 221–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5893.2012.00486.x
Hacking, I. (1995) Rewriting the Soul: Multiple Personality and the Sciences of Memory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Hall, S. (1992) New ethnicities. In J. Donald and A. Rattansi (eds) ‘Race’, Culture and Difference 252–59. London: Sage.
Hall, S. (1996) Introduction: Who needs identity?’ In S. Hall and P. du Gay (eds) Questions of Cultural Identity 1–17. London: Sage.
Hall, S. (2002) Political belonging in a world of multiple identities. In S. Vertovec and R. Cohen (eds) Conceiving Cosmopolitanism: Theory, Context, Practice 25–31. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harrison, D. A. and Klein, K. J. (2007) What’s the difference? Diversity constructs as separation, variety or disparity in organizations. Academy of Management Review 32(4): 1199–228. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2007.26586096
Herring, C. (2009) Does diversity pay? Race, gender, and the business case for diversity. American Sociological Review 74(2): 208–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400203
Hubbard, E. E. (2004) The Diversity Scorecard: Evaluating the Impact of Diversity on Organizational Performance. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Jenkins, R. (2004) Social Identity (2nd edn). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203463352
Kelly, J. R. and Barsade, S. G. (2001) Mood and emotions in small groups and work teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 86(1): 99–130. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.2001.2974
Kirton, G. and Greene, A.-M. (2016) The Dynamics of Managing Diversity. A Critical Approach (4th edn). London: Routledge.
Kochan, T., Bezrukova, K., Ely, R., Jackson, S., Joshi, A., Jehn, K., Leonard, J., Levine, D. and Thomas, D. (2003) The effects of diversity on business performance: report of the diversity research network. Human Resource Management 42(1): 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.10061
Lee, N. and Nathan, M. (2010) Knowledge workers, cultural diversity and innovation: evidence from London. International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development 1(1–2): 53–78. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJKBD.2010.032586
Maxwell, G., Blair, S. and McDougall, M. (2001) Edging towards managing diversity in practice. Employee Relations 23(5): 468–82. https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450110405161
Minow, M. (1997) Not Only for Myself: Identity, Politics and the Law. New York: New Press.
Monk, G. and Winslade, J. (2000) Narrative Mediation: A New Approach to Conflict Resolution. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Monk, G. and Winslade, J. (2013) When Stories Clash: Addressing Conflict with Narrative Mediation. Chagrin Falls, OH: Taos Institute.
Moscati, M. (2015a) Mediation and same-sex couples: an overview. In M. F. Moscati (ed.) Same-Sex Couples and Mediation in the EU. Brussels: European Union.
Moscati, M. (2015b) The case of England. In M. F. Moscati (ed.) Same-Sex Couples and Mediation in the EU . Brussels: European Union.
National Union of Students (2013) Monitoring student sexual orientation and gender identity in further and higher education. Retrieved on 9 December 2016 from www.york.ac.uk/admin/eo/SexualOrientation/monitoringSOandGIinFEandHE.pdf.
Ng, E. and Tung, R. (1998) Ethno-cultural diversity and organizational effectiveness: a field study. International Journal of Human Resource Management 9(6): 980–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/095851998340702
Nica, C. and Molnar, E. I. (2014) Emotional behaviour in organizations. Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 2(3): 123.
Nikolaou, I. and Tsaousis, I. (2002) Emotional intelligence in the workplace: Exploring its effects on occupational stress and organizational commitment. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis 10(4): 327–42. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb028956
Office for National Statistics (2016) Methodology. Retrieved on 4 January 2016 from www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/index.html.
Parr, H. (2007) Mental health, nature work and social inclusion. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 25(3): 537–61. https://doi.org/10.1068/d67j
Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (2002) Introduction: Inquiry and participation in search of a world worthy of human aspiration. In P. Reason and H. Bradbury (eds) Handbook of Action Research 1–14. London: Sage.
Richard, O. C. (2000) Racial diversity, business strategy and firm performance: a resource based view. The Academy of Management Journal 43: 164–77. https://doi.org/10.2307/1556374
Rothman, J. (2014) The reflexive mediator. Negotiation Journal 30(4): 441–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/nejo.12070
Smedley, B. D., Butler, A. S. and Bristow, L. R. (eds) (2004) In the Nation’s Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health-Care Workforce. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Stonewall (2012) Using Monitoring Data: Making the Most of Sexual Orientation Data Collection. London: Stonewall.
Sultana, F. (2007) Reflexivity, positionality and participatory ethics: negotiating fieldwork dilemmas in international research. ACME: An International E-Journal of Critical Geographies 6(3): 374–85.
Todd, J. (2005) Social transformation: collective categories and identity change. Theory and Society 34(4): 429–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-005-7963-z
Valentine, G. (2007) Theorizing and researching intersectionality: a challenge for feminist geography. The Professional Geographer 59(1): 10–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9272.2007.00587.x
Wilson, E. and Iles, P. (1999) Managing diversity – an employment and service delivery challenge. International Journal of Public Sector Management 12(1): 27–49. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513559910262661
Winslade, J., Monk, G. and Cotter, A. (1998) A narrative approach to the practice of mediation. Negotiation Journal 14(1): 21–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1571-9979.1998.tb00146.x
Wright, P. and Ferris, S., Hiller, J. and Kroll, M. (1995) Competitiveness through management of diversity: effects on stock price valuation. Academy of Management Journal 38: 272–87. https://doi.org/10.2307/256736
Yancey, G. and Kim, Y. J. (2008) Racial diversity, gender equality, and SES diversity in Christian congregations: exploring the connections of racism, sexism and classism in multiracial and nonmultiracial churches. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 47(1): 103–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2008.00394.x
Appiah, K. (2005) The Ethics of Identity. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Armstrong, C., Flood, P. C., Guthrie, J. P., Liu, W., MacCurtain, S. and Mkamwa, T. (2010) The impact of diversity and equality management on firm performance: beyond high performance work systems. Human Resources Management 49(6): 977–98. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.20391
Aspinall, P. J. (2010) Short report: Concepts, terminology and classifications for the ‘mixed’ ethnic or racial group in the United Kingdom. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 64(6): 557–60. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2009.088294
Aspinall, P. J. and Anionwu, E. (2002) The role of ethnic monitoring in mainstreaming race equality and the modernization of the NHS: a neglected agenda? Critical Public Health 12(1): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581590110113277
Aspinall, P. J. and Mitton, L. (2008) ‘Kinds of people’ and equality monitoring in the UK. Policy and Politics 36(1): 55–74. https://doi.org/10.1332/030557308783431661
Backes-Gellner, U. and Veen, S. (2013) Positive effects of ageing and age diversity in innovative companies – large-scale empirical evidence on company productivity. Human Resource Management Journal 33(3): 279–95. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12011
Bauman, L. J. and Adair, E. G. (1992) The use of ethnographic interviewing to inform questionnaire construction. Health Education Quarterly 19(1): 9–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/109019819201900102
Bonnett, A. and Carrington, B. (2000) Fitting into categories or falling between them? Rethinking ethnic classification. British Journal of Sociology of Education 21(4): 487–500. https://doi.org/10.1080/713655371
Brewer, M. B. (2001) The many faces of social identity: implications for political psychology. Political Psychology 22(1): 115–25. https://doi.org/10.1111/0162-895X.00229
Cameron, J. and Gibson, K. (2005) Participatory action research in a poststructuralist vein. Geoforum 36(3): 315–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.06.006
Cartwright, S. and Cooper, C. L. (2014) Towards organizational health: Stress, positive organizational behaviour, and employee well-being. In G. F. Bauer and O. Hämmig (eds) Bridging Occupational, Organizational and Public Health: A Transdisciplinary Approach 29–42. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.
Cobb, S. and Rifkin, J. (1991) Practice and paradox: deconstructing neutrality in mediation. Law and Social Inquiry 16: 35–62.
Cox, T. (1993) Cultural Diversity in Organizations: Theory, research, and practice. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Cox, T. and Beale, R. L. (1997) Developing Competency to Manage Diversity. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
Dwyer, C. (2000) Negotiating diasporic identities: young British South Asian Muslim women. Women’s Studies International Forum 23(4): 475–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(00)00110-2
Dwyer, C. (2002) ‘Where are you from?’ Young British Muslim women and the making of ‘home’. In A. Blunt and C. McEwan (eds) Postcolonial Geographies 184–99. London: Continuum.
Gatenby, B. and Humphries, M. (2000) Feminist participatory action research: methodological and ethical issues. Women’s Studies International Forum 23(1): 89–105. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(99)00095-3
Gómez, L. E. (2012) Looking for race in all the wrong places. Law and Society Review 46(2): 221–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5893.2012.00486.x
Hacking, I. (1995) Rewriting the Soul: Multiple Personality and the Sciences of Memory. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Hall, S. (1992) New ethnicities. In J. Donald and A. Rattansi (eds) ‘Race’, Culture and Difference 252–59. London: Sage.
Hall, S. (1996) Introduction: Who needs identity?’ In S. Hall and P. du Gay (eds) Questions of Cultural Identity 1–17. London: Sage.
Hall, S. (2002) Political belonging in a world of multiple identities. In S. Vertovec and R. Cohen (eds) Conceiving Cosmopolitanism: Theory, Context, Practice 25–31. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harrison, D. A. and Klein, K. J. (2007) What’s the difference? Diversity constructs as separation, variety or disparity in organizations. Academy of Management Review 32(4): 1199–228. https://doi.org/10.5465/AMR.2007.26586096
Herring, C. (2009) Does diversity pay? Race, gender, and the business case for diversity. American Sociological Review 74(2): 208–24. https://doi.org/10.1177/000312240907400203
Hubbard, E. E. (2004) The Diversity Scorecard: Evaluating the Impact of Diversity on Organizational Performance. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.
Jenkins, R. (2004) Social Identity (2nd edn). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203463352
Kelly, J. R. and Barsade, S. G. (2001) Mood and emotions in small groups and work teams. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 86(1): 99–130. https://doi.org/10.1006/obhd.2001.2974
Kirton, G. and Greene, A.-M. (2016) The Dynamics of Managing Diversity. A Critical Approach (4th edn). London: Routledge.
Kochan, T., Bezrukova, K., Ely, R., Jackson, S., Joshi, A., Jehn, K., Leonard, J., Levine, D. and Thomas, D. (2003) The effects of diversity on business performance: report of the diversity research network. Human Resource Management 42(1): 3–21. https://doi.org/10.1002/hrm.10061
Lee, N. and Nathan, M. (2010) Knowledge workers, cultural diversity and innovation: evidence from London. International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development 1(1–2): 53–78. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJKBD.2010.032586
Maxwell, G., Blair, S. and McDougall, M. (2001) Edging towards managing diversity in practice. Employee Relations 23(5): 468–82. https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450110405161
Minow, M. (1997) Not Only for Myself: Identity, Politics and the Law. New York: New Press.
Monk, G. and Winslade, J. (2000) Narrative Mediation: A New Approach to Conflict Resolution. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Monk, G. and Winslade, J. (2013) When Stories Clash: Addressing Conflict with Narrative Mediation. Chagrin Falls, OH: Taos Institute.
Moscati, M. (2015a) Mediation and same-sex couples: an overview. In M. F. Moscati (ed.) Same-Sex Couples and Mediation in the EU. Brussels: European Union.
Moscati, M. (2015b) The case of England. In M. F. Moscati (ed.) Same-Sex Couples and Mediation in the EU . Brussels: European Union.
National Union of Students (2013) Monitoring student sexual orientation and gender identity in further and higher education. Retrieved on 9 December 2016 from www.york.ac.uk/admin/eo/SexualOrientation/monitoringSOandGIinFEandHE.pdf.
Ng, E. and Tung, R. (1998) Ethno-cultural diversity and organizational effectiveness: a field study. International Journal of Human Resource Management 9(6): 980–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/095851998340702
Nica, C. and Molnar, E. I. (2014) Emotional behaviour in organizations. Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management 2(3): 123.
Nikolaou, I. and Tsaousis, I. (2002) Emotional intelligence in the workplace: Exploring its effects on occupational stress and organizational commitment. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis 10(4): 327–42. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb028956
Office for National Statistics (2016) Methodology. Retrieved on 4 January 2016 from www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/index.html.
Parr, H. (2007) Mental health, nature work and social inclusion. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 25(3): 537–61. https://doi.org/10.1068/d67j
Reason, P. and Bradbury, H. (2002) Introduction: Inquiry and participation in search of a world worthy of human aspiration. In P. Reason and H. Bradbury (eds) Handbook of Action Research 1–14. London: Sage.
Richard, O. C. (2000) Racial diversity, business strategy and firm performance: a resource based view. The Academy of Management Journal 43: 164–77. https://doi.org/10.2307/1556374
Rothman, J. (2014) The reflexive mediator. Negotiation Journal 30(4): 441–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/nejo.12070
Smedley, B. D., Butler, A. S. and Bristow, L. R. (eds) (2004) In the Nation’s Compelling Interest: Ensuring Diversity in the Health-Care Workforce. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
Stonewall (2012) Using Monitoring Data: Making the Most of Sexual Orientation Data Collection. London: Stonewall.
Sultana, F. (2007) Reflexivity, positionality and participatory ethics: negotiating fieldwork dilemmas in international research. ACME: An International E-Journal of Critical Geographies 6(3): 374–85.
Todd, J. (2005) Social transformation: collective categories and identity change. Theory and Society 34(4): 429–63. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-005-7963-z
Valentine, G. (2007) Theorizing and researching intersectionality: a challenge for feminist geography. The Professional Geographer 59(1): 10–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9272.2007.00587.x
Wilson, E. and Iles, P. (1999) Managing diversity – an employment and service delivery challenge. International Journal of Public Sector Management 12(1): 27–49. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513559910262661
Winslade, J., Monk, G. and Cotter, A. (1998) A narrative approach to the practice of mediation. Negotiation Journal 14(1): 21–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1571-9979.1998.tb00146.x
Wright, P. and Ferris, S., Hiller, J. and Kroll, M. (1995) Competitiveness through management of diversity: effects on stock price valuation. Academy of Management Journal 38: 272–87. https://doi.org/10.2307/256736
Yancey, G. and Kim, Y. J. (2008) Racial diversity, gender equality, and SES diversity in Christian congregations: exploring the connections of racism, sexism and classism in multiracial and nonmultiracial churches. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 47(1): 103–11. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-5906.2008.00394.x
Published
2017-01-16
Issue
Section
Research Articles
How to Cite
Shimada, L. D., & Stephens, C. W. (2017). Beyond the box: Diversity, mediation and new models of demographic data profiling. Mediation Theory and Practice, 1(2), 133-154. https://doi.org/10.1558/mtp.29917
