Journey to a Different Place: Reflections on Taylor Cox, Jr.'s Career and Research as a Catalyst for Diversity Education and Training

摘要

In the preface to his book, Creating the Multicultural Organization (2001), Taylor Cox, Jr., invites readers to "take a journey to a different place on diversity issues." Cox's career has entailed just that-taking readers of his research to new and different places. He has not only charted new territory, but also has enriched diversity education and training by showcasing the theoretical sophistication necessary for understanding, studying, and teaching about organizational diversity.rnCox, an African-American scholar who came of age during segregation and the Civil Rights Movement, grew to become an architect of diversity management. His research, teaching, consulting, and professional advocacy helped to establish a foundation for educators, practitioners, and researchers seeking to understand and manage diversity in organizations. Cox took a personal vision of what diversity could bring to organizations, designed a comprehensive plan for conducting ground-breaking diversity research, and then pursued this plan on several fronts, as a researcher, trainer, and agent of social change. He laid the structural foundation for the cultural diversity landscape by conducting empirical research on multiple dimensions of diversity, including race, gender, national origin, work function, and organization level. His signature contributions to education and training are threefold: (1) exposing dimen-rnsions of cultural difference while unveiling their interconnectedness and commonalities via theoretical models and experiential exercises; (2) providing educators, diversity consultants, and researchers with common language to talk about the intersection of cultural and physiological characteristics; and (3) highlighting that cultural diversity and organizational culture-together-must be understood and influenced to create effective organizations.