ABSTRACT
In this concluding chapter we return to a question posed to the authors of this book: Is discrimination still a significant problem in the workplace or is it largely resolved and on the way to a solution? Based on the chapters in this book, we must conclude that workplace discrimination remains a major problem but has evolved into different forms than those dominant in the past. When the sociologist Gunnar Myrdal (1944) wrote about an “American Dilemma” he referred to the obvious inconsistencies between democratic values and the overt oppression of African Americans in the workplace and in many other social settings. In the half century that has passed since these observations, impressive progress has been made by African Americans and other minority and historically disadvantaged groups. There are now laws providing for equal opportunity. Diversity is now endorsed by most major corporations. Overt discrimination is now viewed as socially unacceptable in most circles. However, despite these signs of progress, the “dilemma” of workplace discrimination continues in forms that still harm even though they appear more complex and subtle
than the old-fashioned discrimination of past years. This complexity and subtlety constitute the new dilemmas of workplace discrimination.
