10 Countries With The Most Workplace Diversity: Report

High school history books might call the United States the world's melting pot, but that characterization doesn't quite hold true in today's workplace.

Companies in the United States are the ninth most diverse compared to those in other countries, according to a new report sponsored by Forbes. The report looked at workplace diversity in 50 nations, examining the makeup of the countries' workers based on a number of factors, such as ethnicity, disability, age, gender, country of birth, skills, education, language, work hours, and geographical distribution.

Scandinavian countries scored particularly well, largely due to the high prevalence of female workers in those countries. Indeed, recent news in the U.S. has highlighted American companies' weakness in terms of gender diversity, such as the relatively small number of women on Facebook's board of directors.

But the U.S. may want to do what it can to boost it's ranking on the list. High levels of workplace diversity have been found to have several positive effects such as reduced poverty rates, increased GDP and improved governance, according to the report. Indeed, a survey conducted by Forbes in July 2011, reported that 85 percent of the companies polled strongly agreed that diversity is a key driver of innovation.

Do American companies need to come up with new ways of promoting diversity among workers? A study conducted over the course of 31 years by Harvard Business School found that diversity training had "no positive effects in the average workplace," and in fact may have had a negative impact.

See which nations have the most workplace diversity below:

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Comments

[Shelby Bell]

02:44 AM on 11/28/2012

Diversity training is counter productive. It is focused on making sure we all know what makes us different. It is accusatory, demeaning and premised on guilt. My experience has been that group success is realized when people focus on the things they have in common.

[monzambano]

08:12 PM on 03/16/2012

Switzerland should be rated higher - the survey underestimates the extreme forbearance required of the average Swiss to tolerate the fellow from the next valley over. In such a situation, even a German will rate as a potential ally.

[BigBearcatBill]

08:07 PM on 03/16/2012

The inner cities need overhauling and remodeling/retooling, call it Trickle Up Theory - water the plants at the bottom of the food chain and the benefits start there building a solid foundation then the wealth increases going up the chain.

[Lechiffre]

04:58 PM on 03/16/2012

USA shouldn't be on there.

[mdsman]

09:56 AM on 03/17/2012

Why, because it ruins the rant?
Since all were rated under the same criteria, it is what it is.
Don't be so angry and see some of the good in our country