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Literature Review: Workforce Diversity
Stephanie Bishop
Liberty University
BMAL 501: Strategic Leadership and Management
Dr. James Latour
March 5, 2023
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Abstract
Workforce diversity over time has become an apparent need when organizations realize
they lack a well-rounded team to help negate gaps in insight that would benefit achieving
operational goals. This literature review incorporates ten studies highlighting different aspects of
workforce diversity acknowledgment, implementation, and control. The literature highlights the
factors that prompted identifying disparities in the labor market and benefits within organizations
after implementing corrective measures. The research provides evidence-based support for the
numerous advantages of the research and implementation of internal and external diversity
practices in organizations.
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Introduction
Prompted by the renewed calls for social justice, the US has committed itself to fostering
a more diversified public workforce to dismantle systemic social injustices (Jiang, et al.,2022).
Numerous professionals feel like they are not given the same opportunities due to
misconceptions and stereotypes of their backgrounds. This has prompted organizations and
analyze their employee metrics and recruit talented professionals regardless of race, gender,
education, religion, sexuality, and age.
Research has shown that organizations should consider the benefits of employing a
diverse group after identifying internal shortcomings in diversity. These benefits range from
innovation and filling in knowledge gaps. Research also shows that diversity positively impacts
corporate social responsibility performance, which includes financial performance, social
performance, and environmental performance (Sharma et al., 2020).
Studies have shown that incorporating diversity in leadership leads to less CEO turnover,
reduced burnout, and the ability to attract recruits. Management, in turn, promotes diversity by
implementing various strategies that can be monitored and controlled. These include employee
input, decentralization, teamwork, mentorship, and quality management. Implementing these
diversity strategies aims to help the organization succeed in achieving goals.
Traditional business sectors are not the only organizations that benefit from diversity in
their workforce. The niche organizations that have significant interactions with the public have
been considered in the research. Some sectors that involve most of the population are the
technology and academic professions.
Factors that triggered the need for a diverse workforce
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There are multiple types of professionals who make up the workforce. Many groups and
factors make an organization diverse, so identifying these underrepresented groups while
highlighting the benefits and positive outcomes of diversifying the workforce is essential. The
amount of internal diversification directly impacts the success of an organization.
Identifying the lack of representation in the workforce
A primary focus of research is minority racial groups. Over time, society acknowledged
that the workforce was primarily Caucasian males in every industry. Sometimes this bias was
intentional or unintentional. Confusion is at the heart of racial discrimination in the workplace
and the under-representation of racial minorities in almost all industries. Many industry
practitioners believe racial diversity in the workforce is nonexistent (Sharma et al., 2020). This
acknowledgment led to research in identifying the disparities, then setting up strategies to shift
the balance to benefit organizations and the working population.
Organizations realized that the lack of diversity was hurting their professions by working
against the efforts to achieve specific goals. On multiple levels, knowledge of cultural behaviors
was lacking. This led to employees primarily feeling overlooked. The impact is that citizens,
clients, patients, and customers feel unheard and unappreciated. The success of an organization
depends on the ability to reduce environmental uncertainty by creating strategies to problem-
solve by expanding internal points of view, which prompts firms to develop ways to encourage
knowledge sharing (Bello-Pintado & Bianchi, 2021). The ways organizations handle information
sharing are impacted by the strategies they use if they are ineffective.
Other than race, there are numerous groups that studies show often receive discrimination
or lack of representation. Workforce inequalities have negatively affected the training and career
advancement of individuals identifying with underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups,
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women, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community (Liu et al., 2021). Employees from
these backgrounds provide valuable input and ways to manage certain situations with insight that
they have gained from their communities. In this research of the psychiatric field, there have
been many instances where psychiatrists that lacked proper knowledge made the wrong
recommendations for patients based on incorrect notions of patient background. Having a diverse
group of professionals within this realm to help patients on a situational basis help this
organization.
Positive outcomes of diversity
Employees start to feel accepted, opening a clear line of communication and camaraderie
at all hierarchal levels. Higher-level executives value all groups’ input to adopt and implement
strategies that have more successful outcomes. They lead or adopt early new business systems
and develop new products or processes to succeed in the changing environment (Iffat et al.,
2021). Therefore, they make decisions and take risks that they otherwise would not have, leading
to many missed opportunities for improvement.
Organizations must make a positive impact on the people they serve. Organizations that
adopt a narrow point of view are believed to be selfish and harmful to the people they want to
serve. Sharma et al. (2020) found that a racially diverse workforce brings community knowledge.
This initiates a change in an organization's corporate social responsibility in both developed and
high-growth developing markets. To better understand the community, employing people of that
background helps mitigate a crisis.
Females are associated with gender-role expectations and stereotypes that influence their
work in teams and in an organized work environment. Female employees possess different skills,
knowledge, and perspectives from males that they bring to an organization, leading to higher
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quality decision-making. Females are more detail-focused and risk-averse than males to handle
decision-making differently (Kim et al., 2021). The evidence shows that having a diverse
organization provides balance.
The need for diversity in leadership
Diversity issues in leadership affect employee retention and recruitment efforts. Funding
and staff to support these efforts to promote career satisfaction and ensure support for the
underrepresented and historically marginalized (Rotenstein et al., 2021). Once diverse leadership
is established, managers can implement diversity practices. Changes could include an executive-
level position devoted to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Therefore, there is a direct correlation
between maintaining diverse practices with structuring diverse leadership.
Employee recruitment and retention
Organizations with more gender and education-level diversity buffer the disruptive effect
of frequent CEO turnover on firm performance to benefit the organization (Kim et al., 2021).
The study identifies that both varying gender and education levels help fill high-level positions,
which prevents high turnover rates. High turnover rates impact the organization by leaving
subordinates without appropriate guidance, thus creating interruptions in continuity.
Another study correlates dissatisfaction with work-life balance with an increased
likelihood of burnout. Women who belong to underrepresented racial or ethnic groups face
discrimination, which impacts their sense of well-being, belonging, and perception of workplace
stress (Liu et al., 2022). Evidence shows that proper control reduces the likelihood of women
leaving the workplace due to company culture.
Diversifying US police forces, which typically have white male majorities among
officers, attracts more qualified workers and leads to better policing (Wilson & Grammich,
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2022). After police forces typically comprise white males, the study was conducted on 12
different police agencies, 3 in each of the four geographic regions in the United States. They
compared the diversity in the police units to the population in their respective areas and
concluded that implementing diversity practices led to more recruits and retention.
Ways management can improve employee climate
A few methods were implemented to ensure that workforce diversity is apparent within
organizations. Leveraging workplace voice, decentralizing decision-making, and teamwork
shape the power structure in an organization and send signals of an organization's support for
diversity (Jiang et al., 2021). The research shows that companies flourish due to increased
collaboration and a sense of belonging when given a voice and a clear communication channel.
Ways to improve internal diversity within the organization include promoting education
on stereotypes, mentorship programs, and using objective criteria in evaluations, hiring
decisions, the promotions process, and compensation remains areas where inequities can be
addressed (Erhunmwunsee et al., 2019). Organizations can analyze and monitor employee
diversity to take corrective action and show improvement in employee perceptions of their
organizations. Measures could include the number and type of groups to which available
positions are publicized, the number of minority and female candidates interviewed for each
position, workforce-diversity metrics in reports, and actions taken to address problems with
organizational culture or climate (Rotenstein et al., 2021).
A method analyzed in improving workplace diversity was removing vertical hierarchal
levels in an organization and increasing collaborative information sharing between employees.
Bello-Pintado & Bianchi (2021) determined that horizontal work organization practices,
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including reducing hierarchal levels, facilitate understanding group capacities associated with
educational backgrounds, contributing to organizational routines.
How diversity affects performance in various sectors
Most of the research on diversity involves a traditional business that offers services and
products. Further research on diversity in more complex professions has been conducted to
understand diversity’s implications in their industries. These include the medical, law
enforcement, and technology industries.
Medical industry
The healthcare industry’s misconceptions of work ethic, intelligence, and attitude are
correlated to the lack of representation. Dissatisfaction with careers can result from disrespectful
treatment or comments, lack of career promotion, resources, rewards, and reimbursement (Liu et
al., 2021). Evidence shows that giving opportunities to diverse medical professionals improves
patient care and the overall reputation of medical organizations, giving employees and patients
the foundation of trust.
Evidence shows that underrepresentation destroys the academic and professional world of
plastic surgery. Plastic and reconstructive surgery are one of the least ethnically diverse
specialties. Physicians underrepresented in medicine (African Americans, Latinos, and Native
Americans/Alaskan Natives) constitute 5 percent of plastic and reconstructive surgery faculty
and 9 percent of residents (Llado-Farrulla et al., 2021). Systematic underrepresentation and bias
were traced back to the educational institution of plastic surgery, which aligns with the
demographics of the professionals in the field. Implementing recruitment efforts in academia
shows improvement in minorities entering the workforce.
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Lack of workforce diversity has detrimental effects on patient outcomes, access to care,
and patient trust, as well as on workplace experiences and employee retention. Many medical
students and residents admit to having biased views about race-based differences that affect their
treatment recommendations (Rotenstein et al., 2021). Incorrect assumptions about the motive to
receive care, particularly about chest pain, and issues with women being leaders in practitioners
were noted by not addressing these mistakes, medical malpractice, and rates of morbidity
increase.
Literature analyzed how exposure to negative bias lowers confidence, inhibits
camaraderie, and keeps groups underrepresented in medicine and women from succeeding.
Because bias is targeted toward those already marginalized and of minority status, it perpetuates
feelings of isolation and feeds stereotypes (Erhunmwunsee et al., 2019).
Non-traditional sectors
A multifaceted recruitment and retention approach was implemented in an educational
setting at the University of Pennsylvania’s plastic and reconstructive surgery residency program.
After implementation, controls were used to monitor recruitment and retention with significant
improvements. The representation of minority residents within the plastic and reconstructive
surgery residency program increased (Llado-Farrulla et al., 2021).
The research shows that police with similar backgrounds as the people they serve can
establish rapport and help them more effectively. “When police forces do not reflect the
population, officers may find community trust erodes, which can make it harder to recruit diverse
officers, particularly in smaller jurisdictions with less turnover that are undergoing demographic
transition” (Wilson & Grammich, 2022, p. 709).
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Having varied educational backgrounds is essential for innovation. Educational diversity
directly correlates with improving technological ideas, giving firms a competitive advantage.
Organizational practices promoting knowledge sharing are more relevant in adopting new
technologies than firms where the organization is more traditional (Bello-Pintado & Bianchi,
2021).
Conclusion and Recommendations
The literature reviewed helps identify the groups that make up a well-rounded
organization. They came from different types of organizations ranging from traditional to more
niche specializations, giving insight into the commonalities in the present disparities. They are
armed with the knowledge that diversity is a powerful tool, and organizations that hire a diverse
workforce have higher innovation and acceptance of changes in the workplace. Engaging with
people from diverse cultures helps us understand different perspectives, reduce stereotypes and
biases, and include them in the group (Iffat, et al., 2021). Strategies to diversify should be
implemented at all levels of the hierarchal structure.
The literature’s strengths are that diversity is not only a concern internal to the
organization; the literature positively correlates diverse organizations with helping diverse
populations, therefore setting a standard of excellence in respective fields. The benefits of open
communication, trust, improved culture, and improved performance are apparent. None of the
literature reviewed provided negative consequences to adhering to diverse practices.
Some of the literature reviewed used small sampling in particular organizations. There is
a benefit to repeating the research on a larger scale. The studies did incorporate multiple
companies giving insight into multiple continents and countries. However, not all were
represented or easy to find while gathering information. The research shows that the medical and
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law enforcement industries benefit more from diversity practices than other organizations, as the
consequences could be more detrimental to the population. Further research in different sectors
would be needed to analyze general workforce diversity accurately.
Understanding the mindset and motivations that drive all underrepresented groups
becomes paramount as time passes. The literature found did not provide insight into groups
related to veterans’ status, LGBTQ, and religious groups. The literature focused on race,
education, and gender. The information regarding different races was also primarily focused on
African American or Latino subgroups. With organizations in the United States with a diverse
population, or organizations that span internationally, it would benefit them to understand more
cultures to diversify the workforce further. The added benefit would be reaching more
communities, improving access to better-paying jobs, and the gain in more valuable knowledge.
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References
Bello-Pintado, A., & Bianchi, C. (2021). Workforce education diversity, work organization and
innovation propensity. [Diversity and innovation] European Journal of Innovation
Management, 24(3), 756-776. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-10-2019-0300
Erhunmwunsee, L., Backhus, L. M., Godoy, L., Edwards, M. A., & Cooke, D. T. (2019). Report
from the workforce on diversity and Inclusion—The society of thoracic surgeons
members’ bias experiences. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 108(5), 1287-
1291. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2019.08.015
Iffat, S. C., Paquibut, R. Y., & Muhammad, N. T. (2021). Do workforce diversity, inclusion
practices, & organizational characteristics contribute to organizational innovation?
Evidence from the U.A.E. Cogent Business & Management, 8(1)
https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2021.1947549
Jiang, Z., DeHart‐Davis, L., & Borry, E. L. (2022). Managerial practice and diversity climate:
The roles of workplace voice, centralization, and teamwork. Public Administration
Review, 82(3), 459-472. https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13494
Kim, Y., Jeong, S. S., Yiu, D. W., & Moon, J. (2021). Frequent CEO turnover and firm
performance: The resilience effect of workforce diversity. Journal of Business
Ethics, 173(1), 185-203. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-020-04534-0
Liu, H. Y., Larson, A. R., Strong, S. A., Parekh, R., Gautam, M., Flores, L. E., & Silver, J. K.
(2022). Workforce diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Psychiatric Clinics of North
America, 45(2), 243-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2022.02.001
Llado-Farrulla, M., Fosnot, J., Couto, J., Chang, B., Broach, R. B., Rios-Diaz, A., Fowler, J. A.,
Aarons, C. B., Serletti, J. M., & Butler, P. D. (2021). In Search of Workforce Diversity? A
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Program’s Successful Approach. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Journal of the
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https://doi.org/10.1097/PRS.0000000000007881
Rotenstein, L.S, Reede, J. Y., & Jena, A. B. (2021). Addressing Workforce Diversity — A
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Sharma, A., Moses, A. C., Borah, S. B., & Adhikary, A. (2020). Investigating the impact of
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