Policy to Practice
Measuring the Impacts of Diversity Policies on Organizational Performance
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jocelyn McGrandle
The theory of representative bureaucracy posits that a bureaucracy that is demographically reflective of the broader population it serves will produce better policies and outcomes for the organization and for society as a whole. In modern public bureaucracies, a bureaucracy becomes representative through the implementation of diversity policies. The better outcomes (organizational performance) can be measured through factors such as job satisfaction, cultural synergy, and person-job fit. These outcomes are important for the overall effectiveness of government as they impact a wide variety of factors like employee morale, absenteeism, turnover, or problem-solving capabilities and general work outputs. Currently, there is no consensus as to what the best diversity policy is, or which policies have the best performance outcomes. Therefore, this study will measure organizational performance outputs of different diversity policies within a similar context in order to ameliorate this discord and provide some conclusive evidence as to which diversity policy has stronger organizational performance. In this study, which will focus on the Canadian context, equal employment opportunity (EEO) and diversity management (DM) will be tested, as these are the two different types of policies that exist in Canada. This will be done quantitatively through an analysis of two public service censuses. Hence, the current study pursues the following question: how do different types of diversity policies affect organizational performance in public sector organizations? In this research, types of diversity policies are the independent variable, and organizational performance is the dependent variable.
Student Diversity Policy in Higher Education: Between Social and Economic Equity
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Ayala Hendin
In Israel, higher education is a meeting point between groups who were mostly segregated previously. Students come from a divided K-12 system, originate from different socio-economic surroundings in varying distances from social-economic-geographic centers, and are immigrants or from immigrant families. Encounters and diversity de-facto occur in a rapidly expanding academic system lacking clear and consistent diversity traditions and policies. A paradoxical reality emerges where diversity is “owned” when it proves valuable, and “disowned” when challenging. The paper explains national intervention patterns in student composition, situating them in a complex, multi-dimensional context of economic and social policy logics pushing and pulling in different directions; three policy levels – perceptions, policy and implementation practices – not always fully aligned; national, institutional and departmental policy arenas; and top-down and bottom-up policy initiatives. I examined national policies between 1990-2015, using policy documents and interviews with policy makers, inspired by post-structural traditions and by policy discourse analysis. This research holds theoretical, empirical and practical implications. It defines diversity as a perception and policy, alongside a practice. It situates diversity policies in Israel within a broader theoretical and international context and offers analytical tools for realizing the value of student diversity while transitioning from policy to practice.
An Examination of Minority Student Retention, Progression and Graduation at Columbus State University, Georgia
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Amitabh S Dutta, Florence Wakoko-Studstill, Roger Su, Sridhar Sitharaman
This paper evaluates the progress made by Columbus State University (CSU) in admitting, retaining, and ultimately graduating minority students. The central focus of the study is to document the structural resources on campus, and available supporting initiatives from faculty and staff and analyzing the data from university records about minority student retention, progression, and graduation (RPG) over the years 1997-2012. The analysis is framed within the existing literature on student engagement and retention. Our basic premise is that RPG for racial minorities and African American students in particular, has increased. This increase is associated with a series of policy interventions that have been implemented at CSU over the years such as the Diversity Inclusion Initiatives.
