Equal Opportunity Innovations at Work: Mechanisms for Reducing Job Segregation

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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.