Hard times, less compassion? Distinct perspectives towards distinct minorities in the Portuguese organizational context

Abstract

Several approaches to manage diversity were developed in the U.S. and then disseminated to Europe. Their origin can be drawn in a timeline, but not their end. Research is still needed on the way organizations combine them towards distinct minority groups, particularly in less explored national contexts. The present qualitative study examines how minorities are evaluated and dealt with by large organizations operating in Portugal. The results reveal that distinct minorities are being approached distinctively and that this significantly stems from the country’s current hard financial conditions and ensuing social challenges, as well as from the colonialist Portuguese past. The study particularly contributes by exposing diversity as a social construct that can assume as many facets as the minority identity groups present in a specific space and time.