Understanding Diversity in Virtual Work Environments

Abstract

This chapter presents a comparative case study which was conducted with the aim of understanding how diversity can be managed in the context of the virtual work environment. The authors argue that the unique characteristics of virtuality might influence how diversity is managed in the virtual, computer-mediated environment. In view of this, a comparative case study involving qualitative interviews with participants from two contrasting environments—a face-to-face one and a virtual one—is presented. The findings of the study show what types of diversity are found to be important in the virtual workplace and also start to unpack the relationship between some of the unique characteristics of virtuality and diversity within the context of this study. The contributions of the study are discussed and recommendations to both future researchers and also practitioners are provided.