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Workforce diversity: from a literature review to future research agenda

Shatrughan Yadav (Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India)
Usha Lenka (Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India)

Journal of Indian Business Research

ISSN: 1755-4195

Article publication date: 28 April 2020

Issue publication date: 10 December 2020

2905

Abstract

Purpose

Workforce diversity is widely believed to enhance the knowledge and perspectives of organizations. The purpose of this study is to synthesize the existing diverse literature on workforce diversity and to enlighten the avenues for future research in managing workforce diversity.

Design/methodology/approach

This study performs a comprehensive review of empirical and conceptual studies published on workforce diversity and its outcomes in the top 13 peer-reviewed leading management journals between 1990 and 2019.

Findings

The assessment of diversity literature reported mixed and inconsistent results that are the critical challenges of diversity management. Furthermore, most studies have not individually identified the problems of diversity dimensions. To understand the problems, this study has divided the different dimensions of diversity (e.g. age, gender, race, education, functional background and tenure) and their results, supported by various theories. The findings of this study suggested a different reason for existing conflicts and proposed a future research agenda.

Originality/value

To overcome the challenges of diversity, this study has proposed the future research agenda for future research. to take optimum advantage of workforce diversity, this study contributes a theoretical perspective that enhances the understanding of existing diversity in organizations and develops diverse organizations.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers and Editor for their valuable suggestions.

Citation

Yadav, S. and Lenka, U. (2020), "Workforce diversity: from a literature review to future research agenda", Journal of Indian Business Research, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 577-603. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIBR-08-2019-0243

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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