A Meta-Analysis of Beneficial and Detrimental Outcomes of Organizational Diversity and Climate of Inclusion in Human Service Organizations

Background: Organizational diversity has been linked to both beneficial and detrimental outcomes—increasing the likelihood of creativity in work teams as well as mistrust and animosity among employees. Recent research suggests that diversity management efforts, particularly those designed to create a climate of inclusion could reduce negative consequences and promote positive outcomes of workforce diversity. The issue is particularly salient for human service organizations, notorious for high turnover rates and workforce diversity that has lagged behind highly diverse client populations. Effective workforce management is relevant to the theme of the SSWR conference as it is directly linked to fairness and equality in organizations both locally and globally.

Method: Utilizing a theory-based conceptual model, we examined the relationship between diversity characteristics (surface and deep-level), diversity management, a climate of inclusion, and beneficial and detrimental outcomes in human service organizations. All studies in our meta-analysis were drawn from peer-reviewed journals published between 1990 and 2012. To qualify for our meta-analysis, each article had to meet the following criteria: (1) include at least one measure of diversity as an antecedent or independent variable; (2) include at least one work-related outcome or dependent variable; (3) examine a sample from a human service organization, such as child welfare workers, social workers, mental health workers, health, or public government employees; (4) report the statistics necessary for conducting a meta-analysis, including bivariate correlations, t-statistics, regression coefficients, and standard error values; and (5) report the size of the sample used for statistical analysis.

Results: Results based on 30 qualified studies (N = 496,740 workers) produced mixed results, as expected, with respect to diversity characteristics and beneficial and detrimental outcomes. Among the surface (or visible) diversity characteristics, being male (an underrepresented group in human service organizations and being younger were negatively associated with beneficial outcomes (ρ= - 0.23; 95% CI= - 0.37, - 0.09; (ρ= - 0.26; 95% CI= - 0.35, - 0.17, respectively). Race/ethnicity appeared to be statistically insignificant, while being an immigrant or non-national was positively correlated with beneficial work outcomes (ρ= .06; 95% CI= 0.01, 0.10). Among the deep-level diversity characteristics, less education was negatively associated with detrimental outcomes (ρ= .06; 95% CI= 0.08, 0.20), and less tenure was negatively related to beneficial outcomes (ρ= - 0.02; 95% CI= - 0.03, - 0.01).  Diversity management efforts toward a climate of inclusion were consistently associated with positive outcomes (ρ = .42, 95% CI = .29, .54) and negatively associated with detrimental outcomes (ρ=  -0.05; 95% CI= -0.08, -0.02), based on 6 qualified studies (N = 290,854). 

Discussion/implications: The current study offers, for the first time, a meta-analysis of research on workforce diversity in human service organizations.  Our findings suggest that diversity representation alone will not suffice as an effective human resource management strategy. The data indicate a strong direct relationship between diversity management toward a climate of inclusion and beneficial work outcomes. Findings indicate that human service organizations should move beyond simply promoting diversity representation, to developing policies and practices that effectively engender an inclusive work climate.