This commentary to “Gender in the Management Education Classroom” (Bilimoria, O’Neil, Hopkins, & Murphy, 2010) employs social identity and self-categorization theory to analyze the incident described in the article. In any MBA classroom, students are dealing with multiple group memberships. Similar to workplace settings, when the focus is on diversity, categorization processes can lead to challenging situations in the classroom. Practical considerations and institutional influences in dealing with diversity-based conflict in the classroom are also discussed.
Bilimoria, D., O’Neil, D.A., Hopkins, M.M., & Murphy, V. ( 2010). Gender in the management education classroom: A collaborative learning journey. Journal of Management Education, 34(6), 848-873.
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