Following the mob? How diversity as dogma can damage public services

Abstract

The OECD claims that diversity among public service leaders is a business imperative that leads to ‘improved governance outcomes’. At best, the empirical evidence for this assertion is mixed. At worst, it renders the OECD claim to be simply untrue. This article demonstrates how diversity as dogma, idée fixe and intellectual sophistry can damage public services. Job-related (rather than demographic) diversity can improve business performance but needs to be aligned with appropriate leadership structures, governance systems and accountability arrangements.