APPLIES TO ACADEMIC YEAR 2013/2014

GRA 2246 Managing Workplace Diversity

Responsible for the course
Laura E Mercer Traavik

Department
Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Term
According to study plan

ECTS Credits
6

Language of instruction
English

Introduction
Managing diversity is a central challenge in organizations today. In this course we examine the role of culture, ethnicity, race, gender, age, people with disabilities, and sexual orientation in national and international organizations. This course will provide the students with a theoretical, analytical and experienced based foundation for understanding the challenges involved in managing a diverse workforce.

Learning outcome

By the end of the course the student should be able to:

• define the construct of diversity
• critically describe and asess theories and research studies related to diversity and organizational behavior
• explain and evaluate intergroup bias and social identity theory in relation to managing diversity
• evaluate a company's diversity policy or initiatives

Please note that it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.

Examination
The course grade will be based on the following activities and weights:
Participation and in-class activities 10%
Mid-term written assigment to be handed in 40%
Term paper 50% (groups of 2-3 students)
All parts of the evaluation need to be passed in order to receive a grade in the course.

In this course class attendance is mandatory. Absences can result in a lower score. Specific information regarding student evaluation will be provided in class. This information may be relevant for requirements for term papers or other hand-ins, and/or where class participation can be one of several elements of the overall evaluation.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam elements) and one final exam code. Each exam element will be graded using points on a scale (e.g. 0-100). The elements will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades on the course site in It’s learning.

Examination code(s)
GRA 22461 continuous assessment accounts for 100 % of the final grade in the course GRA 2246.

Examination support materials
Exam aids at written examiniations are explained under exam information in the student portal @bi. Please note use of calculator and dictionary in the section on examaids

Re-sit examination
It is only possible to retake an examination when the course is next taught.
The assessment in some courses is based on more than one exam code.
Where this is the case, you may retake only the assessed components of one of these exam codes.
Where this is not the case, all of the assessed components of the course must be retaken.
All retaken examinations will incur an additional fee.

Additional information
Honor Code
Academic honesty and trust are important to all of us as individuals, and represent values that are encouraged and promoted by the honor code system. This is a most significant university tradition. Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with the ideals of the honor code system, to which the faculty are also deeply committed.

Any violation of the honor code will be dealt with in accordance with BI’s procedures for cheating. These issues are a serious matter to everyone associated with the programs at BI and are at the heart of the honor code and academic integrity. If you have any questions about your responsibilities under the honor code, please ask.