Attributes of diversity & inclusion: the story remains complex and contradictory: degrees of stereotyping remain as leading organizations appoint chief diversity officers and embark on ambitious programs to drive diversity and embrace "inclusion.".

• Author: Sweeney, Paul

Valencia de la Vega, a global account manager at Intel Corp., is only in her early 30s but already has compiled an impressive resume. De la Vega graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point after majoring in nuclear engineering, reaching the rank of captain while serving in the United States Army's quartermaster corps and earning an MBA from the New York Institute of Technology.

Dwight Lowie, a colleague at de la Vega's previous employer (Pulte Homes Inc.), posted this glowing commendation at the LinkedIn Web site: "Her leadership skills are unrivaled and her technical and business acumen is phenomenal. Valencia thinks creatively, refuses to fail and through her example makes those who work for (her) and with her better employees and people."

Yet, despite her past achievements and managerial status at a high-technology company that prides itself on embracing diversity, de la Vega still finds that being a brown-skinned woman in corporate America means she has to overcome stereotypes.

"I would say the majority of people (at Intel) are here to perform," she said in an interview. "But some people do judge you on your appearance and gender.

"As a young minority female," she added, "I find that I constantly have to prove myself to dispel the myth that I'm here because there's some kind of quota the company had to fill."

Welcome to the world of corporate diversity. It's been more than 45 years since President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a section of which protects individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of sex as well as race, color, national origin and religion.

Today, the legacy of that law is dramatically clear. The U.S. has elected a black president; the last three Secretaries of State have been women--one of them an African-American--and with the appointment of Diane Sawyer at ABC, two of the three major networks' nightly newscasts will be anchored by women.

And society has changed markedly as women and minorities--among other formerly excluded groups--have advanced in business and finance, the professions, academia, the clergy and most areas of American life.

Yet, there still has never been a woman president or vice president and the current high-water mark of 17 women in the U.S. Senate represents fewer than one in five of a demographic that's more than 50 percent of the U.S. population. Only one African-American--an appointee--belongs to that august chamber.

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Where Change Is and Is Not Occurring

In corporate America, the story remains similarly as complex and contradictory. There is much progress, but most companies and organizations still have a long way to go.

"Unfortunately," says Mary Cogan, a human resources expert at Olney/HRadvantage, a Boston consulting...