Understanding and reducing interpersonal discrimination in the workplace

As a whole, overt and prosecutable forms of discrimination still exist (see Dipboye & Colella, 2005); for instance, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received almost 100,000 claims of workplace discrimination for the fiscal year 2012 (U.S. EEOC, 2013). From this, a total of $365 million was awarded to victims, showing the very real financial gravity of discrimination. Yet, these numbers are actually on the decrease for the second consecutive year suggesting that overtly discriminatory behaviors may be on the decrease and that the government is targeting systemic patterns of discrimination in the workplace successfully.