One national trend discussed in chapter 4 is that of gender diversity and women in the workplace. Something that is talked about is women's pay rates compared to men's. This trend is actually decreasing and the gap between men and women's rates are narrowing. On a personal level, I have a cousin who works in the sports medicine field. Though her pay rate was not different from the male workers, the treatment she received from male employees was very discriminatory. Childish comments were made along with making sexual comments about how she looks and dresses as a woman. This situation could have been handled better if the manager or boss put a stop to it and created an atmosphere where women in that workplace felt comfortable.
Another trend discussed in chapter 4 is that of age diversity. As people are starting to live longer and as life expectancies are improving, many older people are working into their later years such as in their sixties and seventies. With that, those older people receive benefits and rewards for working so long while their skill set might be not as useful as a younger worker.
On a personal level, my grandmother worked in the parks department for many many years. With that, she actually received the opposite of what I just described. She was in her sixties when she retired and even though she worked with the company for over 20 years, she never received any rewards or promotions. In fact, the younger employees received what she deserved. Some companies view older employees and a liability or useless depending on the job which is also a big form of discrimination. In terms of my grandma's situation, the problem of the lack of respect should have been properly handled by her employer. As the text explained, for the amount of years older people put in, she should have been rewarded with something.
A transition discussed in chapter 5 is that of educational trends. Many work places and careers are requiring higher degrees than what they...