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Gone Fishing: I–O Psychologists' Missed Opportunities to Understand Marginalized Employees' Experiences With Discrimination

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2015

Enrica N. Ruggs
Affiliation:
Rice University
Michelle R. Hebl*
Affiliation:
Rice University
Charlie Law
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State Schuyllkill
Cody B. Cox
Affiliation:
University of Texas at Brownsville
Mark V. Roehling
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Richard L. Wiener
Affiliation:
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
*
E-mail: hebl@rice.edu, Address: Rice University, Department of Psychology, 6100 Main Street MS – 25, Houston, TX 77005

Abstract

This article focuses attention on research examining workplace discrimination against employees from marginalized groups. We particularly consider the experiences of seven different groups of marginalized individuals, some of which have legal protection and some of which do not but all of whom we feel have been overlooked by the field of industrial–organizational (I–O) psychology. We briefly describe the importance of studying each group and then delineate the brief amount of research that has been conducted. Finally, we make recommendations for I–O psychologists in terms of research and advocacy. Overall, we argue that I–O psychologists are missing an opportunity to be at the forefront of understanding and instigating changes that would result in maximizing the fairness and optimization of these often forgotten employees and their experiences in the workplace.

Type
Focal Article
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2013 

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