Assessing diversity and inclusion in the context of the u.S. federal department of health and human services

Abstract

In recent decades, the role of diversity in organizations has been much discussed. This is because, in the literature, insiders consider that diversity has a positive impact on multiple aspects. For example, in the corporate field, they suggest that a wide diversity of workforce is associated with higher levels of profitability. Nevertheless, at a theoretical level, not all scholars consider that diversity always has a positive impact on organizations. Because an excessive diversity can also lead to internal conflicts and may favor decision-making processes, not all researchers agree that diversity has a positive effect. Indeed, empirical studies also show conflicting results due to many problems. One of the main issue is how to measure diversity because numerous studies have adopted different indices. To solve this drawback, recent studies have proposed the use of diversity profiles in the organizational field. This research proposes an empirical application of this methodology in the organizational context; in particular, diversity profiles are applied for analysing diversity and inclusion of minorities in a United States Federal Agency, i.e. the Department of Health and Human Services.