Workforce Diversity and Inequality: Power, Status, and Numbers

TLDR

Workforce diversity concerns the cultural and demographic composition of work units and is studied across management, sociology, and psychology. The review aims to emphasize the role of inequality research and to connect workforce diversity discussions to the structural relationships among societal groups. The authors structure the review around the dimensions of power, status, and numbers, drawing on sociology, psychology, and management literature to identify similarities, gaps, and workplace outcomes.

Abstract

Workforce diversity refers to the composition of work units in terms of the cultural or demographic characteristics that are salient and symbolically meaningful in the relationships among group members. Although generally thought of as the purview of management research, the topic of workforce diversity draws from and is relevant to research from sociology and psychology. In this review, we highlight two issues: (a) the importance of the substantial research on inequality to an adequate understanding of workforce diversity and (b) the need to link discussions of workforce diversity to the structural relationships among groups within the society. We organize the review in terms of three dimensions of the relationships among groups: power, status, and numbers (or composition). We highlight research from sociology, psychology, and management and show similarities and gaps across these fields. We also briefly discuss the outcomes of workforce diversity in the workplace.