Twentieth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Based on the scientific approach of the Diversity Studies, this workshop will describe, analyze and discuss intercultural communication as a tool for diversity-sensitive cooperation in organizations. The intersectional perspective offers suitable analysis schemes to use diversity in companies in a sustainable and positive way. The Diversity Studies aim to analyze the participation of all members of society, regardless of their age, physical abilities, race, gender, sexual orientations, etc. Diversity comprises different categories that become visible in the social context as well as in the entrepreneurial context and can lead to marginalization processes. The perspective of intersectionality (Crenshaw 1991) makes it possible to visualize multiple discrimination and the interaction of diversity dimensions, thus contributing to the analysis and discussion of inequalities in companies. The TOPOI model (Hoffman 2015) is a tool for explaining how intercultural communication can be used as a lived practice in corporate culture in order to minimize inequalities. This makes it possible to identify places and areas where misunderstandings occur in communication. Through diversity-sensitive communication in companies, intersection points of diversity can be made visible in their intersectionality and possible discriminatory consequences can be prevented. This will be explored in the workshop with the help of practical examples.