On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play for the Brooklyn Dodgers, a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Robinson was an excellent all-around player and eventually was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; but as the first black person on an MLB team, Robinson had to navigate the challenges of being permitted to join the white-dominated league and faced barriers toward “full participation” due to his race. 

In the workplace, tokenism refers to minority members being hired into a position because they are different from other members and sometimes to serve as proof that the organization or group is nondiscriminatory. Once in their positions, tokens are given work that would be stereotypically suitable for their demographic. For example, women may be given stereotypically female tasks instead of other tasks that they would be perfectly capable of performing. By engaging in tokenism, organizations may fall prey to a moral licensing effect, where employers are more likely to engage in prejudicial or unethical behavior when they have initially behaved in a morally acceptable way (such as in believing that selecting or including one minority member is “proof” that the group is nondiscriminatory). 

Questions 

1. Can you think of other examples in which tokenism might emerge in the workplace? What are they? 

2. Organizations use a variety of diversity management strategies to make employees more aware of and sensitive to the needs of others. Do you think that these same practices may inadvertently (or intentionally) lead to tokenism or moral licensing? Why or why not? 

3. What do you think can be done to limit tokenism in workgroups and organizations?