Diversity Policies in Public and Private Sector Organizations

Abstract

This article centers on a comparison of diversity policies in Dutch public and private sector organizations and their effectiveness in improving ethnic minority representation. Data have been obtained from 8,283 annual reports of Dutch organizations in 2001 and 2002. Three types of diversity policies are analyzed: (a) policies designed to analyze ethnic minority representation, (b) policies designed to improve the influx of ethnic minorities in organizations, and (c) policies designed to improve the management of a diverse workforce in organizations. Results show that public sector organizations report more diversity policies and different types of diversity policies than do private sector organizations. In terms of effectiveness, only policies designed to improve the management of a diverse workforce seem to affect the representation of ethnic minorities in organizations in the short term. No sectoral differences in the effectiveness of various policy types were found.