Equal Opportunity Innovations at Work: Mechanisms for Reducing Job Segregation

自从1964年民权法案通过以来，公司已经尝试了几十种不同的创新，旨在减少工作隔离，增加劳动力多样性。迄今为止，关于平权行动计划、多元化培训和多元化委员会在改变组织人口结构中的角色创新的研究很少。该项目旨在研究这些项目是否以及如何促进美国工作场所的性别、种族和民族多样性。在之前的研究中，我将平等就业机会委员会1971年至2002年间关于企业劳动力特征的年度数据与833家私营企业就业实践的纵向调查数据相结合。我发现一些创新在减少职业隔离方面非常有效，而另一些则无效。分配组织责任和问责制的创新——多元化委员会、多元化员工和平权行动计划——随后增加了管理多样性。但是，旨在通过解决偏见和社会孤立等已知原因来减少隔离的创新并不有效。多元化培训、多元化绩效评估、网络项目和指导项目并没有带来显著的多元化增长。目前的研究项目涉及对64家公司的深入研究，这些公司在提高员工多样性方面取得了不同程度的成功。通过对多元化项目机制的仔细比较，我将研究多元化办公室、多元化工作组和平权行动计划的哪些活动导致了组织多样性的增加。该策略是将这些创新取得成果的公司与没有取得成果的公司进行比较。这项研究应该为寻求利用美国日益多样化的劳动力的公司提供重要的见解。

Since the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 firms have experimented with dozens of different innovations designed to reduce job segregation and increase workforce diversity. To date there has been little research on the role innovations such as affirmative action plans, diversity training, and diversity committees in changing organizational demography. This project is designed to examine whether, and how, these programs contribute to increased gender, racial, and ethnic diversity in American workplaces. In previous research, I combined annual Equal Employment Opportunity Commission data on establishment workforce characteristics between 1971 and 2002 with longitudinal survey data on employment practices in 833 private-sector establishments. I found some innovations to be highly effective in reducing job segregation and others to be ineffective. Innovations that assign organizational responsibility and accountability -- diversity committees, diversity staff, and affirmative action plans -- have been followed by increases in managerial diversity. But innovations designed to reduce segregation by addressing known causes, such as bias and social isolation, have not been effective. Diversity training, diversity performance evaluations, networking programs, and mentoring programs have not been followed by significant increases in diversity. The current research project involves intensive study of 64 companies that have had varying success with programs to increase workforce diversity. Through careful comparisons of the mechanics of diversity programs, I will examine which activities of diversity offices, diversity taskforces, and affirmative action plans lead to increases in organizational diversity. The strategy is to compare companies in which these innovations have shown results to companies in which they have not. This research should provide important insights for firms seeking to make use of America's increasingly diverse workforce.