ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the important considerations of gender, ethnicity, and culture and ethnicity as a demographic and then move on to examine ethnicity and perceptions of leadership within the walls of an organization that is culturally diverse. The study of women in the workplace has long led to queries on gender-based opportunity and equity. Research on ethnicity and culture as factors in the study of leadership focuses on the experiences of leaders of color and of international origin in the United States. The topics of gender and ethnicity relative to leadership raise the issues of what data can effectively explain actual differences between leaders and whether diversity brings special-and desirable-attributes, such as enhanced understanding of diverse markets or greater collaborative and supportive skills, to the table. The movement of women into higher-paying positions is, in part, a reflection of the change in educational attainment, normally attributed to changes in college-level attainment.
