Search results

Over the past decade, the U.S. workforce has become increasingly diverse. In response, scholars and practitioners have sought to uncover ways to leverage this increasing diversity to enhance business performance. To date, research evidence has failed to provide consistent support for the value of diversity to organizational effectiveness. Accordingly, scholars have shifted their attention to diversity management as a means to fully realize the potential benefits of diversity in organizations. The principal aim of this chapter is to review the current wisdom on the study of diversity climate in organizations. Defined as the extent that employees view an organization as utilizing fair personnel practices and socially integrating all personnel into the work environment, diversity climate has been proposed as a catalyst for unlocking the full value of diversity in organizations. During our review, we discuss the existent individual- and aggregate-level research, describe the theoretical foundations of such work, summarize the key research findings and themes gleaned from work in each domain, and note the limitations of diversity climate research. Finally, we highlight the domains of uncertainty regarding diversity climate research, and offer recommendations for future work that can enhance knowledge of diversity climate effects on organizational outcomes.

The purpose of the study was to determine, first, whether both numeric diversity and racial climate impacted the psychological well-being and workplace experiences of faculty of color (FOC). But the authors also considered whether there was an “additive” effect when both diversity factors existed at the same time.

The authors used surveys of academics from various backgrounds in multiple US regions to test the effects of numeric diversity and racial climate on three dependent variables – invisible labor, stress from discrimination and dissatisfaction with co-workers. For the purposes of the study, FOC were defined as black, Latinx and Asian faculty.

The results showed significant support for the authors' prediction that there was more stress from discrimination, invisible labor, and co-worker dissatisfaction against FOC in institutions with low numeric diversity and poor racial climate compared with institutions with high numeric diversity and a positive racial climate. They also found that negative impacts were smaller in institutions with both high numeric diversity and a positive racial climate, compared to institutions with high numeric diversity, but a poor racial climate. However, similar results were not found for institutions with low numeric diversity and positive racial climate.

The authors concluded that the findings showed that “diversity climate may be the primary driver of mitigating psychological disparities between FOC and white faculty”. They said that education officials should take action to construct a positive racial climate, but neither should they ignore numeric representation.

Research on diversity climate has shown that diversity climate as an employee's perception of an organization's diversity-related practices or procedures has a positive impact on reducing turnover intentions. However, we know little about which intervening mechanism explains the relationship between diversity climate and employee's turnover intentions. In this study, we suggest that individual employee's perceived diversity climate influences turnover intentions through personal diversity value and affective commitment.

With a sample of 901 employees in more than 50 companies affiliated in South Korea, the authors test the hypothesized relationship, using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Our findings show that personal diversity value and affective commitment sequentially mediate the relationship between perceived diversity climate and turnover intentions.

This study can enhance the understanding about the mediating mechanism linking the relationship between perceived diversity climate and turnover intentions and how personal diversity value and affective commitment link the relationship.

The authors theorize and find that perceived diversity climate can influence personal diversity value that results in employee commitment and turnover intentions.

Diversity management is gaining attention in the organizations. This study aims to theorize and test a model linking efforts to support diversity and organizational value of diversity with job satisfaction and organizational identification and to propose that these relationships are mediated by an organization’s diversity climate.

Employee survey was used to collect data from employees at an Australian manufacturing organization. Structural equation modelling in AMOS was performed for the proposed model, controlling for age and gender.

The mediating role of diversity climate in the relationship of organizational value of diversity and outcomes (job satisfaction and organizational identification) is significant. The authors discuss theoretical, research and practical contributions.

The present study extends the literature by testing a mediation model derived from the signalling and social exchange theories.

Research on organizational diversity initiatives generally focus on either numerical diversity or racial climate. Both facets of diversity are critical, however, research has rarely examined their impact simultaneously. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In the current study, the authors use the context of higher education, to examine how variations in the composite of numerical diversity and racial climate predict psychological disparities between faculty of color (FOC) and White faculty. The authors test how institutions that engage in authentic diversity (i.e. institutions that are both numerically diverse and have a positive racial climate) compare to other diversity composites.

Using a data set of n=37,406 faculty members in US colleges/universities, this study found that racial disparities between FOC and White faculty for various psychological outcomes are smaller in authentic diversity institutions compared to institutions with low numeric diversity/ poor racial climate. Further, the data demonstrate that authentic diversity institutions have reduced psychological disparities compared to institutions with high numeric diversity/poor racial climate, but have similar disparities to institutions with low numeric/positive racial climate.

These results suggest that diversity climate may be the primary driver of mitigating psychological disparities between FOC and White faculty. However, it is necessary for institutions to authentically engage in diversity – by promoting both entities – to become more effective in reducing disparities.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of diversity climate and inclusion climate on safety participation behaviors through the mediating effect of the motivation to actively promote safety at work.

Participants were 491 workers employed in four Italian metal-mechanical companies. They completed a paper questionnaire containing measures of psychological diversity climate, psychological inclusion climate, safety motivation participation and safety participation behaviors. Data were analyzed with structural equation modeling.

Results showed that safety participation motivation fully mediates the relationship between diversity climate and safety participation behaviors, whereas it partially mediates the relationship between climate for inclusion and safety participation behaviors.

The present findings can help managers to motivate employees in pursuing safety goals independently of compensation or obligation by creating an organization in which the main concern is caring for each other’s well-being.

This is the first study which has empirically tested the relationships between diversity climate, inclusion climate and safety behaviors. It has extended previous research which simply tested the effects of objective types of diversity on safety performance.

The purpose of this paper was to develop and test a model examining how hotel managers’ psychological diversity climate affects job satisfaction, the moderating effect of racioethnic minority status and the mediating role of organizational justice.

A sample of frontline managers from 164 individual hotel properties was used. Hierarchical linear regression analysis was used to examine the underlying mechanism through which psychological diversity climate impacts job satisfaction.

The results found support for the mediating effect of organizational justice between managers’ psychological diversity climate and job satisfaction. Racioethnic identity moderated the relationship between psychological diversity climate and organizational justice, thereby supporting the mediated-moderated model proposed in the current research.

The findings show the importance of improving employee perceptions of diversity climate and organizational justice, particularly through recruitment practices, incorporating diversity into the corporate values, adopting formal diversity management practices and educating managers about the importance of diversity through formal training methods.

Little research has examined the underlying mechanisms that explain why psychological diversity climate affects organizational attitudes. Even less research has examined whether the link between a perceived positive diversity climate and job satisfaction is stronger for racioethnic minorities. These results provide meaningful insights for researchers because the hospitality industry is one of the largest employers of racioethnic minorities and immigrant employees.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how psychological diversity climate and leader inclusiveness relate to an employee’s self-reported propensity to engage in helping behaviors toward the leader or work group. The authors also tested whether these elements operate differently for women and racioethnic minorities.

A sample of 534 respondents completed electronic surveys. Hypotheses were tested with hierarchical multiple regression.

Results indicate a positive relationship between leader inclusiveness and leader-directed and work group-directed helping behaviors, particularly when accompanied by a positive psychological diversity climate. These relationships were stronger for racioethnic minorities and women relative to racioethnic majority members and men for leader-directed helping.

Data were self-report. Future research should incorporate data from other sources and additional outcomes.

Leaders who act inclusively can obtain measurable benefits with respect to employee helping by reinforcing a diversity climate.

Leaders should act in ways that demonstrate that they are inclusive; coupled with a positive diversity climate, this may encourage all members to engage in helping behaviors, which may have a positive impact on society at large.

The authors addressed the call in past research for sending consistent signals across the organization regarding the value of diversity and inclusion.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between diversity climate and tacit knowledge sharing and the mediating role of workplace belongingness between them.

The sample for this study consists of 495 employees (52.1% male, n = 258) drawn from varied occupational groups. Data were collected online using existing self-report measures. Hypotheses were tested with ordinary least squares regression-based path analysis.

This study provides evidence that diversity climate is positively related to workplace belongingness and tacit knowledge sharing. Furthermore, workplace belongingness is positively related to tacit knowledge sharing. Finally, workplace belongingness mediates the relationship between diversity climate and tacit knowledge sharing.

The findings highlight the need for organizations to promote fair human resource (HR) policies and practices by enacting and judiciously implementing policies that promote inclusiveness and fair treatment to stand a chance of benefiting from employees’ tacit knowledge sharing.

This study builds on existing research but shifts the focus to the influence of diversity climate on tacit knowledge sharing and thus sets up a precedent for subsequent research in this area. This study is, therefore, the first to attempt to link diversity climate to tacit knowledge sharing through workplace belongingness.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how diversity climate in service organizations influence employee learning behavior. Additionally, the study examined the mediating effects of psychological safety and communication satisfaction between diversity climate and learning behavior.

Data were collected from 128 hotel and lodging managers by administering survey questionnaires. The dual mediational model was tested using the mediation test suggested by Preacher and Hayes (2008).

Results indicated that when managers perceived a positive diversity climate they also reported high engagement in learning behavior. Additionally, the study found the mediating effects of psychological safety and communication satisfaction.

The importance of learning behavior has been noted by researchers and practitioners because of its influence on service performance. Learning behavior is especially important in complex, error prone, and fast changing businesses like the services industry. This research contributes to the existing body of research by examining the influence of diversity climate on learning behavior, which has not been investigated empirically in the literature. The current research not only makes a significant contribution to the learning and diversity literature, but also informs practitioners how learning behavior can be increased and how diversity climate can be created in within service organizations, in particularly hospitality.